College student employment has become an important aspect of life for many students pursuing higher education. Student employment programs provide students with the opportunity to earn income while learning skills that contribute to their personal and professional development. The impact of student employment on student development and the overall…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between life design and student leadership development at Bowling Green State University. Life design is a creative problem-solving framework that empowers students to apply design thinking mindsets and methods in their own lives to creatively solve problems (Burnett & Evans, 2016).…

This qualitative case study addressed the problem that there is a lack of best practices guidelines for post-secondary education institutions to provide a holistic education for students who experience trauma. Traditional education fails students by neglecting holistic education and connectedness. Traumatic life experiences have created gaps…

This dissertation presents a critical literature review exploring the influences of repatriation and adjusting to the university experience in the United States of America on the identity development of third culture kids. A third culture kid is someone who spent a significant part of their developmental years living outside their passport country…

With numbers over half a million, student-athletes are a significant, yet unique, population on college campuses. They encounter unique experiences and face unique challenges, not the least of which is navigating the competing roles of student and athlete. Navigating these roles within the high-stakes and competitive world of collegiate athletics…

The modern-day learning environment in higher education is highly associated with the online learning method, which consists of both hybrid and 100% online learning. Many universities have opted to provide various degrees and certifications remotely from their brick and mortar locations. As a result, individuals who felt that it was impossible to…

As university-based community engagement programs expand through curricular and cocurricular initiatives, it is important to understand and assess their impact in advancing a key mission of higher education--to nurture and develop engaged citizens with a well-honed sense of civic identity. A literature review revealed a gap in the…

Low financial literacy is a growing problem in young adults, which has effects throughout adulthood (Amagir et al., 2018). Record low personal savings rates, a shift toward increased personal responsibility for retirement, and increasing student loan balances put financial decision-making demands on young adults that have lifelong impacts (Lusardi…

Social group disparities persist in who chooses to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in higher education. Goal congruity theory has highlighted how perceptions of other-oriented opportunities in STEM can spur interest among underrepresented students. The present work extends this framework by considering how…

Numerous prior literature pointed out the disconnection of knowledge and skills between the classroom and the workplace, especially regarding data analytic skills in the big data era. However, the studies on integrating data analytics, including the current IS/IT environment, into the accounting curriculum are minimal. This study provides an…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of college students regarding their knowledge of professional development competencies by classification and area of academic study. The study sought to answer the following questions: 1) was there a difference in the perception of college students towards professional development…

The estimated prevalence of neurodivergent (ND) conditions is approximately 15-20% of the population in the United States (Doyle, 2020; Maenner et al., 2023). ND students are increasingly enrolling in mainstream colleges and universities (Bakker et al., 2019) but report that they are not receiving adequate support on campus (Dexter et al., 2024;…

The creation and implementation of holistic educational experiences is invaluable for optimal student and staff development and retention in an institution of higher education. This dissertation involves a participatory action research on one such mechanism: mentorship. This study on mentorship leverages Tinto's (1975-2014) theoretical frameworks…

Topics of well-being and personal development within education have gained popularity in the United States over the last few decades (Grabinger & Dunlap, 1995; Hirshberg et al., 2020). This is due to the idea that traditional teaching and learning methods fail to consider social and emotional development when it comes to curriculum design and…

The study explored the profound influence an attuned mentor can have on the career trajectories of young mothers. By engaging in detailed interviews with women who navigated the challenges of early motherhood while pursuing higher education and establishing themselves in the workforce, this researcher seeks to uncover the pivotal role mentors…