This dissertation explores the transformative impact of short-term study away courses on women's leadership development in graduate education. Through a qualitative, case study approach, it investigates the experiences of women graduate students (n = 8) participating in an all-women study away course, aiming to uncover the factors that contribute…

Women outnumber men in assistant professor positions at 4-year colleges and universities, but the story changes at the higher ranks. There are more men in associate professor positions and twice as many men than women at the full professor rank, the pinnacle of the faculty career and gateway to leadership and decision-making roles. Ample research…

Gendered racial microaggressions, experienced at the intersections of one's race and gender, can make recipients prone to health risks. This research explored the frequency and levels of stress associated with microaggressions and determined if a relationship existed between frequencies of microaggression, levels of stress, and years of experience…

The teacher shortage in Illinois drives a need for robust teacher education programs. Simultaneously, changes in higher education have forced a dependence on adjunct instructors. While this provides an opportunity to have teacher candidates instructed by talented, accomplished current practitioners, adjuncting is a low-paid, exhausting job with…

This dissertation delved into the complex interaction between gender dynamics and leadership perceptions within outdoor recreation, particularly in the context of higher education. Utilizing Transformational Learning Theory, Critical Feminist Theory, and Conditional Outdoor Leadership Theory, this study aimed to uncover the nuanced ways in which…

As Title IX recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, there are still looming debates centered around compliance with federal policy, inequalities in collegiate athletics, and approaches to alleviate such issues at hand. While previous scholars have examined inequalities between men's and women's programs in collegiate athletics, few have asked…

This study is an exploration of experiences of Chicanx butch lesbian students who are navigating higher education environments in San Antonio, TX. Focused on the intersection of race, gender, and sexual identities, the testimonios in this study highlight how Chicanx butch lesbian students subvert and challenge dominant heteronormative and…

In this study, I use Rosi Braidotti's critical posthumanism to produce a cartography that tracks the production of gendered labor for five women social studies teachers. The project is intended to provide women educators in our field with a map of how their labor can become produced as a martyr-like sacrifice and the sites they found to produce…

This dissertation investigates how the numerical representation of women in small collaborative groups influences their learning in a college biology class for non-majors focused on sex, gender, and society. Prior to the start of the semester, the researchers divided students into all-male, all-female, or mixed-gender groups of varying sex ratios.…

This critical feminist scholarship utilizes Social Reproduction Theory (SRT), a Marxist Feminist theory, to explore the connection between social reproduction and higher education labor. Given capitalism's quest for accumulation, the neoliberal university is an important reproductive site to consider labor exploitation. Social Reproduction Theory…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived leadership experiences of Black women principals in Title I schools in North Carolina. The theories guiding this study are Black feminist thought and Intersectionality which amplify and center the voices of Black women. The central research question for this study was "What…

This study examined the unique leadership experiences of queer women in collegiate recreation, focusing on joy as a critical aspect of their professional journey. Employing a narrative inquiry methodology, the research documented the lived experiences of queer women in executive-level roles, exploring the complex intersection of gender, sexuality,…

While women have made great strides in leadership and academia over the last several decades, women continue to lag behind men in executive leadership positions. In universities, women students are vastly underrepresented in executive leadership roles; however, at community colleges the trends are reversed as women are actively taking on executive…

This dissertation examines women's colleges emergence as new organizational types in higher education in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In building these colleges, administrators both deviated from societal norms and values about gender and race while conforming to others. They pushed for women's place in advanced education without betraying…

In the United States, Black women rarely serve as superintendents. Historically, White males have monopolized executive leadership roles in education, and the trend data remains consistent to present times. Given these patterns, we have constructed our knowledge of the superintendency from a White male perspective. Consequently, this singular…