While research on career paths has been studied for years, the impacts of identity rarely make it into the discussion. Leung et al. (1994) looked specifically at the factors that influence career aspirations in Asian Americans, but no South Asians were included in this work. To fill this gap, this research focused on the experience of South Asian…

Feminism has re-emerged as important and even influential discourse among women, including within higher education. Public support by prominent women has brought an upgraded version of feminism into the mainstream. This version of "neoliberal feminism" however, overlooks the challenges faced by many first-generation, undergraduate women,…

The purpose of this intrinsic qualitative case study was to understand the meaning-making experiences and experienced-based decision making that occur among middle school girls while playing the tabletop role playing game Dungeons & Dragons through the online videoconferencing platform zoom. table-top games have been played in some form for…

Utilizing Iloh's Model of College Going Decisions and Trajectories (Iloh, 2018) and guided by the three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework, this study explored how Black women recounted their decisions to attend for-profit higher education institutions for graduate education. The researcher interviewed eight participants for this study. The…

The purpose of this study was to describe the major choice experience and motivation of nontraditional female students in male dominated majors. A transcendental phenomenological method was used to answer the central research question: how do women who are nontraditional students enrolled in male dominated majors at two-and four-year institutions…

The existing gap between females in the field of education and those in the highest levels of leadership persists, with women only making up 27% of the superintendency nationally. This study, informed by Tallerico's (2000a) conceptual framework, sought to determine how one's own individual agency, educational structures (like sponsorship), and the…

Sexual assault of women is common on college campuses, but the vast majority of victims do not make a formal report. It is imperative to understand these decisions to help design and implement policies to normalize and encourage reporting. This study aimed to extend science on the thematic reasons for non-reporting by (1) establishing validity for…

Pregnant and parenting teenagers in the United States face academic, social, and emotional hardships (Baney et al., 2022; Kinser & Masho, 2015; Masterson et al., 2021). Schools, programs, and policies can aid pregnant and parenting students by alleviating burdens or improving schooling outcomes (Brouwer et al., 2019; Modesto, 2018; Zief et…

Women are grossly underrepresented in leadership positions in Higher Education. Despite gains over the last several decades, the disparity still exists between women and their male counterparts. Leadership development programs, leadership style, and organizational culture have emerged as common themes in research studies. Continued advancements in…

This study sought to understand how undergraduate women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds make meaning of the different career messages they receive and how those messages shape their early career decisions. The study was framed by vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) and meaning making. Participants reflected on the career…

In this study, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994; 2000) was the theoretical framework to understand Black Women college students' career development process that included cultural (person and contextual factors). Due to Black Women embodying two historically oppressed and marginalized identities (gender and…

The identity of college students continues to shift, requiring the availability of staff dedicated to student development. Black women represent the largest population of minority student affairs administrators (West, 2019). Black women endure a unique within the United States of America, historically enduring violence and societal vitriol due to…

There is a long history of individuals with extensive support needs (ESN) being sterilized without their knowledge and consent. Students with ESN are defined as individuals who need continuous and widespread supports necessary for academic, communication, and/or daily living skills. These individuals typically have more than one diagnosis…

In the United States, 44.7 million individuals carry student loan debt (Bustamante, 2020). Female students borrow money at higher rates than males (Qian & Fan, 2021). First-generation students borrow more than students whose parents attended college (Redford & Hoyer, 2017). Therefore, female first-generation students carry the highest…

The purpose of this research was to develop an understanding of the shared lived experiences of women with ACEs who dropped out of high school, later returning to adult literacy programs to receive remedial education to prepare for and complete GED requirements, and explored the barriers they had to overcome to do so. The following research…