As graduates have transitioned into the workforce, employers have complained that these younger employees lack the soft skills that are needed to be successful in the workforce. Soft skills are personal traits and skills that employers seek in employees. Internship programs can be used to develop soft skills. Few qualitative studies have looked at…

The employment problem of college graduates has evoked concern from students to politicians. Since 1999, the Chinese government has promoted an enrollment expansion policy evident in the subsequent data which identified an increased college graduation rate. Furthermore, the English language proficiency of Chinese college students was emphasized…

The problem addressed in this critical autoethnographic study concerns the lack of higher education opportunities for musicians in the state of Sonora, Mexico and the ways in which that impacts music educators from the region. In particular, I look at the different paths music teachers take to follow their vocation by critically examining my…

Intellectual capital (IC) is a vital to the functionality of information technology (IT) businesses. Many companies recognize that enhancing and maintaining IC is critical to sustainability. The problem is that Fortune 500 IT businesses lack human resources in the United States needed for innovative development, resulting in an overreliance on…

Rural students, especially rural Appalachian students, remain underrepresented in higher education (ARC, n.d.). Enrollment declines continue to exist at a majority of institution types across the country as traditional sources of students continue to dry up. Universities and colleges are rediscovering rural areas in order to try to bridge gaps in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid for first-time, full-time Hispanic economically disadvantaged students selected from a South Texas Hispanic-serving institution. The dependent variable, college persistence, was measured by…

In this dissertation, I use data from Chile to study the determinants of schooling trajectories. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on higher education, Chapter 3 on secondary education, and Chapter 4 on teachers. Chapter 1 explores the role of a socio-emotional ability, self-efficacy, in understanding why students with comparable qualifications transit…

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…

Many international doctoral female students in the sciences in the United States do not obtain a degree despite their large investment in time, effort, and financial resources. The loss of highly prepared and credentialed international female doctoral students, who have a genuine interest in science but who choose not to pursue their studies to…

This dissertation investigates the intersection of economics of innovation and human capital development to understand how to empower individuals and marginalized communities to be directed to innovation and STEM disciplines. The research focuses on three main chapters: Chapter 1 examines the effectiveness of an education program in teaching and…

This study used a case study research design to investigate the knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs of elementary principals regarding whole-grade acceleration for gifted students. The research literature is overwhelmingly positive on student outcomes--academically, socially, and emotionally. However, little research exists on the impact of…

This dissertation addresses three separate questions in human capital and development economics. In the first chapter, I study how college admission concerns drive students' field choices in a field-specific college admission system. To study this question, I leverage a college admission policy reform in Ethiopia that sharply increased the…

As a local education agency, school districts play an important role in providing instructional support for teachers and school leaders, making instructional goals, and allocating financial and human capital resources in a rational way to promote overall students' learning outcomes. Studies on school districts that look to find reasons or…

According to the United States Department of Justice (2017), over 10,000 formerly incarcerated individuals are released each week from federal and state prisons. Approximately two-thirds of this population will be re-arrested within three years of release. Although employment has been found to reduce recidivism, the majority of formerly…

Gulf-War-era-II combat veterans have made professional contributions to the civilian workforce since returning from Iraq and Afghanistan combat operations. Service members in California encounter transition issues related to employment and adjusting their self-identity in the civilian employment culture. These complexities have led to career…