Women, especially Black and Latina women, are marginalized in physics, including in high school classrooms. Recognition is one of the ways women and girls experience marginalization in physics. This dissertation is comprised of three distinct but related studies examining how students experience recognition in an AP Physics 1 classroom. The first…

This cross-sectional study examined if there was a positive correlation between students' critical consciousness (CC) levels and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The study was conducted via a survey that had four parts, including the Critical Consciousness Inventory (CCI), the Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Survey, open classroom (OC)…

This dissertation examined Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) within California's educational system using a quantitative approach with qualitative insights (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The study, guided by two research questions, investigated the impacts of school leaders' demographics (race, gender, and experience) on their…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational predictive study was to examine if, or to what extent, gender, years of experience, and instructional modality predicted self-efficacy among community college instructors teaching in the Southwest region of the United States. The theoretical framework for this study is grounded in Bandura's theory of…

This quantitative study explored the self-efficacy beliefs and responsibility beliefs of 281 teachers from 30 schools in West Tennessee according to how they were trained. The Teacher Responsibility Survey was utilized to collect data and determine whether statistically significant differences existed in the self-efficacy and responsibility…

Female students are underrepresented in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academic courses. The problem is a lack of understanding of how female college students' perceptions of course climate and instruction affect their representation in STEM courses. A gap in the literature exists related to how female…

This study addressed whether gender, social desirability, statistics levels, and statistics self-efficacy can significantly predict variation in statistics anxiety at the graduate level. Statistics anxiety undermines performance throughout academia and reduces employment opportunities that require skills in statistics. Previous studies have…

High school students' chemistry self-efficacy (CSE) and scientific identity (SI) are not well understood in the high school chemistry classroom. The purpose of this research was to quantitatively investigate the interaction between gender and giftedness on students' CSE and SI in a suburban high school chemistry classroom, with and without…

This quantitative study aimed to determine whether participation in dual enrollment or advanced placement courses helped increase the college readiness self-efficacy of high school graduates. With the results of this study, the researcher believes that participation in dual enrollment and advanced placement courses is associated positively with…

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…

The purpose of this study was to investigate non-music major college and university students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perceptions of the four sources of self-efficacy as they related to their participation in active music making and creation in college (e.g., ensembles and musicals, group and private lessons, music theory classes). An…

In Saudi Arabia, mathematics is an essential subject for all freshmen except students majoring in medical sciences. The struggle of students in mathematics is one of the most common issues in the last ten years (Khoshaim, 2015). According to Higbee and Thomas (1999), mathematics self-efficacy, along with other effective characteristics such as…

Men are overrepresented at the highest levels of leadership in nearly every industry, despite studies that report that men are seen as having less effective leadership abilities than women (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017a; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017b; Catalyst, 2018a; Catalyst, 2019a; Catalyst, 2019b; Taylor et al., 2008; U.S. Department…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in…

This mixed-methods study examined educators' perceptions of obstacles that prevent instructional coaches from increasing teacher efficacy and developing relationships with teachers. Data were gathered from instructional coaches in a focus group, interviews with administrators, and teachers using a survey. Transcripts from the focus group and…