Utilising a social constructivist lens, this study explores how students from rural areas constitute and negotiate their identities in the context of an urban South African university. Much of the research on rurality in South Africa has focused on rural areas as places, and not on the people occupying them. This qualitative study employed a…

Experiences of and exposures to violence impact older adolescents and young adults in a myriad of ways. While typically conceptualized as interpersonal, other forms of violence, namely structural and symbolic, can be harmful to development for this population. This study utilized qualitative methodologies, including ethnographic field notes and…

This study explores how socio-cultural dynamics influence student engagement with Generative AI technology in Nigerian higher education, using activity theory as theoretical underpinning. By examining the roles of community norms, technological accessibility, and educational objectives, the research identifies critical factors that impact the…

This dissertation examined factors affecting the college choice of African American male undergraduate students at two private liberal arts colleges in the South. The study explored African American male undergraduate students experiences, perceptions, and attitudes toward the college selection process, using Hossler and Gallagher (1987) College…

The present dissertation features two studies utilizing secondary data to explore the impact of geography on access to and utilization of early developmental services, including Part C early intervention (EI) and autism diagnosis. Both studies examined the role of geography on a micro-level using geographic information system (GIS) based…

Reading interest serves as an inherent driving force for children's reading. Current research shows that family cultural capital, school reading environment, and community reading culture all influence children's reading interests. According to the "family-school-community" collaborative education model, families, schools and communities…

Purpose: Research shows that family is influential to African Americans in college choice (Chapman "et al.," 2018; Chapman "et al.," 2020; Freeman, 2005; Hines "et al.," 2019; Lowry, 2017; Williams, 2018). However, it often overlooks unique, African-rooted characteristics of African American families and culture. This…

This article considers how the experience of community for young people from rural places (inclusive of regional and remote) can be influential in building a legacy of strengths and qualities, much like an inheritance. While there are many studies of rural youth, few consider rurality through complex social-relational dimensions; fewer still…

To promote racial and gender equity in the field of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computing (STEM+C), we investigated prominent influences on historically underrepresented minority (HURM) women's persistence in undergraduate education. With the underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic women in the computing workforce, this…

This dissertation was an investigation of how students in two-way bilingual immersion (TWBI) programs construct their bilingual identities inside and outside the school setting, highlighting the unique and multifaceted nature of their language development and cultural identity formation. TWBI programs aim to cultivate bilingualism and biliteracy,…

Any undergraduate student lacking the knowledge and skills for digital technology will find it challenging to succeed academically and thrive in the 21st-century higher education setting. This study employed a novel conceptual framework built from ecological theory to investigate the attributions of the knowledge and skill gap in digital literacy…

In this paper, the authors showcase how they created a sensemaking space for themselves to think and talk through the dissonance they often feel when their roles in education come into conflict with their layered immigrant identities. Through dialectic inquiry, the authors merged duoethnography and testimonios to develop duoethnographic…

This study investigates the implications of engaging plurilingual children in creative multilingual placemaking practices on their language awareness and sense of belonging. Children participated in carefully designed class activities, engaging in tasks focused on reflecting on their own identities, the community's, and the neighbourhood's,…

The UN Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urges the establishment of inclusive education and expansion of educational opportunities to maximize access to education among children with disabilities (CwDs). However, more than 90% of 150 million CwDs do not have access to education Rather, they are left without school…

This study aims to explore students' minority experiences while participating in religious education (RE). An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to answer the objective questions. Data were collected using the undergraduates' diaries and in-depth interviews with 9 senior high school students which were selected by purposive…