Women in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations comprise 27% of employees in STEM fields (Martinez & Christnacht, 2021). Their participation continues to drop even when they reach the highest levels of leadership in STEM industries (Chrisler et al., 2012; R. A. Miller et al., 2021; Worthen, 2021). There have been calls by…

Through a Critical Action Research (Hesse-Biber, 2017) study utilizing the sequential mixed method to examine the experiences of Black women leaders in corporate spaces in the U.S. by situating their experiences in national and local Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) data and delving into the nuanced experiences of four Black women previously…

The Auburn University Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree program has enrolled fewer women in comparison to their male counterparts in each cohort since the inception of the program. The percentage of women has varied year-to-year but has never exceeded 35%. As women continue to increase their roles in upper management in the…

As the United States works towards strengthening and diversifying the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce, many national charges aim to increase the quantity of female participants, while overlooking how systematic barriers affect the quality of female students' education. Many STEM workforce development programs, such as…

This research study explores the retention and recruitment practices of a prominent school district. The focus is how to retain and recruit female African American high school athletic directors from the state of Maryland. In-depth interviews were used to acquire insight into the retention policies and recruitment practices of female African…

It is critical to pave the way for more women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite the need for an increased workforce, women remain underrepresented in technology careers and particularly technology leadership (Tomaskovic-Devey & Han, 2018). Furthermore, there is a lack of research on how STEM recruiting and…

This study is about the experiences for first-year women who take part in the Formal Panhellenic Recruitment process but are not accepted for membership. The participants narrate their experiences with Formal Panhellenic Recruitment as well as how the process affected their transition to their institution and how the process changed their path to…

The underrepresentation of women and women of color in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is of little surprise to those of us who have kept abreast of the statistical data supporting this phenomenon. In order for the United States (U.S.) to remain "economically and globally competitive" (Ong,…

Though research efforts have been conducted to understand the strategies to increase female participation in STEM and relevant areas, including the construction field, still the desired outcomes have not been forthcoming. This study proposes to explore the innovative use of 360-degree immersive environments powered by virtual characters to tell…

Minoritized Black students who are average academic performers have often been overlooked as a targeted group in empirical studies that look at barriers and other limitations for minority students (Rodriguez, 2015; Stewart, 2013). This study seeks to identify the practices that higher education institutions are currently utilizing to recruit…

This study utilized narrative inquiry to examine the experiences of four male teachers to understand conditions supporting or inhibiting girls' participation in gender non-traditional career preparation programs at the secondary level. I expanded on previous literature by highlighting factors influencing recruitment and retention in…

The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study is to explore the different pathways into teaching in rural primary and middle schools. As a conceptual framework, the continuum of teacher learning and occupational choice theory were used to study teacher preparation and recruitment. Research participants included twelve teachers (seven male…

While suffering from gendered racism experiences, Black women are at a higher risk for developing chronic physical and mental health conditions. Furthermore, Black women in doctoral programs are more likely to experience inadequate support and guidance that can ultimately hinder professional development and progress. The current literature has…

This thesis utilized a basic qualitative approach and Banks' multicultural education theory (supported by the theories of Crenshaw, Tinto, Sen, and Nussbaum) to investigate the higher education experiences of Appalachian African-American (AAA) women who have persisted to graduation from a four-year institution. The narratives of AAA women as…

The underrepresentation of female leaders in intercollegiate athletics has long been a problem since the implementation of Title IX in 1972. While Title IX was successful in increasing the number of females participating in college sports, it was not as impactful on increasing the number of females leading in college sports. On the contrary, as…