In recent years, social status has been re-conceptualized as a unique and dynamic social identity that shapes motivational processes, guiding pursuits of status-related goals. Therefore, social status is not a static social positioning, but instead a developing construct that informs cognitions and behaviors, particularly during status…

Research over the past two decades has reported a robust relationship between relative social status and first-person singular (FPS) pronoun use in English. For my dissertation study, I wanted to test the replicability of those findings using American Sign Language (ASL) data that I collected for this purpose. In alignment with previous work, I…

The purpose of this interpretive case study was to investigate how several community colleges work with local industry partners to create market alignment and uncover the social outcomes within their communities. Most studies within labor market alignment focus on the economic outcomes, but this study sought to review the social outcomes. This…

Collegiate athletics are vital to higher education. However, student-athletes face the challenge of balancing their dual roles, with their academic identities becoming less salient over time. Despite this, research indicates the benefits of participation in sport, including physiological, psychological, and educational. Additionally, the skills…

Though social comparison behaviors have been widely studied in both occupational and academic contexts, no empirical study has investigated how social comparison presents in counselor education programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between social comparison orientation, counseling self-efficacy, sources of…

The purpose of this study is to examine the social and economic impact of two-year and community colleges on minorities particularly African Americans who are earning a certificate, transfer credits to a four-year institution, or an Associate of Arts or Science Degree. The proposed research is a qualitative case study investigating the social and…

This dissertation examined how California Community College leaders have been engaging in responsive practices to create and sustain equitable and inclusive learning environments for students who have been historically excluded in higher education. Through a case study of five critical leaders of color, this research illuminated how these leaders…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand by reviewing the current empirical literature the leadership trajectory and pathways of women of color in leadership roles within higher education institutions and to identify a change model approach that can be used as an implementation model across different types of higher education…

Tikal, notably conservative in culture among its peer polities, maintains that tendency in the case of monumental texts. In this dissertation I draw on a corpus of Late Classic monuments (ca. AD 600-900) to argue, through analysis of morphological forms, that scribal tradition at Tikal was not only conservative but intentionally so. Literacy…

This dissertation outlines a comprehensive research endeavor focused on the history of elementary literacy instruction in the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) from 1990 until 2022. The research methodology combines historical analysis of artifacts, archives, and oral histories to answer the overarching research question, "What is the…

As sound changes advance across large geographic areas, they progress unevenly across populations. The speakers who lead these changes often share macro-social identities, like place or social class affiliations (e.g. Nesbitt 2018; Wagner et al. 2016). But the features undergoing these macro-level sound changes also hold social meanings related to…

Researchers interested in understanding the perspectives of U.S. minoritized parents of children with special needs often recruit participants based only on their ethnicity (e.g., Zuckerman et al., 2015; Jegatheesan, 2011; Chiang, 2014). However, this strategy masks the additional, unique challenges of minoritized parents who immigrated to the…

As future holders of power, nurturing a critical consciousness among economically privileged populations is urgently needed as it could encourage them to actively challenge class oppression around them. Egyptian international school students typically belong to this population as they serve as vehicles that push for the interests of global capital…

This research study aspired to establish a platform for African American college students to express their perspectives and encounters regarding their background and socioeconomic status, and how these factors have influenced their financial awareness. The endeavors aimed to provide insights that could be advantageous for future Black college…

Coloniality permeates across realms and leaves no systemic stone unturned in its path. As such, coloniality manifests in our education system through a variety of practices, policies, and procedures that center Western-European modern rationality and White supremacy. To disrupt and decenter these unilateral paradigms within our schools is to…