The research aims to discover marginalization within Black Greek Letter Fraternities (BGLFs) through the lens of duly initiated members who identify as same-gender-loving. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of masculinity among duly initiated BGLF members who are same-gender-loving (SGL). This qualitative study utilizes a…

My dissertation addresses three studies which ask broadly: What are the predictive metrics of functioning AS-CTE pathways? Can students' perceptions of these pathways be changed? Are these pathways equitable for female students? In my first study, I take a step toward better understanding the metrics that explain functioning AS-CTE pathways.…

This study examined how conforming to traditional, Black, and athlete-based masculine norms impacts self-stigma of help-seeking. Social support was examined as a buffer between self-stigma and willingness to seek help. Participants were from NCAA Divisions I, II, and III men's sports teams. Hypotheses were (1) after accounting for control…

Discussions about sports continue to permeate the news and political realms and may prove to be a useful but underutilized tool to teach difficult subjects like race, gender, and sexuality. However, most scholarly work on sport focuses on a specific systemic inequality within a sport and/or how an issue affects sport and thus are sociological in…

Despite the numerous studies suggesting that psychological treatments are equally efficacious for men and women, many men continue to exhibit reluctance toward seeking treatment for their psychological concerns. This significant gender disparity in mental health services utilization persists despite mental illness severity. There is a plethora of…

Using creative autoethnographic "testimonio" (CAT), a story is told about the injustices within the learning environment and work environment of higher education toward a person with disabilities: sleep apnea, learning disabilities, negative mental health. The author explores the health difficulties of addressing sleep deprivation while…

Transgender students are often an invisible minority in postsecondary education, particularly in STEM fields. I am addressing the lack of research in this area with an exploratory narrative study designed to answer two questions: (1) How have the experiences of postsecondary transgender students in STEM education varied with their gender…

Black Greek letter fraternities were created for the social and academic support of Black male undergraduates. Numerous studies have proposed the many benefits associated with membership in these fraternal organizations; however, these benefits are undermined regarding Black Greek letter fraternities' treatment of Black gay students, even those…

From With-In the Black Diamond: (Black Diamond) autoethnographically explores the lived experiences of a Black male who navigates his way through a predominately white higher education institution while existing within marginalized spaces related to his gender, ethnicity, and identity. Black Diamond uses epistolary writing techniques to explore…

Since the mid-twentieth century, a shift in demographics of those attending higher education institutions has resulted in increased attention to underrepresented students and their development, specifically their social identities, including race (Cross, 1991), gender (Gilligan, 1982), and sexual orientation (Cass, 1979; D'Augelli, 1994;…

This work explores the use of multimodal communication in a community of expert "World of Warcraft"® players and its impact on politeness, identity, and relationships. Players in the community regularly communicated using three linguistic modes quasi-simultaneously: text chat, voice chat, and face-to-face interaction. Using the…

I investigate the spoken dialogue of four Indian novels in English: Mulk Raj Anand's "Untouchable" (1935), Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan" (1956), Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan's "The World of Nagaraj" (1990), and Rohinton Mistry's "Family Matters" (2002). Roger Fowler has said that literature, as a form of discourse, articulates ideology;…