This dissertation examines the discourses surrounding remote learning during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic through Twitter conversations. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis informed by Michel Foucault's theories of discourse and power, this study explores how the pandemic has transformed educational interactions over social…

Despite increasing interest in broadening diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in engineering, its student population remains relatively homogenous. Across higher education, disabled people continue to be a largely ignored and marginalized population. The experiences of the disabled community are notably absent from DEI efforts in…

This dissertation explores the well-being of public K-12 teachers in the United States who explicitly identify as anti-racist and/or anti-colonial teachers. Well-being has traditionally been conceptualized as attached to single human individuals in most Western academic scholarship. However, drawing on insights from the posthumanisms, community…

Critical Participatory Action Research is a form of research where community members and researchers collaborate to plan and carry out a research project on an issue they identify together (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Mirra, Garcia & Morrell, 2016). While most CPAR projects engage adolescents, an emerging body of research focuses on CPAR with…

This qualitative case study explores how the LGBTQ+ community is included in informal STEM learning environments (ISLEs) such as museums and science centers. One science center was chosen as a case study to identify how ISLEs may broaden participation to the LGBTQ+ community, how institutional stance impacts LGBTQ+ community members, and how the…

With federal gender equity mandates in place, some may assume that schools are now havens were children are protected from discrimination based on failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity. Yet, research suggests that the school literacy curriculum serves as a site that privileges gender performances consistent with…

Despite significant growth and advancement for women and girls participating in sports, we have not seen the same trend for women in leadership roles in athletics -- even with the introduction of the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) designation. The SWA designation was implemented in 1989 to ensure that at least one woman would be involved with…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine the power differentials that manifest within Kansas public higher education due to policies surrounding territory assignments and degree offerings for Kansas two-year community and technical colleges. The study provides insight into the differential effects of these policies among different…

Hostile work environments in the U.S. have been long examined, beginning with the pioneering work of Carroll Brodsky (1976), which produced the idea of workplace bullying. Academic bullying, a term that derived from the concept of broader workplace bullying, is situated specifically within the academic work environment. While academic bullying has…

Undocumented students graduate from high school at 98,000 per year nationally (27,000 annually in California). School counselors are certificated campus professionals tasked with social, emotional, college, and career interventions for all students and also provide advocacy between students and any barriers interfering with school safety, mental…

Positive mentoring experiences are crucial for retaining and advancing those who hold marginalized identities in STEM, as they foster a greater sense of belonging and self-efficacy that encourage these students to persist in their fields. Marginalized identities in STEM include, but are not limited to, women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People…

Open remix, defined as the objects, processes, and mindsets developed through the act of combining or manipulating open educational resources to create something new (Hilton et al., 2010; Knobel & Lankshear, 2008; Lessig, 2004; Wiley, n.d.), serves as an effective teaching and learning practice for its propensity to expand technological…

Supervisors provide evaluations, act as professional gatekeepers, and serve a central function to psychotherapy training, yet little is known about the impact of power dynamics on the supervisory relationship and the psychotherapy trainee. The present study offers a closer examination of Bordin's (1983) concept of supervisory alliance, revealing a…

This study explores how aesthetic decisions influence community college presidents. Aesthetic choices communicate powerful messages (McArdle-Clinton, 2008). These messages influence a campus community, affecting access, cost, decision, and equity (Bouillard & Deslandes, 2015; Connor & Schrecker, 2010; Fairclough, 1995; James, 2013). These…

Among the top reasons public school superintendents leave their positions is the poor relationships and conflicts with board members, and union representatives (Grissom & Mitani, 2016). The national average of superintendent tenure is less than four years resulting in K-12 leadership instability, at all levels of the school and district office…