The Sanction Enhancement Group, pilot tested in the Division of Housing at the University of Florida, was a structured group experience for residence hall students. The group's experience reflected a major goal of the judicial system within the Division of Housing--education through redirecting behavior. The group members were students whose…

Participation in sport and exercise has been linked to enhanced academic performance, and though girls' participation in sport is known to decline during adolescence, girls continue to outperform boys academically at school in many Western nations. Drawing on evidence that social identities are linked to a range of health and cognitive benefits,…

This study considered the influence of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sorority membership on graduation rate and time-to-degree. Data from women at 18 four-year postsecondary institutions comprised the dataset (n = 2,104 members, 2,139 nonmembers). Findings showed members had a higher graduation rate and were more likely than non-members to…

This dissertation examines investment in language learning, especially how that investment looks over the entirety of a learner's target language-related journey. It investigates investment, in terms of positive and negative relationships and experiences, both at one point in time and over time, as well as how investment may be linked to a measure…

Through the lens of Black feminist thought (BFT), this qualitative study explored the positive and negative influences on the career progression of African American women presidents who took a nontraditional pathway to the college presidency. Nontraditional pathways included, but were not limited to, student services/student affairs, legal…

This paper employs a social identity approach to explore the management of a collective organizational culture in a culturally diverse context. Literature suggests that cultural diversity can be an asset for organizations if managed effectively. This study employs a qualitative case-study design, drawn on data generated for a larger project that…

This paper addresses dynamical interdependence among the actions of group members. I assume that the actions of each member can be represented as nodes of a dynamical network and then collect the nodes into disjoint subsets (components) representing the individual group members. Interdependence among group members' actions can then be defined with…

While scholars have noted the levels of educational attainment of Hmong Americans compared to East Asian Americans as well as the overall population, this focus has undermined the achievements of Hmong Americans. To shift the discourse on Hmong American students and provide a liberatory perspective, I examined the student-initiated organizing…

The aim of this paper is to advance knowledge about the politics of belonging in Norwegian preschools by exploring how educators describe and consider processes of belonging in their educational practice. In educational research, the dominating focus has been on the sense of belonging and children's emotional bonding to others. Here belonging is…

Understanding how the experiences, perceptions, and culturally engaging campus environments build a sense of belonging and persistence among first-year dual-enrolled college students in a unique and diverse nation in the Western Caribbean (Greater Antilles) is an area of inquiry that had yet to be researched prior to this study. Using a case study…

In striving to define the key ingredients that encompass students' sense of belonging and its impact on student success, a quantitative, correlational research study was conducted to help better understand the relationship between students' sense of belonging and student GPA, attendance rate, and discipline in four high schools in one district in…

Predominantly White arts colleges in the United States, like many other institutions around the country, need equitable leadership frameworks that center Black and Brown students. This project is a response to that demand. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a BIPOC equity coalition in an Arts college at a Predominantly White…

This chapter addresses how a group's organizational structure can promote or hinder the leadership capacity of its members. The information in this chapter provides insight into structuring student organizations in a way to maximize all members' leadership development.

Family and school factors are among the most important determinants of internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in adolescents. The aim of this study is to explore how certain family and school factors explain internalizing and externalizing problems after one year. In addition to individual-level variables, school level variables are…

To understand graduate employability, this paper uses a landscape of practice (LofP) lens, and methods including narrative frames, observations, and interviews to interpret capability development and identity construction of learners in a work-based learning masters program. It argues that learners enhance employability, capabilities, and…