Wage gap statistics continue to show that efforts around equitable pay distributions continue to fail. These data inform us that the outcomes are not meeting expectations therefore something must change. We still see nationally that white men are paid more than any other gender or racial group, which tells us that we are hiring more diverse…

As the cost of living continues to increase over time, many Americans are placing greater scrutiny on the financial choices they make. An area for such evaluation is if the outcomes of going to college continue to be worth the cost. One underrepresented group, first-generation college students (FGCS), is less likely than non-FGCS to attend and…

While women have made considerable strides in terms of representation in the workplace, discrepancies by gender still exist with regard to women's professional satisfaction and wages. The field of legal private practice is one such example where female lawyers have increased in number but still do not earn commensurately with men and often do not…

This dissertation uses three empirical papers to examine the relationship between student gender, student's income expectations for the future, and persistence in schooling. First, I use survey data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) to examine how both children's and parent's earnings expectations for students in 12th grade vary by…

The purpose of this quantitative study is to test the relationship between degree choice and post-graduate outcomes for students in the United States by describing the relationship between a selected major and post-graduate outcomes including employment sector, salary for women and men. As college costs rise, and enrollments fall for the first…

Student affairs professionals play an integral role in supporting college students' mental health and well-being. Yet the current literature lacks research that specifically documents these phenomena within this set of professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic created additional mental health and well-being concerns that are worth empirically…

Presented in the context of this study are several conceptual and theoretical frameworks, as well as examples of empirical literature, which inform, focus, and offer perspective of the study. Gender theory and theorizing universities as gendered organizations provides the theoretical framework of the study. Along with the theoretical framework,…

Institutions of higher education currently face serious challenges, including high costs for learners, demand for return on investment from students, and expectations from employers to produce work-ready graduates. Skills desired by employers are shifting as technology advances, putting further pressure on colleges and universities to adapt and…

This current dissertation used case study (Yin, 2018) to examine United States female college students' perceptions of their financial literacy, especially with respect to their debt accumulation and the gender wage gap, at a public, 4-year institution in New Jersey. It answered the following research questions: How are student debt, financial…

Research examining the pursuit of the principalship reveals that many educators are driven by higher-level needs that make the role of principal compelling and desirable. The role of principal can be attractive to educators in that it enables one to positively affect the lives of students and teachers, and to raise one's status, thereby satisfying…

This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in…

This study utilized a phenomenological qualitative research design to assess job satisfaction of women student affairs professionals in Louisiana at entry, mid, and senior levels positions. The purpose of this research was to examine perceptions of women student affairs professionals in Louisiana higher education institutions regarding: (1) job…

This dissertation consists of both quantitative and qualitative studies. The quantitative study utilized the 2017 public use data set from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (n = 16,383). The purpose of this study was to describe female first-generation doctoral students who have successfully completed PhDs in STEM fields through analysis of…

In this dissertation, I explore how international migration and environmental pollution shape human capital accumulation and labor market outcomes.The first chapter examines how college enrollment and major choice decisions of young adults in migrant-sending countries are affected by the removal of international migration barriers. My…

Previous research into the effect of collegiate head coach's gender focused on measuring the coach's ability to enhance athletic performance, this study extends that research by examining the coach's educational and mentoring impact on athletes. We examined whether head coaching gender was associated with higher salaries, SWLS Satisfaction With…