In California, Filipina/x/os continue to be overrepresented in the nursing workforce, with the percentage of nurses identifying as Filipino increasing from 13.4% in 1993 to 20.6% in 2018 (Spetz et al., 2018). While a particular ethnic group being overrepresented in a certain industry is not problematic on its own, certain careers come with greater…

Given its ongoing struggles at attaining demographic diversity and its key role in nations' economies, the engineering workforce receives considerable attention from researchers and policymakers. Yet, prior studies and STEM recruitment initiatives have often underemphasized the variety among available engineering jobs and careers. It therefore…

There is high demand and a short supply of bilingual teachers currently in the State of California. Through qualitative interviews of novice bilingual teachers, this study aims to understand the characteristics of novice bilingual teachers and the ways in which these teachers were motivated to become bilingual educators and how they feel prepared…

Teacher recruitment is a pressing need in the United States. Equally important is the recruitment of more racial-minority teachers to help close the teacher-student diversity gap. We surveyed 300 undergraduates at our university regarding their perspectives on teaching careers--what they found attractive and deterring. Results from this survey and…

This study examined the lived experiences of K-12 DACAmented Latine educators in Northern California through a Chicana/Latina feminist epistemological lens and utilized "testimonios" as a methodological qualitative tool. Grounded in LatCrit and UndocuCrit, the purpose of this study was to center the voices and lived experiences of Latine…

Complex career decisions, such as teacher mobility, are often reduced to stigmatizing labels that do little to account for the state of teaching as a profession or credit those engaging in migratory decisions as making healthy career choices. Through our study, we focused on understanding workforce mobility, teaching as an unstaged profession, and…

Background: Career options available to psychology graduates are often underestimated despite psychology being a marketable and versatile degree with hundreds of career options. Objective: This article identifies which career options students perceive as available to psychology graduates and assesses student interest in psychology-related careers.…

The magnitude and scale of current threats to ecosystems requires interdisciplinary approaches to both science and training. For example, urbanization has resulted in increased runoff from communities into coastal habitats, necessitating work across the marine-terrestrial interface. This runoff holds myriad pollutants which can impact vulnerable…

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) play a vital role in the American cultural landscape, embodying a rich diversity of approximately 50 ethnic groups and over 100 languages. This diverse population encompasses heritage from Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hawaiian, and other Asian and Pacific Islander ancestries.…

This study explored how personal, family, and cultural values influence career decision-making in first-generation Latinas. As the number of first-generation Latinas in higher education grows, there is a need to address their distinct needs as they navigate higher education and the career decision-making process. Their experience is unique and…

Since their migration into the U.S., the Hmong people have settled into the Central Valley in and around Fresno, California. While school districts in the area strive for diversity, many of the high schools have yet to include Hmong men as high school counselors. This study utilized a narrative inquiry under the lens of Asian critical theory to…

This dissertation consists of three chapters that examine topics in the economics of education. Chapter 1 tests the impact of holding student loan debt on borrowers' post-schooling decisions, with a focus on how it changes the way they evaluate risks when choosing between jobs. Chapter 2 analyzes the impact of an expansion of public-school choice…

This study examined how current kindergarten teachers promote learning and early success throughout a child's educational trajectory, including middle and high school. Narrative inquiry identified concepts and methods of promoting social emotional development and learning for the duration of a student's schooling. The research gave voice to Latina…

This grounded narrative inquiry study analyzes the self-selection transitional career motivations by California Community College chief fundraising executives when considering the pursuit of a California Community College presidency. A theoretical research framework is an approach that integrates narrative inquiry in the development of the…

The teacher workforce does not look much like the adult population or the students they serve. Across the country, only 21% of teachers are from historically disadvantaged racial groups compared to 35% of working-age adults and 49% of students. Simple math suggests that the diversity gap between students and teachers will only close when teachers…