The pandemic and post pandemic job market showed the importance of online professional training for employees to improve professional skills necessary to acquire skills to adapt to the new environment and get promoted in their current professions, while contributing to organizations' success. The present dissertation study utilized the Unified…

Despite initiatives to support women in STEM, men still outnumber women in math-intensive fields, and women in mathematics express that they are "on the outside looking in." Prior mathematics anxiety research has investigated links to performance, and neuroscientists, psychologists, and educational researchers have found gender…

This study was an action research analysis of a competitive, after-school robotics program in the Woodland Hills School District. A longitudinal quantitative analysis was used to measure the effects of the after-school program on academic achievement and student engagement in school. Grade Point Average was measured before the program began and…

The purpose of this study is to assess whether there is a relationship between neighborhood inequality in which underrepresented minorities (URMs) with STEM degrees reside and their employment in STEM fields. The current study deploys an Intersectional Theory (IT) research framework and Bourdieu's Theory of Practice to identify the influence of…

This dissertation explored male students' perspectives on male dominance within career and technical education (CTE) programs and examined how these perspectives impact their educational experiences and career opportunities. The study uncovered a complex interplay of social, cultural, and educational dynamics that influence male students'…

Even with women outnumbering men in obtaining graduate and professional degrees in educational leadership, the representation between women and men in higher level positions such as principalships, district office executives, and superintendencies remains incongruent. Consequently, this incongruency is further exacerbated when we look beyond women…

Across five studies, this dissertation explores the thesis that children are sensitive to information about others' mental states and that this sensitivity scaffolds their learning in both the physical (Chapter 1) and social (Chapters 2 and 3) domain. Chapter 1 explores the interplay between the physical and mental world during visuospatial…

What motivates students to achieve is a question that educators, parents, and policy makers in every country seek to answer. A scientific understanding of this question can help us design interventions that foster student achievement and unleash the potential of all members of society, regardless of their economic, racial/ethnic, and cultural…

The purpose of this study is to understand how women describe their journey to becoming senior leaders within the operations sector of the Paper Manufacturing Industry. This study will provide insights about how women in the male-dominated Paper Manufacturing Industry (PMI) assumed leadership positions. This pre-registered study will offer the…

Muslim women are portrayed with a dichotomous image: on one side, as the victims of the patriarchal Muslim men and, on the other, as the violent associates of the Muslim terrorist (Maruoka, 2008). The act of head covering, the most visible Muslim-identified marker, has thus assumed an outsized space in research of Muslim women. However, while…

General chemistry is a foundational course that most STEM students are required to take at some point in their academic careers, as such, thousands of students find themselves in a chemistry classroom every year. Students come into the classroom not only from different academic backgrounds but also from a variety of social and emotional…

The purpose of this empirical investigation was to determine the predictable relationship between body type factors, socio-demographic factors, attitudes toward body factors, and the self-esteem scores of undergraduate college students. More specifically, the study was concerned with the predictability of body types, socio-demographics, and…

This study explored doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students' attitudes, perceived knowledge, and perceived competence specific to social and structural determinants of health (SDOH). Current students in a DPT program housed within a college of public health in an urban research institution served as the participants for this research. The…

This dissertation is a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) higher education professionals who hold a position in the President's Cabinet of a public university in the Western United States. The study utilized human capital theory, social capital theory, and social cognitive career…

Of the 3.5 million first-time in college, full time students who began college in fall 2017, 74% returned for fall 2018, with 61.7% retained at their starting institution. Covid-19 has negatively impacted retention; in addition to normal attrition, one of every five students did not return to campus in fall 2020. Researchers have gauged both…