Purpose: This study sought to investigate how secondary agriculture teachers' characteristics influence their perceived ability to teach students decision-making skills. Design/Methodology/Approach: We used a cross-sectional survey research design and distributed the instrument to secondary agriculture teachers in the U.S. via Facebook. We…

This dissertation consists of two chapters studying problems faced by youths in two contexts that could be pivotal to their future: admissions to higher education and the juvenile criminal justice system. The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has been studied extensively, and there have…

Heightened concerns about the health of the teaching profession highlight the importance of studying the early teacher pipeline. This exploratory, descriptive article examines preservice teachers' expressed motivation for pursuing a teaching career. Using data from a large teacher education program in Texas, we use a natural language processing…

Student enrollment at community colleges within the U.S. has remained flat or decreased for over a decade (AACC, 2019). Before COVID-19, community colleges had been experiencing a steady decline in enrollment for approximately ten years (Irwin et al., 2021). The purpose was to determine whether demographic, environmental, and academic variables…

Trellis' Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) seeks to document the financial well-being of post-secondary students and provide institutions with a detailed profile of the financial issues their students face, some of which could potentially impact their success in college. This report details aggregated findings for the 89 colleges and…

The present study examines the career pathways of Mexican-American music majors. Participants included 42 (17 female, 25 male) music majors enrolled at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in South Texas. The study focused on identifying relations among students' levels of acculturation and career goals. Students' cultural behavior, career…

Limited research exists on the slut labeling process, a key means of enforcing rules around appropriate female sexuality. This study explores that process through qualitative interviews with 44 adolescent girls in Travis County, Texas. Labeling girls as sluts or hos was pervasive and was based on a number of factors beyond sexual behavior,…

Although prior research has suggested that some students may be averse to taking out loans to finance their college education, there is little empirical evidence showing the extent to which loan aversion exists or how it affects different populations of students. This study provides the first large-scale quantitative evidence of levels of loan…

Student loans are a crucial aspect of financing a college education for millions of Americans, yet we have surprisingly little empirical evidence concerning individuals' unwillingness to borrow money for educational purposes. This study provides the first large-scale quantitative evidence of levels of loan aversion in the United States. Using…

This study examined the influence of acculturation, enculturation, parental education level, financial concerns, and gender on 106 Mexican American high school students' decisions to apply to college. Results indicated that acculturation and female gender were significant predictors. Implications for interventions with Latino high school students…

This study's purpose was to determine the youth leadership life skills of Texas 4- H, FFA, and FCCLA members participating as school tour guides. Descriptive characteristics were evaluated to determine those affecting leadership life skills development. School tour guides participating in the exit-meeting during the 2004 San Antonio Livestock…

This article examines the antecedents and consequences of residential choice and school transfers within one of the eight largest urban school districts in Texas. This study is based on survey data from a representative sample of parents of K-12 students enrolled in this district. In addition to demographic characteristics of the family, the…