The concept of belonging and feeling connected with peers inside and outside the classroom is critical to student success (Strayhorn, 2019). With diversity initiatives specifically geared toward the recruitment of staff, faculty, and students of color, most commonly referred to as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) (Campbell &…

There is an underrepresentation of Filipino American and Asian American school administrators. The problem is that low Filipino American administrator-Filipino American student ethnicity match ratios and low Asian American administrator-Filipino American student race match ratios have negatively affected the graduation rates and chronic…

Increasing diversity in the physician workforce is critical to eliminating healthcare disparities (Abelson et al., 2018; Washington et al., 2017). Although there are many proven benefits to increasing racially and ethnically diverse medical faculty, representation of these groups remains relatively low compared with their White counterparts and…

For many years graduate and professional education programs for the health professions have sought to increase the diversity of their student body to include students from a wider variety of backgrounds. Increasing the diversity of healthcare providers is an essential component of addressing inequities in healthcare. However, despite initiatives…

This study used qualitative constructivist grounded theory research methods to explore with focus groups of 16 racial/ethnic minority undergraduates underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) their experiences of microaggressions, sense of belonging in STEM, and their strategies to negotiate these experiences.…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether the method of course placement for the first attempted English and mathematics courses was independent of the student demographic variables of gender, race/ethnicity, and Pell Grant eligibility. The study also analyzed if course success and semester-to-semester persistence were…

This study investigated the experiences of African American/Black, Asian American, Caucasian American/White, and Latina/Hispanic American women who advanced from operational or technical IT roles to senior executive IT roles. The intent was to understand how individual and organizational factors influenced the women's career advancement journey…

Rating scales are often used as part of the evaluation process to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Rating scales that are modeled after the experiences and understanding of the Caucasian American race may not reflect the unique experiences of individuals from other races or ethnicities. If parent ratings do not uniformly identify the ASD…

Purpose: The purpose of the first study within this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which ethnicity/race-based differences were present in Texas community college completion rates specifically within workforce certificate programs. Regarding the second study, the purpose was to determine the extent to which gender…

This Critical Discourse Analysis examined the classroom discourse of six secondary social studies teachers during lessons dedicated to the study of Africa and the Middle East. The study focused on the phenomenon of otherness and the ways in which teachers contribute to or challenge the depiction of various African and Middle Eastern populations as…

This study examined the impact of high school students' graphing calculator usage on their math achievement over time. Achievement growth was measured using nationally-recognized standardized test scores from EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT. Two groups of students were used in this study; one group had graphing calculators integrated beginning in…

This quantitative correlational non-experimental study examines some major implications of student loan debt that Hispanics face upon graduation from institutions of higher learning. It provides both descriptive and correlational statistics to help view how Hispanics differ from non-Hispanics graduate students in their plight to live the American…

Hispanic students have long been an underrepresented group in post-secondary institutions. With the current and upcoming demographic changes in the United States, more Hispanic students are likely to enroll in college. Understanding if a relationship exists between engagement indicators and students' decision to persist or withdraw from college…

According to the TIMSS 2015 international study findings, students who enjoy learning mathematics a lot scored much higher (average 61 points) than the students who do not enjoy it a lot. Enjoying learning mathematics is one of the indicators of the construct "intrinsic motivation" towards mathematics, and this type of other constructs,…

Persistence is an important measure of success for individual students and institutions of higher learning. The purpose of this study was to explore personal and academic factors that influence persistence in online graduate nursing students. A predictive correlational study design was used. Data were extracted from existing student records in two…