This study addresses university leadership and the need to affirm diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to institute organizational change for social justice. My key research question is, "What are effective ways for leaders to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of achieving social justice?" There is much research…

Education has always been attached to the "American Dream," an abstract concept built from the ashes of conquest and capitalism. The dream is one of property and privacy, money and power, the ability to live a life free from obstacles. However, the American dream isn't complete without an antagonist. For a long time the antagonist has…

The purpose of this study was to determine how whiteness and white supremacy are upheld by white hearing officers on community college campuses. The literature shows that racial bias exists in K-12 discipline systems, that no reporting mandates on demographics exist in higher education conduct, and that community colleges often serve minoritized…

The United States is experiencing a tremendous shift in the composition of its population. For the first time in history, the overall number of Asian, Latino, and African American students in K-12 public education classrooms is projected to surpass the population of Non-Hispanic whites. The number of Latinos in educational leadership positions in…

This dissertation responds to what Sarah Kavanagh and Katie Danielson (2020) call a "raging fire of debate about the relationship between justice and practice" in the scholarship around teacher education. Expanding upon the research focusing on clinical simulations for teacher education as well as the critiques of Practice-Based Teacher…

African American students are underrepresented in gifted programs in American public schools. This is due in part to the teachers' role in the gifted identification process. Classroom teachers are asked to refer students for evaluation for gifted services. To effectively do this, teachers must understand the unique challenges faced by gifted…

This study explored the lived experiences of Latina/o/e students with academic libraries, using a phenomenological approach to understand Latina/o/e students' assets and abilities that they bring to college libraries. This study used the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of critical race theory (CRT), Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit),…

The research team in a small undergraduate social work education program explored the implementation of antiracist best practices for pedagogy and practice, utilizing transformational learning and critical race theories to guide and inform this action research study. The research team sought to explore the impact on the faculty, students, and…

Latinx students enroll in higher education in more significant numbers than most minorities. However, Latinx administrators in the United States comprised 14% of total administrators in 2021 (Zippia, 2023b). The Association of American Colleges & Universities (Dedman, 2019) explains the college presidency is 58.1% White and male. White women…

This dissertation seeks to answer the following research question: what are the qualitatively different ways that students conceive of an antiracist professional identity for themselves after taking an undergraduate honors course with racism and antiracism as its central themes? To answer this research question, I employ critical race…

Racial disproportionality in special education reflects the manifestation of modern-day segregation in our education systems (Anyon, 2009; Artiles et al., 2016; Artiles, 2022). Due to their specialized training and positionality as key stakeholders in special education eligibility processes, school psychologists are uniquely suited to impact…

This dissertation explores the impact of racism, the campus racial climate, and the racial climate of graduate programs on the lived socialization experiences of Black students in doctoral programs. This dissertation utilizes a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of Black doctoral students, discusses the historical…

This study applied Kingdon's (2003) Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) in conjunction with Kanaka 'Oiwi Critical Race Theories (Wright & Balutski, 2015; Salis Reyes, 2018) to contextualize the creation of the Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Issues (HAP) general education requirement at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Manoa), a large, public,…

This study examines the lack of Latina representation in senior positions within 4-year higher education institutions in the United States. It utilizes Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and testimonio methodology to delve into the experiences of seven Latina leaders who have reached the roles of president and provost. The research…

This study was an investigation of how national newspapers contributed to the reproduction of racism as they reported on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the need for more Black Americans in STEM programs. The existence of racism in newspaper discourse reaffirms the long-standing perception that HBCUs, and the Black…