This dissertation explores how environmental engineering can utilize STEM education as a strategic tool, enhancing social sustainability and thereby empowering underserved Hispanic communities in West Texas. Responding to significant educational and resource disparities, this research introduces an innovative interdisciplinary framework that…

Informal education settings are spaces where learning takes place outside of formal classrooms and include museums, zoos, and science centers. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continue to experience barriers to inclusion in such community spaces. This study investigated stakeholder perspectives on inclusion at a…

Black girls are the only group of girls across the United States disproportionally suspended from school. Studies have documented that disproportionality cannot be explained solely by greater misbehavior among students of color. Instead, discipline disparities are also informed by punitive/inequitable discipline policies and practices, less…

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) play a vital role in the American cultural landscape, embodying a rich diversity of approximately 50 ethnic groups and over 100 languages. This diverse population encompasses heritage from Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hawaiian, and other Asian and Pacific Islander ancestries.…

Across the globe, women and racial minorities are underrepresented in leadership. We examined the development of 5-10-year-old children's leadership cognition in India, the world's largest democracy. This cultural context offered the opportunity to study the development of attitudes about gender and to extend examinations of children's conceptions…

The academic performance of undergraduate physics students at a research-intensive UK university were studied to identify whether there were any significant differences between underrepresented and overrepresented groups. Exit qualification, degree classification, average yearly marks, and course marks were analyzed to determine statistically…

While most of the discourse surrounding high-impact educational practices is laudatory, the current manifestation of these practices is not above scrutiny. The benefits of integrating high-impact educational practices into the United States college experience are well-documented, especially for students from groups that have been historically…

Despite increased enrolment of women and students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in doctoral programs, notable inequalities in academic careers persist. We investigate one potential source of these inequalities: publication rates during graduate school. Results, based on a sample of doctoral students in biological sciences across 53…

Latina students are enrolling in postsecondary education in high numbers, yet their enrollment in engineering fields remains low. Part of the challenge Latina students face is a struggle to develop a strong professional identity as an engineer. Using a phenomenological approach, this study examined the experiences of undergraduate Latina…

The role of the Adventure Sports Coach (ASC) has recently become the focus of academic interest. Although research emerging from the field is beginning to diversify, the majority is limited in terms of sampling and methodology. The current study broadened the participant base by providing a demographic analysis of ASCs. An online survey of 504…

Second-year students, also known as the forgotten class, receive the least attention of any undergraduate college class, making fewer contact points with faculty and garnering minimal support from student affairs staff. The second year of college represents different challenges than the first year, and at some institutions, a higher percentage of…

Student enrollment is one of the key elements of leading schools. Now more than ever, there is an asserted effort to increase representation on college campuses across America. Many predominantly white institutions are strategizing ways to increase the number of Black students on their campuses. While enrollment decisions are ultimately subjective…

This article examines the rise of charter schools in New York City through the lens of representation of educators on school governing boards. During its inception in the early 1990s, the charter school movement garnered support from progressives and conservatives alike. Albert Shanker, longtime head of the American Federation of Teachers,…

Ethnic minority students--often descendants of earlier waves of immigrants from neighbouring South and Southeast Asian countries--have been under-represented in enrolment in higher education in Hong Kong. In addressing low university/college-enrolment, traditionally under-represented students' family and community are considered deficit and…

This article emanated from a narrative inquiry into the stories of three Virginia gifted education coordinators whose years in service coincided with years of improved equitable representation in their gifted programs. By analyzing their experiences, the article sheds light on the organizational barriers they encountered. Organizational barriers…