Psy. D., Antioch University, 2016, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

In today's society, an accurate representation of female minority leadership is needed. This study explored the (a) leadership development of African American women, (b) means and hindrances that African American women leaders met on their pathway to success, and (c) role of resilience among African American women. The current research was guided by the Smith (2010) study; Smith completed research on this subject matter using African American males. The current research used women rather than men but maintained the same methodology. The Consensual Qualitative Research Method (CQR; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997; Hill et al., 2005) was used to analyze archived interviews of two past African American female presidents of a national diversity mental health association to identify themes and constructs that emerged from the interviews. The themes and constructs were used to identify the leadership development, the means and hindrances, and the role of resilience among African American women. The results of the current study also indicated that (a) positive feedback/success experience, (b) mentorship, (c) good educational experiences (d) early leadership involvement, and (e) attendance at conventions were instrumental for the participants' leadership development. The results of the current research are consistent with the Smith (2010) findings.

Committee: Susan Hawes PhD (Committee Chair); Barbara Belcher-Timme PsyD (Committee Member); Lorraine Mangione PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2017, Leadership and Change

The dissertation is a deep study of an iconic 20th century female, African American leader whose acclaim developed not only from her remarkable first generation post-Reconstruction Era beginnings, but also from her mid-century visibility among Negroes and some Whites as a principal spokesperson for her people. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune arose from the Nadir- the darkest period for Negroes after the Civil War and three subsequent US Constitutional Amendments. She led thousands of Negro women, despite social adversity, to organize around their own aspirations for improved social and material lives among America's diverse citizens., i.e. “the melting pot.” The subject of no fewer than thirty-two dissertation studies, numerable biographies, innumerable awards, and namesake educational institutions, Bethune ascended to public leadership roles. Her renown of the first five decades of the 20th century is reconstructed to be less enigmatic for people of African descent, and more visible for other mainstream Americans. Remarkably, she employed a uniquely crafted philosophy of interactional destiny for the world's “races” anchored in her brand of Christian evangelism. Bethune's uniquely early feminist worldview and strategies for inter-racial cooperation, different than the worldviews of some of her contemporaries, achieved much social capital and opened doors of opportunity for herself and countless others through a brief federal government position, and organized women's work before 1955. Since much of her meta-narrative was riddled with hagiography and myth, this study has fettered out some myths and eradicated some of the hagiography. The study combines primary sources, secondary sources, photo-ethnography, and hermeneutics to illuminate another pathway for future leadership students and organization developers to appropriate aspects of Bethune's 20th century leadership performance as their own. Unintended to merely applaud Dr. Bethune's leadership performance, this stud (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Philomena Esssed Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Laura Morgan Roberts Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kevin McGruder Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; Black History; Black Studies; Organizational Behavior; Social Structure; Spirituality; Womens Studies

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2023, College of Education

African American females are underrepresented in STEM fields of studies and professions throughout the United States of America. This phenomenological study aims to understand the lived experiences of African American females persisting in post-secondary STEM education and STEM professions. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Systems Theory served as the theoretical framework for this study. In addition, critical Race Theory was used as a filter to understand the challenges African American females face in STEM. The sample size for the research was seven African American females with STEM degrees working in STEM fields in the United States and abroad. In the data collection, the researcher employed a semi-structured interview. The researcher used the NVivo 12 software to systematically code, sort, identify themes and patterns, develop categories, and provide the report. Ten major themes emerged for this study: familial experiences, self-concept/STEM identity experiences, societal experiences, internal influences, familial influences, cultural influences, personal changes, cultural changes, connections to the community, and materialized support. The researcher maintained the privacy and confidentiality of all participants throughout the study. The researcher used pseudonyms and a secure password to preserve privacy and confidentiality. The findings from this study may contribute to the body of knowledge regarding African American females' persistence in STEM education and professions. Additionally, this research provided data to support the perceived barriers, challenges and influences African American females encountered in the STEM field of studies and occupations with the sources of influence of their STEM persistence.

Committee: Judy Alston Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black Studies

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2020, Educational Leadership

What are the barriers that implicitly and explicitly exclude or disinvite African American females from high school Educational MakerSpaces? This narrative inquiry utilizes vignette surveys to engage two African American female students in a scenario about a girl named Lisa who makes a difficult choice of whether to enroll in a program which has an Educational MakerSpace she sees filled with White boys. The narratives from these students are reinforced by the narrative texts collected from three African American female adults who had previously participated in a high school Educational MakerSpace and who engaged in this survey and participated in a focus group. Applying the lenses of Whiteness in Education and Maleness in MakerSpaces, the narratives of these participants are then also used to identify three barriers and two powerful counterbalances to these barriers, both of which can serve to inform future research. These narratives also suggest targets educators can use to develop strategies to begin to address these barriers.

Committee: Lucian Szlizewski Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Joel Malin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sheri Leafgren Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Art Education; Education; Gender; Multicultural Education; Science Education; Secondary Education; Teaching

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Objectives: This study examined the associations between history of abuse, emotion dysregulation, and negative alcohol-related outcome among African American young women who use alcohol. It was hypothesized that: (1) having a history of abuse would be positively associated with greater problematic alcohol use severity and heavy alcohol consumption relative to no history of abuse, (2) having a history of abuse would be positively associated with greater emotion dysregulation severity relative to no history of abuse, (3) greater emotion dysregulation severity would be positively associated with greater problematic alcohol use severity and heavy alcohol consumption, and (4) emotion dysregulation severity would partially mediate the associations between history of abuse and problematic alcohol use and history of abuse and heavy alcohol consumption. Method: The current study analyzed baseline data from the N-LITEN study, a comparative treatment efficacy trial of a STI/HIV prevention intervention for African America young women. African American young females (N = 560), 18-24 years old, who had consumed alcohol on three or more occasions in the past 90 days completed the baseline assessment. History of abuse was assessed using a measure of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; problematic alcohol use was assessed the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT); heavy alcohol consumption was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Concise (AUDIT-C); emotion dysregulation was assessed using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200), Factor 5: Emotional Dysregulation scale. Results: Having a history of abuse was positively associated with greater problematic alcohol use severity, heavy alcohol consumption, and emotion dysregulation severity. Emotion dysregulation severity was positively associated with greater problematic alcohol use severity and heavy alcohol consumption, and emotion dysregulation mediated the relations between history (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Brown Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Erica Birkley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sarah Whitton Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

African American women are disproportionately affected by HIV/STI. Extant literature suggests that attachment style may be associated with risky sexual behavior. Working model-self (WMS) and working model-other (WMO) are attachment-related constructs that reflect beliefs about oneself in relationships, and beliefs about others with whom one relates to or interacts with. The present study examined the associations between WMS, WMO and sexual risk behaviors: (a) proportion of condom use for vaginal and anal sex during past 3 months, (b) number of sexual partners in lifetime and during the past 3 months, (c) having a casual sexual partner during the past 3 months, and (d) using alcohol before having sex during the past 3 months. Potential partial mediators of the relationship between WMS, WMO and sexual risk behaviors were also assessed, including: (a) partner communication self-efficacy, (b) fear of condom negotiation, (c) peer norms for risky sexual behavior, (d) partner trust, and (e) sex-related alcohol expectancies. Structural equation modeling analyses assessed a model of the Theory of Gender and Power (TGP) with the added attachment construct to explain risky sexual behaviors among African American women. A total of 560 participants completed the baseline assessment for an HIV prevention intervention trial and were randomized to study conditions. The current study includes only the baseline data obtain from these 560 participants (M age= 20.58, SD = 1.89). Participants self-reported sociodemographics, sexual history, alcohol use, communication skills, and psychosocial constructs associated with STI/HIV-preventive behaviors via an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) survey. Results indicated that WMS (but not WMO) was associated with number of lifetime and recent (during the past 3 months) sexual partners; however, WMS was not associated with having a recent causal sexual partner, proportion condom use, or consuming alcohol prior to sexual encounters. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Brown Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kristen Jastrowski Mano Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sarah Whitton Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

The study of relational aggression has increased in the past few decades; however, there are a limited number of evidence-based interventions designed to reduce relational aggression. Most interventions address problem behaviors or aggression but very few focus on relational aggression. This is not surprising considering the often covert nature of relational aggression. The Goodwill Girls program is a tertiary prevention program that was developed for use as a small-group intervention for those students who are at-risk for relational aggression and/or peer victimization. The researchers who created the Goodwill Girls intervention have conducted many studies on relational aggression and victimization (e.g., Crothers et al., 2005; Crothers et al., 2007; Field, Crothers, & Kolbert, 2006). They have built a solid foundation in the understanding of the characteristics, assessment, and treatment of relational aggression. This intervention has been published in a book directed towards school counselors; however, the effectiveness of the intervention has not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was two-fold: to evaluate the Goodwill Girls intervention that targets relational aggression and to examine its effectiveness with predominantly African American females. This study was conducted using an experimental design with the manipulation of a single independent variable on two levels. The effects of this study were measured using a pre-test/post-test control group design with random assignment of participants to either the experimental or control group. The findings of the current study are consistent with recent research (Scott, 2012). Specifically, the Goodwill Girls curriculum did not significantly decrease self-reported and observed relational aggression in the students who participated in the intervention. Implications of these results are discussed. In addition, possible modifications to the intervention and areas for future research are presented.

Committee: Kisha Radliff Ph.D. (Advisor); Antoinette Miranda Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joe Wheaton Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Psychology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this study is to give recognition to and lift up the voices of African American women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. African American women were active leaders at all levels of the Civil Rights Movement, though the larger society, the civil rights establishment, and sometimes even the women themselves failed to acknowledge their significant leadership contributions. The recent and growing body of popular and nonacademic work on African American women leaders, which includes some leaders' writings about their own experiences, often employs the terms “advocate” or “activist” rather than “leader.” In the academic literature, particularly on leadership and change, there is little attention devoted to African American women and their leadership legacy. Using a methodology of narrative inquiry, this study begins to remedy this gap in the leadership literature by incorporating history, sociology, and biography to describe the key characteristics of African American women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. In acting to dismantle entrenched and often brutal segregation, they had no roadmaps, but persisted with authenticity, purpose, and courage. Few had position power; they led primarily as servant leaders. They widely engaged in adaptive leadership, which was often transformational. This study's interviews with nine women leaders who represent a range of leadership experiences and contributions reveal leadership lessons from which we can learn and which lay the groundwork for future research. This Dissertation is available in open access Ohiolink ETD Center (http://etd.ohiolink.edu) and AURA (http://aura.antioch.edu).

Committee: Alan E. Guskin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Elaine Gale PhD (Committee Member); Joseph Jordan PhD (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; American Studies; Biographies; Black History; Black Studies; Gender Studies; Sociology; Womens Studies

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Urban Educational Leadership

According to Bennis (2003), “True leaders are not born, but made, and usually self-made” (p. 33). The purpose of this study was to identify and examine what factors influenced and limited the opportunities of African American females to obtain and maintain leadership roles in administrative positions at urban schools and the value of supporting diversity in leadership. This researcher believed that AA female leaders rely on their own personal-lived experiences to develop a leadership style that compliments how she handles the day-to-day protocols of her demanding and volatile job. Additionally, research and experiences about AA female leadership is scare and in dire need of more attention (Allen, Jacobson, & Lomotey, 1995; Alston, 2005; Bloom & Erlandson, 2003; Dillard, 1995, Hill-Collins, 2000). AA female leaders appear to be in a sphere of pressured situations based on social, economic, political, and moral concerns that collectively challenge the way she develops her educational environment in order to create a didactic environment that becomes an effective, successful, and high-achieving academic setting for the students, teachers, and staff. This research study examined the leadership style of a small subset of three (3) AA female elementary principals, ranging from ages 35-43, in a large urban school district. This study utilized a qualitative approach and was situated in an epistemology of Black Feminist Theory and Transformational Leadership that investigated how gender, race, age, personal-lived experiences, mentors, culture, spirituality, and other social inequalities might affect their leadership decisions and influence their urban educational experiences.

Committee: James Koschoreck PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Dantley EdD (Committee Member); Vanessa Allen-brown PhD (Committee Member); Lanthan Camblin PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Teaching and Learning

Until recently, research on the relationship between classroom management and culturally responsive teaching has remained distinctly separated. Researchers in each field of study have focused on issues pertinent to their respective areas of study. Missing is research that explores how teachers make sense of and come to understand issues of cultural diversity in their classroom management approaches. This qualitative research is based on case studies of the perceptions and interpretations of three White, female, middle school teachers. The participants were nominated as successful teachers of African American students and effective classroom managers by their principal and other teachers in the building. The purpose of the study was to examine and describe the influence of diversity on the teachers' classroom management practices. The increase in African American students in urban middle schools together with the low number of African American teachers means that the majority of students will be taught by White, middle-class, teachers. Although these teachers may have good intentions, they may not have the cultural background and dispositions to deliver the most appropriate classroom management approach to this group. Research indicates that teachers may lack cultural self-efficacy, cultural information, and cultural experience that may result in subjecting African American students to ethnocentric attitudes, damaging communication, and culturally insensitive discipline and interventions. The cumulative effects of poverty, racial segregation, low expectations, and misinformation about the cultural background of African American students have placed them in an exceptionally high-risk category for school disciplinary consequences. While many reasons can be attributed to the high suspension and expulsion rates experienced by this population, the fact that African American students infrequently share the cultural framework of their teachers may be a factor in the creatio (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Johnston Marilyn (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Physical Activity and Educational Services

Background: Chronic physical activity has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity (IS) and lower rates of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). There have been no studies that examined the effects of aerobic (AT) and resistive (RT) training in obese, sedentary African Americans (AA) females, who are genetically predisposed to develop T2DM. Thus, the objectives of the present study were; 1) determine the effects of AT vs. RT on glucose transporter proteins (GLUT4) and insulin sensitivity; and 2) examine the impact of genetic inheritance (family history {FH}) on these indices. Methodology: Twenty (20) AA with FH were randomly assigned to 12weeks (12wks) of AT[(70% of VO2max) (n=10)] or RT[(70% of 1 (RM) (n=10)]. Ten(10) AA females without FH served as reference controls [(CN) (n=10)]. OGTT (glucose, insulin, c-peptide), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were obtained in each subject. IS was measured by the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR). Body composition was assessed via BOD POD. Each subject completed a V02max test and 1 repetition maximal (1RM) for chest press(CP) and leg press(LP). Skeletal muscle biopsy for GLUT4 was randomly obtained in a sub-set of each group. Baseline measurements were repeated in subjects with FH after 12wks. Results: The fasting plasma glucose, insulin and c-peptide, HOMA-IR, SBP, DBP, %body fat, were statistically higher in subjects with FH vs. CN. The mean V02max and %lean body mass was statistically lower in our subjects with FH vs. CN. Twelve weeks of AT significantly reduced the SBP and DBP, whereas, RT significant increased body strength. HOMA-IR was not changed by AT or RT. The GLUT4 was not different among our groups. RT was associated with a 24.8% increase in GLUT4 whereas, AT decreased GLUT4 by 10.8% from baseline, but these values were not statistically significant. Summary: Obese AA females with FH of T2DM have greater %body fat, insulin resistance, significantly higher BP and lower V02max when compared to healthy aged (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Sherman (Advisor) Subjects:

PHD, Kent State University, 2006, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Adult, Counseling, Health and Vocational Education

The purpose of this study was to examine African American adolescent females, how their development may be influenced by their cultural values (racial identity development), societal values (skin color preference) and self-concept. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), a Demographic Questionnaire, and the 30-item Racial Identity Attitude Scale form B (RIAS-B) were administered to 100 African American adolescent females between the ages of 14 and 18 years. An Analysis of Variance and a Multivariate Analysis of Variance were conducted; the findings in this study suggest that in the population sampled, there is an association between African American adolescent females' scores on skin color satisfaction, the RIAS-B, and self-concept. The participants widely supported internalization attitudes (79%), were satisfied with their skin color (74%), and had high self-concept (74%). Finally, limitations and delimitations to the study are discussed along with implications for counselors.

Committee: Marty Jencius (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2013, Anthropology

It's Just Gym presents the findings of a study that explored how a group of African American adolescent girls attending a suburban, middle-class high school in the Midwest experience and enact their physicality in school settings. This study was devised as an attempt to critically examine how local cultural context informs the disproportionately high levels of obesity and the disproportionately low levels of physical activity documented among African American females beginning at puberty. The study aims were to (1) question the lay and scientific conventional wisdom regarding body size and health promotion among African American females and (2) present an alternate framework for exploring the institutional and social contexts in which the study participants expressed that physicality. In this mixed methods exploration that included surveys, focus groups, interviews, observation, electronic activity monitoring, anthropometry and personal network assessment, school-based physical education and extra-curricular activities, gender, race and class emerged as key, intersecting contexts of physicality. Relational strategies – including personal network composition and the circumstances of resort to separation – were explored, as were the participants' experiences of recreational and functional exertion. Emerging from these explorations is a set of accounts of body conceptualization and physical activity engagement among the participants that are characterized by patterns of similarity and difference. These patterns reflect the dynamic operation of intersecting contexts, individual experience and relationship dynamics in these young women's identities. That is, these patterns indicate that body conceptualizations and activity predilections among the participants were the outcomes of a complex, yet not wholly individualized, set of influences, circumstances, perceptions and behaviors that are not readily predicted by any one category of identity. Thus, in addition to being (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Eileen Anderson-Fye EdD (Committee Chair); Atwood Gaines PhD, MPH (Committee Member); Janet McGrath PhD (Committee Member); Jonathan Sadowsky PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Behaviorial Sciences; Cultural Anthropology; Gender; Health Education; Public Health