Methods to estimate the causal effects of interventions are increasingly used in clinical medicine, public policy and social science. Using observational data, researchers can obtain causal treatment effect estimates without the ethical risks and time constraints that typically burden randomized experiments. The three studies in this dissertation…

Program directors at community colleges must navigate institutional rhetoric to effectively support Men of Color. This study considers how administrators often exhibit a non-performative commitment to diversity, in that stated commitment might not equate to action. Utilizing a framework grounded in critical race theory and cognitive frames…

Amid a troubled overhaul of the federal process for applying for student financial aid, the share of Wisconsin high school seniors completing the application so far this year has plummeted. The largest declines have been at schools with greater proportions of marginalized students. While the gap may be narrowing as students near commitment…

Scholars of early childhood education have urged qualitative researchers to adapt their methods for use with young children. However, unjust social imaginations of childhood (e.g., who is considered a "child") play out in qualitative research, particularly for young children who are made most vulnerable by intersecting oppressions (e.g.,…

Educational researchers have widely used the term "racial microaggressions" as a theoretical framework for examining everyday and subtle forms of discrimination predicated against people of color. However, there are historical and contemporary differences in how Black people experience schools and other social institutions that a racial…

The comprehensive implementation of anti-racist dance pedagogy requires recognition that the prevailing dominance of Anglo-European cannons of teaching, creating, performing, researching, and learning dance has continued to disempower, subjugate, and inhibit knowledge and practices of communities on the margins. As dance practitioners writing from…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctoral education. Pandemics throughout history have generated new educational theories and practices, accelerated some trends and signalled the abrupt end of others. The unpredictable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have particularly impacted upon First…

National canons of history sparked intense debate among historians over the last years, history educators have regularly shown concerns regarding these canons. The main arguments are that history is instrumentalized for political purposes, and that canons are incompatible with multiculturality. In this study, the cases of the Netherlands and…

Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to algorithms that predict college-student success to inform various decisions, including those related to admissions, budgeting, and student-success interventions. Because predictive algorithms rely on historical data, they capture societal injustices, including racism. In this study, we examine…

Historically, physics has been a predominantly male field, with previous literature showing that there is little diversity among U.S. physics students at the undergraduate and graduate levels or among physicists within the work force. Recent research indicates that the lack of diversity in physics is partially due to an unwelcoming climate within…

In recent decades, initiatives to diversify post-secondary educational spaces have blossomed. Many of these "broadening participation" efforts are in STEM undergraduate departments that, historically and presently, predominantly serve white men. Using a raced-gendered theoretical lens, we conducted a narrative analysis of interviews with…

This paper argues that the epistemic is not separate from the material, and the depth and scope, of harm enacted against Trans people can be conceptualized as a Trans epistemicide. It makes clear that colonization, the psy disciplines, and education are imbricated systems wherein multiple forms of epistemic injustice and epistemological violence…

It is urgent to ensure that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education meets the needs of our nation's increasingly diverse student population. This study examined whether a second-grade science program, Scientific Explorers, supported educational equity in STEM achievement for diverse student populations. Sociodemographic…

Professional development and mentorship are key supports designed to facilitate growth and acclimation to the teaching profession as well as foster the stability and success of new educators. However, both fields of study have been occupied by a normalization of whiteness and white teachers, which often neglects the experiences, perspectives, and…

In the United States, there exists a significant disparity between the racial demographics of teachers and students, with a majority of educators being white. This mismatch underscores the critical shortage of teachers of color (TOC). While race does not determine teacher quality, a teacher's race, ethnicity, and language do shape the experiences…