With the low number of ethnic minority and/or female athletics directors at the Division I level, this proposed study aimed to determine what commonalities, if any, existed among those ethnic minorities and/or females who are athletics directors at the Division I level. Critical race theory and critical gender theory were both used as theoretical…

This study examined the extent of cyber-bullying among college students and how well Ronald Akers' Social Learning Theory predicted cyber-bullying perpetration. In addition, this study explored students' use of media and the characteristics associated with involvement in cyber-bullying behaviors as victims, perpetrators, and observers.…

Awareness of congruence and discrepancies within an individual's pathway from career interest to occupational choice offers significant insight into the process of conciliation and foreclosure (i.e., psychological disposition toward a circumscription of career options). Given the significant role of careers, understanding the career developmental…

This dissertation has seven chapters. In chapter one, I discuss through why I am doing this dissertation, my positionality, and how I learned from and with all of my committee members. Chapter two is where I situate my dissertation study through developing a social theory of quantitative literacy by translating a social theory of literacy (Barton…

Supplemental instruction (SI), a peer assisted learning model, improves course performance, retention, and graduation rates of post-secondary education students. Researchers have questioned if the success of SI is due to students becoming more aware of assessment demands or if SI also promotes construction of new knowledge. The purposes of this…

The experiences of international students along the lines of race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and nationality are virtually unknown. This study utilizes experience-centered narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of Black gay international students, and how they are racialized and sexualized in American higher education. Using a Queer…

This study explored the relationships between perceived administrative support, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment as experienced by elementary teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 elementary school teachers to gain insight through their perspectives of the lived experiences of administrator support and how it…

This qualitative dissertation explores how the principal's leadership roles build capacity for change and how chaos theory contributes to this understanding. The roles studied include distributive leadership, moral leadership, social justice leadership, democratic leadership, and instructional leadership. The tenets of chaos theory examined…

This concurrent multi-phase mixed methods study investigated whether indicators of Social Cognitive Theory could be observed in Grades 3-5 classrooms and if these indicators could be used to describe teacher effectiveness in high poverty schools. The conceptual framework drew upon Bandura's (1997) measurement of the individual self-efficacy of…

The current political environment across the country is focused on accountability practices in education. It is becoming more common for high-stakes tests scores to be part of teacher evaluation practices and monetary compensation. Therefore, teachers receive pressure to teach toward the test material resulting in giving up control of…

This study was a quantitative, causal-explanatory online survey investigation of the relationship between career development, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions among the staff members of higher education institutions headquartered and teaching in the state of Florida. This study considered three theories to help understand the effect of…

The Muslim population in the United States has faced numerous challenges in the aftermath of September 11th, including increased negative portrayal of Muslims in the media. While there is increased understanding that the social environment in the US has become more Islamophobic, there is little research in applied psychology fields to understand…

Aligned with the American Association of Community College's 21st Century Initiative for community college completion, coaching has emerged in higher education as a promising practice in student support services, credited with increasing student progress, retention, and completion. Though a relatively new service compared to such student support…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to examine to what degree a relationship exists between the frequency of participation in Title I public school mentoring programs and the mentored student's self-esteem among fourth and fifth-grade students in two southeastern elementary schools. Social learning and development take on…

A new employee being successfully socialized into the organization and their role in particular is associated with overall individual and organizational success. Moreover, newcomer proactivity is a critical component of the organizational socialization process as individual socialization tactics can contribute to increased newcomer learning. The…