Identity and branding in higher education institutions is one of the many attributes of a university that potential students look for when searching for a place to study. This phenomenological qualitative study used interviews of eleven current and past students at the University of the Great Lakes (UGL) to discover what attributes of the…

As colleges confront challenging circumstances, the prospect of small, private college closures remains pertinent. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of displaced employees due to college closure. For this study, Schlossberg's (1981) transition theory was used as a foundational lens. Although there…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact Jesuit tenets have on the attitudes of survivors of workforce reduction who were employed at Jesuit institutions of higher education during the early years of the COVID-19. The researcher interviewed seven current employees from five different Jesuit institutions to ascertain their feelings…

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study individual investment in human capital and the incidence of economic shocks. I use administrative data to answer these questions, developing and applying structural methods to analyze individual choices in combination with a careful consideration of research design. Chapter 1 studies the…

The COVID-19 pandemic cause global social and cultural disruptions that caused institutions like museums to suddenly close. Stay-at-home orders forced organizations to restructure their now-remote staff, laying off, furloughing, or firing entire departments like museum education. The literature in the field suggests museum educators were fired or…

Libraries can have a significant impact on today's students and the schools of today and tomorrow. The way students learn is changing as technology changes: rapidly. The knowledge and skills that today's librarians carry can influence the students immensely, including their use of technology. However, with many districts suffering budget cuts, one…

The purpose of this exploratory study of adult learning was to investigate the lived experience of 15 employees who encountered a significant job loss event (an unplanned loss of employment with no immediate replacement of employment--coupled with an unintentional and tangibly significant reduction in income), and how the resultant fear(s) from…

The purpose of this phenomenological narrative study was to explore influences of a reduction in force (RIF) on educators in one Texas school district. The four questions that guided the research examined the relationships, job performance, supportive action and suggestions for improvement for districts contemplating a reduction in force. Nine…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore why some IT specialists, after experiencing unemployment because of corporate offshoring, acquired gainful re-employment, whereas other similarly unemployed IT specialists had not. To effectively address this case study, two cases were studied: (a) displaced IT specialists who…

In this dissertation, I present three distinct topics on labor economics that can be read independently from one another. In the first chapter, using matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I investigate the impact of mothers' involuntary job loss on children's academic achievement. In the next chapter, I examine…

The qualitative study involved twelve students at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) who involuntarily lost jobs and as a result, made the decision to attend college. Study participants were students with no postsecondary credential beyond high school, and in most cases, had no intentions of attending college until they lost their jobs. Students…

A committed workforce is critical to the success of any organization. While there was a great deal of debate on how to best describe commitment, one model that attracted a significant following is the Three Component Model (TCM) developed by Meyer and Allen (1988). While it may be argued that the model is a mixed model combining attitudinal and…

With the national focus in education turning to increasing student achievement and closing achievement gaps between demographic groups, federal and state policy has extended responsibility and high stakes accountability for student growth and achievement. Overall, student achievement status and elimination of achievement gaps between…

Using a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006), this qualitative study examined how 8 female senior-level professionals employed at faith-based colleges and universities processed and navigated the experience of involuntary job loss and successfully transitioned to another position. The purpose of this research was to contribute…

The number of women in the information technology (IT) profession has fluctuated along with the growth of business. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of women who had been laid off from IT positions during the economic downturn period between 2007 and 2010. The research study was designed to…