As an institution that aims to create more access to higher education by removing barriers to entry, the California Community College (CCC) system supports what is often described as "nontraditional" students (i.e., first-generation and systems-impacted students), but also of most importance to this study, Students of Color (Knoell,…

This study sought to understand Latinx student servingness through the lens of Latinx student affairs employees working at Hispanic Serving Institutions. Interviews were conducted with 20 student affairs employees, all except one worked at a Cal State campus. The interview protocol was developed using the Hispanic Serving Institution conceptual…

This study explored the experiences of multiracial and multiethnic students at a Central Valley University in California, aiming to understand their engagement opportunities and support-seeking behaviors on campus. Employing a narrative inquiry approach, qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, complemented by digital…

Problem Statement: The problem addressed in this study was the experience of Latinx women leaders from multiple Southern California state universities who cry, or have been close to crying, about work in front of colleagues or followers. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of Latinx women leaders, who held…

This cross-sectional study examined if there was a positive correlation between students' critical consciousness (CC) levels and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The study was conducted via a survey that had four parts, including the Critical Consciousness Inventory (CCI), the Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Survey, open classroom (OC)…

Collaboration is an underused teaching strategy despite its benefits and the call for curriculums worldwide to increase its use. To aid in discovering why the strategy is underused, more information was needed about the implementation of collaboration in the mathematics classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate mathematics teachers'…

This study examined school counselors' perceptions of how leadership styles affect work output, staff comradery, and employee morale. The research problem examined in this qualitative descriptive case study was work output, staff comradery, and employee morale differ greatly depending on the leadership style that the immediate supervisor…

This hermeneutic phenomenological study examined how Latiné/x classified student services staff experience cultural taxation in a predominantly White work setting within a rural Northern California Community College. There is a lack of research on how Latiné/x classified student services staff experience cultural taxation in a higher education…

Financial aid plays a significant role for many students when deciding to pursue a postsecondary education. The California State University (CSU) prides itself on making education available and affordable, and about 80% of attending students are receiving financial aid (California State University, n.d.-e). With so many students relying on aid,…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to examine if and to what extent one or more administrators' emotional intelligence (EI) abilities of emotional perceiving and expressing (EPE), emotional utilization (EUT), emotional understanding (EUN) and emotional regulation (ERE), predicted teacher rating of school…

Contributions to conservation biology research are traditionally approached from an ecology and evolutionary biology perspective, but education research can be equally valuable. Population genetics research can inform management decision-making while education research can improve how we teach conservation. My dissertation tackles conservation…

We live in a culture where school systems are accused of being negligent or at fault for any undesired outcome. This can leave school districts and their employees anxious about potential consequences, regardless if the negligent claim is warranted or not. Therefore, there is a need for all educators to understand their responsibilities to provide…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how college students described their experiences with academic advising as it pertained to cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence at a community college in Southern California. Cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence are elements of the…

Burnout has become a prevalent issue in workplace environments, significantly affecting individuals' mental, emotional, social, and physical well-being. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of burnout among community college counselors in Southern California, a group often overlooked in existing research. While…

Equitable access to high-quality schooling has been a prevailing concern among educational stakeholders for decades. Magnet schools were first developed in the 1960s to improve academic achievement and attract a more diverse student body by offering unique programs and instruction not provided at other sites within the same district. With…