Academic choice and exploration are essential aspects of undergraduate education in the United States, allowing students to select courses with minimal restrictions. However, students often face challenges in navigating the complex academic landscape, hindered by limited information, insufficient guidance, and an overwhelming number of choices.…

In the last 2 decades, there has been an increase in the number of higher education institutions (HEI) establishing Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) positions to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) gaps and priorities. CDOs play an increasingly significant role in developing, evaluating, and advocating for policies and practices at…

Institutional effectiveness processes are essential to ensure a university survives and thrives. The purpose of this research study was to explore the relationship between the vocational calling of higher education faculty and staff members and institutional effectiveness in order to explore new ways of cultivating a culture of assessment in…

The American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Vision 2025 is a call to action for the occupational therapy profession to maximize the health, well-being, and quality of life of all people, populations, and communities through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living (American Occupational Therapy Association,…

This study examined proactive career behavior among college students engaging in career interventions. Specifically, the impact of proactive career behavior on career readiness and career goal attainment was investigated. The study sought to discover what proactive career behaviors are displayed by students who engage in career interventions. The…

The following three articles in this dissertation challenge the current rationale of internationalization and makes the case for anew approach to internationalization within U.S. higher education. My first article delves deep into the rationale of internationalization in U.S. higher education over the years by way of U.S. study abroad. This…

This generic qualitative inquiry (GQI) explores experiential learning in higher education for students interested in law enforcement careers. Through interviews and focus group discussions, the study aimed to uncover insights into the perceptions and experiences of students engaging in a university student security program (USSP). The USSP allows…

Guided by the three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework, this study explored the career experiences of women support staff with advanced degrees who work at higher education institutions. The researcher interviewed eight participants for this study. The participants also completed a written reflection detailing their career journeys. Two…

The quality of care children receive from birth to kindergarten sets them on a trajectory for successful entry to school. Children who receive high-quality care, which is provided by qualified early educators with demonstrated mastery of the essential early learning core competencies, enter school ready to learn. Shortages of credentialed early…

Between 1820 and 1860, dozens of new denominational colleges opened throughout the United States. Nowhere was this growth as dramatic as in the Old Northwest in general and in Ohio specifically. Through the mid-twentieth century, most historians saw these colleges as steps backward in the development of higher education in the United States, with…

The booming economic development and access to modern education are the key drivers that have recently changed the position of women in Qatari society. Research shows that increased motivation among women to pursue a career and enhance their skills and capabilities is helping the economy of all GCC nations. Despite the upcoming drastic increase in…

To continue to meet the changing needs of students and the evolving higher education environment, further exploration into the viability of an online career development course was needed. The purpose of this post-positivist, quantitative, quasi-experimental design study was to examine the effectiveness of an online career development course versus…

Black African women are grossly underrepresented as academic staff in engineering programs at South African universities. The problem is exacerbated at historically White institutions (HWI) where Black women are simply absent as engineering research and teaching staff. The absence of Black African women in the academy occurs despite Black African…

Within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers fields, the representation of women remains at an inequitable level when compared to men and to women's representation in other professions. Given the current state of women representing 52% of the professional and management-related workforce (U.S. Bureau of Labor and…

This dissertation studies college admissions in Brazil in the past two decades, a period characterized by a decline in the socioeconomic inequality in demand for higher education. The first chapter studies an affirmative action policy enacted at a flagship university in Brazil to lower the socioeconomic inequality in college access. I find…