This dissertation explores the lived experience of transformation in mentor-coaches trained and certified through the Center for Mentoring, Coaching, and Leadership Development (CMCLD). The CMCLD describes its training as a transformational process in which mentor-coaches adopt a listening mindset that becomes a lifestyle change. This dissertation…

Race-based trauma (RBT) negatively impacts the physical and psychological well-being of the Black community. RBT literature is confined to scholarly journals rarely accessed by the people who will benefit most from awareness. This dissertation aimed to fill the gap in qualitative research examining the experiences of Black people impacted by RBT.…

This dissertation is an exploration of leader identity development and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college academic classrooms. While there continues to be research promoting diversity in STEM professions, women remain underrepresented in STEM disciplines, leadership positions, and for this specific study, the…

Becoming a counselor educator is a complex and rigorous process wherein students grow both personally and professionally (Dollarhide et al., 2013). Throughout this process, students develop in accordance with doctoral competency standards (CACREP, 2021) which help socialize them into the role of professor. For international learners, their…

Despite a general belief that students pursue higher education to advance their knowledge and plan for a career, there is limited research dedicated to how student-athletes view their lives following graduation. Furthermore, the existing career related research provides mixed evidence regarding overall workforce preparation, a focus on revenue…

Supporting the development of an antiracist identity in counselors could facilitate change toward equity, justice, and opportunity within the counseling profession and increase awareness of white counselors in working with clients of color. Understanding obstacles to and enablers of antiracist attitudes in white women counselors holds the…

In 2020, the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), a highly infectious and deadly respiratory disease, quickly spread into a worldwide pandemic. This study investigated posttraumatic growth (PTG) among K-12 educators in the United States after teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research problem is that educators experienced trauma that is unique to…

Research on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) indicates that students evaluate themselves more favorably when they have high rank in low rank schools than low rank in high rank schools. In this integrated dissertation, I provide three empirical papers examining experiences and forecasts of this effect. BFLPE experiences refer to the impact…

This study explored the ways in which faculty at a Research 1 university defined their identities as faculty members as well as how they describe the relationship between their engagement with students and the development of their identities. The reasons for the study were rooted in the fragmented and incomplete ways faculty identity has been…

This phenomenological qualitative study addressed "The Experience of Being Gifted and Talented From the Perspective of Adolescents." The literature review supported the idea that there are many facets to an individual's experience of self and their place within different groups. Factors like identity development, social and emotional…

The Future of Work and Learning looks bleak to some, incites worry in others and signals an opportunity for widespread education and workforce innovations and invention in others. Unfortunately, the latter are counted among the few. With staggering realities that more than 50% of jobs will be forever transformed by automation. Or the fact that 65%…

Successful and high achieving schools have leaders that establish clarity within the school and know they "have a hand in shaping events" and results they want to achieve (Bandura, 2012, p. 11). Successful and high achieving schools not only implement specific research-based practices that help all students succeed, but they also…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how mentees describe the career and psychosocial mentoring functions of mentors in non-profit organizations in the southern United States. The theoretical foundation for the study was Kram's mentoring roles theory. Two research questions focused on how mentees in a subordinate…

The purpose of this Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was to understand the extent to which hegemonic masculinity inhibits self-authorship among male undergraduate students at Saint Somewhere College, a small, liberal arts, and Catholic institution of postsecondary education in the northeastern United States. Utilizing Baxter Magolda's…

Many elementary teachers enter the profession with anxieties about teaching mathematics that can impact their approaches to math instruction. Though teacher education programs often strive to alleviate these anxieties, the process of learning to teach math is complex, and novice teachers often enter the field with little support for continued…