In recent decades, increasing attention has been directed towards the importance of mentorship in supporting the career aspirations of college graduates, including those from underserved backgrounds (Beals et al., 2021). Mentoring programs have shown promise in facilitating personal and professional development and success (Beals et al., 2021).…

Institutions of higher education (IHE) are increasingly prioritizing diversity, necessitating the recruitment of more faculty and staff leaders from marginalized populations to better support the university and underrepresented minority student groups. However, Muslim women leaders, as a religious minority group, have been largely overlooked in…

This dissertation project investigates the lived experiences of three transnational multilingual Asian writing teachers across transnational trajectories to understand how these teachers negotiate their identities within sociocultural, institutional, and ideological structures. Addressing the underrepresentation of transnational multilingual…

As the global human population increases, the need to provide sustainable food and water systems is becoming more prevalent. The United States has been at the forefront of training individuals to contribute to the agricultural and natural resource workforce by establishing the land-grant university (LGU) system. However, LGUs face challenges…

Emotional intelligence equips leaders to exercise self-management, self-awareness, social awareness and manage relationships. Furthermore, emotional intelligence skills correlate with various leadership skills. Emotional intelligence supports their ability to develop trusting relationships that inspire others to perform collaboratively. It also…

This study investigates the impact of gender bias on female superintendents' careers on Long Island. Despite comprising the majority of teachers, women hold a significantly lower proportion of leadership positions. The research employed a mixed-method approach with quantitative and qualitative phases to explore this disparity. The findings reveal…

In the United States, the student body is increasingly more diverse in ethnicity, family structure, and race; yet oftentimes libraries are not representative of these students. This dissertation aims to develop and provide a framework to help educators select books that reflect the lives of diverse students. In addition to diverse literature…

This study examined the college and career efforts of adult education programs in South Carolina. Using a survey developed by the National Resource Center "Exploring College and Career Readiness in South Carolina Secondary Schools", adult education directors were surveyed. The survey instrument was adapted to include adult education…

The national conversation about STEM education continues. While math and science have been a constant in K-12 and higher education, curriculum in technology and engineering have not been consistently part of the tapestry of American education. As such, there is a dearth of qualified candidates for the ever-growing number of computer science and…

Initiatives geared toward broadening participation in computing research have addressed the longstanding underrepresentation of various populations - including women, Black people, Latinx people, and persons with disabilities. Although there has been an increase in underrepresented populations participating in computing, building upon these…

The purpose of this study is to determine if and to what extent disparities in the referral of student subpopulations for discretionary discipline exist and if changes in disparity correlate with changes in campus academic achievement. In this study, 31 million observations of discipline data generated by reason code 21, violations of the student…

Idaho's public school district leadership has a gender gap; men outnumber women nearly three to one in the superintendency. The purpose of this study was to explore gender-specific mentoring availability and influence upon female administrators, specifically superintendents, in the state of Idaho. Using a modified version of grounded theory,…

There are well documented differences in gendered participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields across cultures and societies. Gender inequality in STEM reveals itself in global pay gaps and minority underrepresentation. Previous research has found that student attitudes towards career fields are rooted in their…

Transformational leadership research has always been viewed with the cisgender white male in mind. Very limited transformational leadership studies are available regarding underrepresented women who are in the racial or ethnic minority, LGBTQIA+, religious minority, and/or have disabilities. This research examines how underrepresented women…

Limited research has investigated the experiences of Black male school leaders in urban charter schools. This study explored the experiences of Black male school leaders and how they activated and sustained Black parent engagement in urban charter schools with a majority Black student body. The representation of Black male leadership in schools is…