The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of first-generation Black women who completed at least a bachelor's degree without student loans. While Black women are most burdened by student loan debt, little is known about the experiences of those who navigate college without accruing student loans. Combining endarkened…

This dissertation presents a phenomenological case study exploring the experiences of Black women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The study focuses on Black women who attended urban schools and pursued STEM majors at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). This study employs a narrative inquiry approach to understand…

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…

Black women in higher education are situated in a hegemonic, white, patriarchal context of academia. Despite staff and faculty attempts to support students utilizing foundational theories of student development, these efforts still reinforce controlling stereotypes of Black women and (re)subjugate them to a tumultuous existence in the academy as…

This mixed methods action research study was conducted at a women's, private, liberal arts university in the United States with the purpose to create an opportunity for the Latina female first-generations college students (LFFGCS) to; build a sense of belonging and community, and provide them with more resources on a variety of financial topics in…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand what influences health behaviors in Black female students at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Participants and Methods: Twenty-five Black female students enrolled at a HBCU in the southern United States participated in five focus groups and one interview. Qualitative…

A qualitative descriptive key-case study focusing on the perceptions of women in leadership regarding organizational conflict with managers, subordinates, and peers was conducted. The study examined how women leaders deal with conflict in higher education settings. A dual concern theory (DCT) framework was employed to study women's perceptions of…

This critical phenomenological inquiry explored the college preparation experiences of ten high-ability, Black, women who grew up in poverty to identify influences from various family, school, and community environments contributing to their college readiness. I used a conceptual framework informed by both Kimberlé Crenshaw's (1991)…

This qualitative study employs interviews to explore the process of computing identity development and maintenance among Latina undergraduate students, beginning from their experiences in introductory computing courses and extending beyond. The findings shed light on the significant influence of factors such as peer and faculty recognition,…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) identity has become a popular lens in science education research. However, few studies have looked at how using the interpersonal, structural, cultural, and disciplinary domains of power sheds light on how women of color differently navigate the various cultures of formal and informal…

As we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the globalization and privatization of the academy is destabilizing the patterns of university professional work developed over the past hundred years (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). To grasp the extent of changes taking place and to understand the forces of change on women in…