Low educational attainment of four-year college degrees in America is a concern attributed to specific factors such as the ratio of family size to family income, driven by a dilution of resources. Also having a negative effect on educational attainment are nontraditional family structures such as single, divorced, separated, same-sex, cohabiting,…

Biodiversity loss and rising global challenges are directly linked to the current climate crisis. Peoples' behaviors and lives are being negatively impacted daily, ushering in a new wave of physiological and emotional distress referred to as eco-anxiety, which is being experienced by young people. Urgent concerns for the need for environmental…

This research investigated the attainment of bachelor degrees by students from different immigrant generational backgrounds and income levels in the United States through the additional family capital variables of student educational expectations, parental educational attainment, and two-parent households. As the nation continues to mature, gaps…

This study investigated the influence of professional training and personal factors on five categories of technostress: techno-overload, techno-invasion, techno-complexity, techno-insecurity, and techno-uncertainty. The goal of the study was to determine whether experience and knowledge gained during professional training influenced the level of…

The fact that Latina/o students are losing ground to their non-Latino White peers in four-year college enrollment and bachelor's degree attainment even as Latino college enrollment and graduation rates are at an all time high constitutes a perplexing puzzle. In order to realize the potential "demographic dividend" embedded in the…

This dissertation evaluates the relationship between African American English and White Vernacular English as spoken in a small rural town in western North Carolina for consistencies in vowel production by group membership and for participation in the Southern Vowel Shift (SVS), a vowel rotation currently occurring in the Southern United States. A…

Previous comparisons of the gaps in educational achievement between various minority groups (non-White, non-English-speaking, low income) and their counterparts (White, English-speaking, middle income) have tended to disregard the immigrant status of the minority students. In this study, I investigated these gaps within and between immigrant…

This study explored the relationship between engagement in educationally purposeful activities during the first year of college and academic achievement, persistence, and graduation. The study focused on the impacts of engagement on student outcomes related to academic achievement, persistence, and graduation at a comprehensive university located…

The purpose of this dissertation research was to analyze a nationally representative dataset of first-year beginning students to examine the factors that affect Mexican-origin Latinos undergraduate students' persistence and degree attainment outcomes. Several theoretical perspectives are used in this research in order to address the complex…