The present study used Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994; Lent et al., 2000) to examine the influence of college STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program participation on engineering persistence among first-generation college students (FGCS) in engineering. Data for the present study came from a larger…

This dissertation consists of a literature review and two empirical studies that focus on the forethought phase of self-regulated learning. The overall goal was to provide a more thorough understanding of the processes students engage in prior to initiating their academic tasks. This dissertation is composed of five chapters. Chapter One…

Purpose of the Study: In a time of rising costs, social discourse questioning value of an undergraduate degree, and declining enrollment, institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure to provide stakeholders and potential students with measures of accountability and student success. These pressures renew the need to leverage…

The puzzle that this study addresses is the disproportionately low number of women in science careers. To add to the existing body of research on the underrepresentation of women in science, this study explored the human and more-than-human, entangled experiences of undergraduate women who were pursuing science degrees and potential teaching…

This qualitative study examined the student leadership experiences of seven Latina community college students and how they made sense of how those experiences impacted their academic success. It used the psychosociocultural framework (J. Castellanos & Gloria, 2007; Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000) as its theoretical lens. Interpretative…

Across Tennessee, more than 595,000 working-age adults have earned college credit but do not have a postsecondary credential. In response to the growing economic demands over the past decade, many states launched efforts to re-engage students with some college but no degree (SCND). In 2018, Tennessee launched "Tennessee Reconnect," a…

The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which social, cultural, economic and academic factors contributed to the attrition of graduate students at a historically Black University. This study addressed attrition challenges that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are confronting. It also addresses the uniqueness of…

How does a university serve the needs of students in the face of a global pandemic? In truly unprecedented times, administrators were pushed to perform in new modalities and under very different circumstances. For many months, change was the only constant and student support needs were a whole new world to navigate. The purpose of this…

This study examines the relationship between teacher job satisfaction and teacher indicated propensity to leave their positions in one very unique geographical and cultural educational context - the Bering Strait School District in rural Western Alaska. Data was collected for this quantitative study via a questionnaire survey instrument utilizing…

The doctoral counselor education and supervision (CES) program has three stages (entry, integration, or candidacy), each involving specific challenges resulting in varying time requirements, workloads, and stress levels. Personal struggles may have consequences that influence the completion of students' doctoral program and the outcomes of…

This dissertation investigates the influence of leadership on faculty morale and intent to leave at small colleges. An examination of the topic occurs through two distinct, but related studies with the findings represented in three separate thematically connected articles. The first paper entitled "The Faculty Voice: Factors that Affect…

Diversity and inclusion in the United States have been poignant topics for decades. These concepts apply to multiple facets of the American landscape, including, but not limited to, higher education. The diversity of educators in the higher education system does not reflect the diversity of learners, nor the variety of modern-day thought. With the…

Retaining rural Midwestern teachers is problematic for many K-12 school districts. Through interviews with two first year teachers in rural North Dakota schools, this study considered what experiences contributed to a successful beginning teaching career in a rural school. It was thought that teacher education preparation pertaining to rural…

The purpose of this study is to explore the "behaviors" that students who have graduated employ and the "environmental elements/interventions" that helped students graduate from community colleges in Connecticut (CT). This study's aim was to construct new knowledge about community college nontraditional student persistence and…

Transformative learning pedagogy in higher education leads to increased student engagement. The problem with transformative learning in higher education is deficiencies in research on increased student engagement obtained with transformative learning pedagogy. This research study addressed unanswered questions in the literature by exploring…