It is essential that all students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) have the motivational supports to persist in their STEM career trajectories. "STEM role models," or successful individuals in STEM, can be powerful tools to motivate college students towards STEM careers, particularly if students…

This dissertation includes three individual articles that explore the relationship between witnessing bullying and defending behavior among students who are bystanders of bullying. Chapter One provides the rationale and purpose of this dissertation and an overview of the three articles that comprise it. Chapter Two employed a cross-sectional…

Previous research has been limited regarding the measurement of computational thinking, particularly as a learning progression in K-12. This study proposes to apply a multidimensional item response theory (IRT) model to a newly developed measure of computational thinking utilizing both selected response and open-ended polytomous items to establish…

The main purpose of this study was to compare delay discounting of hypothetical monetary outcomes by adolescents adjudicated of illegal behavior to that of college students in order to lay a foundation for future discounting work with adjudicated adolescents. It is important to note that we conducted this work during the COVID-19 pandemic, which…

This quantitative, correlational study aims to determine if a predictive relationship exists between teacher perceptions of Tennessee's teacher evaluation and the linear combination of teacher gender, years of experience, and school-level taught (elementary, middle, high). Although teachers have recognized the current teacher evaluation system,…

Humans are arguably the most interesting subjects in computer vision. Modeling human 3D geometry from images captured by highly sophisticated production level cameras (10-100 cameras with precise calibration) enable a number of applications, e.g. telepresence, virtual try-on, motion analysis, etc. Despite its production level quality, the…

Similar-identity role models, including instructors, can benefit science undergraduates by enhancing their self-efficacy and sense of belonging. However, for students to have similar-identity role models based on identities that can be hidden, instructors need to disclose their identities. For concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs) - identities…

This study is quantitative and includes a non-experimental research design between the constructs of the Full Range Leadership Model and Burnout dimensions. This study examined the relationship between leadership styles and burnout as perceived by the follower while controlling gender, age, tenure, and educational attainment. Participants were…

For many years, there have been discrepancies between masculine and feminine populations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The problem was the gender disparity in middle and high school STEM classrooms, in which teachers often lack an understanding of the underlying reasons and measures needed to lessen the gender…

Women make up a little over half of higher education enrollment in the United States and earn more college and graduate degrees than men earn. However, the gender gap in science education at all academic levels persists. This is especially true in high-end, math-intensive fields such as engineering and statistics. Research suggests that a…

The gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) professions results from several factors that deter females from pursuing careers in STEM. Girls' low interest in science and lack of feeling both belonging and efficacy in science, which emerge as early as middle school, are believed to be part of the problem. This study reports…

The present study examined the intersection of sexual orientation identity, spirituality, and gender in queer male university students. Many higher education institutions offer a supportive, secure environment for queer persons to explore and grow into their understanding of self, resolving any potential conflicts arising from their intersecting…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the ways in which cultural and gendered expectations affect the experiences of Latinas in their attainment of a superintendency in California public school districts. Six Latinas, currently serving as superintendents in rural, suburban and urban areas of Northern California, the Central…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, each examining a different topic in labor economics. In Chapter 1, I examine the productivity and selection effects of K-12 teacher tenure by leveraging variation from New Jersey's TEACHNJ Act. This law extended the pre-tenure period from three to four years and allowed districts to dismiss…

The underrepresentation of women in executive levels of higher education leadership has been discussed in the literature from a variety of viewpoints. In the context of Christian higher education, the focus of this study, women's underrepresentation has sometimes been compounded by the conservative theological tenets of some denominations…