This phenomenological dissertation study aimed to explore how agency is exerted beyond hegemonic masculinities in engineering and illuminated the influences of a discipline's culture on masculine thinking and being. Moreover, this study, guided by Black feminism, epistemologically and theoretically, moves Black masculinities scholarship and…

In this qualitative study, we engage in a critical discourse analysis of the counternarratives of a Black female preservice teacher (Paula) to understand how she experienced planning and teaching a literacy lesson, using a picture book about a Black girl's experience of racism, in her white mentor teacher's classroom. Drawing upon…

While the higher education institutions around the world grapple with a systematic dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and targeted attacks on social justice measures, social work education remains a ray of hope. With its deeply embedded principles of empowerment, the profession is positioned to foster advocacy. And…

From their documented arrival in the colonial United States, Black women have been systemically forced to exist as mules for a society dependent on their labor and human capital for a developing nation funded by a plantation-centered economy. Likewise, the nation's earliest higher education institutions were founded within the confines of the U.S.…

Throughout my life, grief's torrents have run undercurrent to my personal and professional journey. It has taken my arrival to mid-life, decades of professional and life experiences as well as higher education for this awareness to flow. I have been grieving for my lost self as woman; my shattered voice as a teacher; and the freedom to choose as a…

Despite the growing importance of teaching about diversity and its connection to intersectionality, privilege, and oppression in social work education, few studies have examined whether teaching interventions could enhance students' knowledge of oppression. Thus, this study assessed the extent to which students assimilated content related to…

Through thoughtful course design and the use of targeted strategies, postsecondary instructors can assist students with disabilities in attaining academic goals. When success within the classroom increases, more positive evaluations of instructors who support student achievement can result, and both graduation and retention rates can rise. This…

This dissertation investigates the influence of racialization on the attrition rates of African American male students in predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The study examines whether these students experience cultural shock or face more profound systemic challenges. The research explores how African American men navigate and perceive their…

This dissertation builds on literature centering first-generation college students (FGCS) with immigrant parentage in order to develop an understanding of how many of their unique and intersectional experiences may function as assets that could promote retention and degree completion. The sample is comprised of 30 FGCS who are also first- or…

This dissertation explores the identity development of Muslim American women (N = 25) in higher education, utilizing intersectionality as both a methodological and theoretical framework. First and foremost, it centers the lived experiences, agency, and autonomy of Muslim women throughout the findings. Second, it takes into account the intersecting…