Contrary to the rhetoric around a post-racial United States, Black male students are not experiencing equitable outcomes in higher education. Community colleges are a critical access point to higher education for Black males; however, they are not graduating, transferring, or entering the workforce at an acceptable pace. The purpose of this…

While women are obtaining more college degrees than men, there still exists an imbalance of women leaders in higher education institutions. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to identify how women from different races account for the experiences that have facilitated their ability to access executive level leadership…

Tremendous advancement and growth have been made, as it pertains to the sheer volume of leadership attainment of both women and Black people in general, in almost all industries and facets since the Civil Rights movement. What appears to still linger is the inequity that faces Black women in executive leadership roles. This dissertation will focus…

In this dissertation, I researched factors that predicted women's likelihood of persistence in college engineering. Women are less likely to study engineering in college than men, and when they do, they are more likely to switch out to another major. As a male-dominated field, micro-aggressions and other forms of discrimination from males are not…

Since the inception of career technical education in community colleges and the building trades, women have been severely underrepresented in male-dominated training programs and careers. Many initiatives have been introduced over the last 45 years to remedy this disparity and include women in high paying careers in the building trades and other…

This qualitative study explored the shared experiences of 7 collegiate women in positions of leadership who perceived their strengths do not align with gender norms. Participants shared experiences through written and oral interviews, and the researcher utilized strengths philosophy and the Status Incongruity Hypothesis as theoretical lenses, and…

This qualitative study, situated within a critical theory frame (Friere, 1970; Grant, Brown, & Brown, 2016; hooks, 1994; Kincheloe, 2008), explored the ways elementary students engaged in and constructed meaning from critical classroom discussions exploring inequities and injustices as related to gender and race. The questions guiding the…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of women high school principals to uncover challenges contributing to the underrepresentation of women in secondary school leadership. Moreover, this work is situated within the larger movement of educational leadership for social justice, with a focused application of a…

While research makes clear that individuals' gender, racial, and sexual identities and their intersections impact experiences of and responses to sexual and gender-based violence, the literature on college sexual assault prevention programs reflects an overwhelming absence of this type of identity-based program content. This Interpretative…

This qualitative single descriptive case study addressed the perspectives of how minority women perceived higher education institutions support or lack of support in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The problem was that there is a disproportionately small number of minority women being prepared to fill STEM jobs.…

The United States' evolving federal regulations and laws are doing little to disrupt systemic sexual violence, and more narrowly, are doing very little to protect Black women (Dunn, 2014; Harris, 2017; Harris & Linder, 2017; Konradi, 2016; O'Toole et al., 2015; Yung, 2015). Further, Black women are underrepresented in college sexual assault…

With more women of color (WOC) aspiring to study science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and healthcare (STEMH), colleges and universities serve as a critical environment for preparing and supporting successful transitions from earning a STEMH degree through participation in the STEMH workforce. I use a three-article format to examine the…

Gender, race, and class--intertwining oppressions experienced by Black women have ultimately led to barriers such as marginality, exploitation, political subjugation, and negative images of African American women (Collins, 2009). Research about the lived experiences of Black women has either been infrequently told or narrated by individuals who…

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of female presidents in Arkansas community colleges. This was accomplished by collecting data through one-on-one interviews to examine how these women have navigated the labyrinth of leadership to reach the presidency of a community college. Using the conceptual framework of the…

Traditionally, many of the problems experienced by Black girls were overshadowed by the ongoing crises facing Black Males. Although important, the focus on Blackness and masculinity often implicitly leaves young Black girls on the sidelines and fails to recognize their unique obstacles. Fortunately, there has been a new surge of social concern…