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

Given the scope and paucity of knowledge about the lived experiences of the female adult student entering or re-entering college later in life to degree completion, this research study identified significant themes in their lived experiences. With an appreciative eye, this study captured the female adult students' lived experiences conveyed in a rich, inter-connected, and inspiring picture of who they are embedded into the larger context of society; such as role identity theory, social identity theory and the applicability and interpretations of these two theories on their journey to degree completion. This study also portrayed selected aspects of the feminist movement in the context of women's access to higher education with reference to contemporary feminist views relevant to the female adult student entering or reentering college later in life to degree completion. The central question in this study: What was it like to be on a journey as a female adult student who enters, or re-enters, college later in life to degree completion? In order to inquire into the journey, or phenomenon, a qualitative methodology with a phenomenological design was used that allowed the participants to describe their lived experiences and how they made meaning of the journey to degree completion. Through a three-phased approach nine emergent themes and multiple sub-themes emerged that identified the journey and lived experiences of this group of female adult students to degree completion. This research study makes a unique contribution to the study of the marginalized group of females by not just identifying obstacles and challenges, but imparting in the participant's own words how they overcame both internal and external influences that may have dissuaded other adult females from continuing to degree completion. By identifying the significant themes, it brought to the forefront the importance of raising awareness of the lived experiences of this marginalized group of fem (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize A.E. Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Linda Ellington EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Gender Studies; Higher Education; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1977, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1977, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2014, Psychology

Two types of risk perception, risk recognition and behavioral response, were examined as mediators of child to adult and adult to adult sexual revictimization through the conditional effects of alcohol use during an 8-month longitudinal study of 490 college and community women. Substance-related (SR) and forcible sexual assault were examined as distinct types of adult victimization. Behavioral response mediated the link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and SR sexual assault, conditional upon levels of alcohol use. CSA predicted behavioral response at low levels of alcohol use which in turn predicted SR sexual assault at Time 1. Alcohol use moderated the links between CSA and risk perception, and forcible sexual assault and risk perception, but not between SR sexual assault and risk perception. Risk perception and alcohol use did not interact to predict prospective sexual assault. Results highlight the need to examine multiple types of risk perception and sexual assault.

Committee: Terri Messman-Moore Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Margaret Wright Ph.D. (Committee Member); Aaron Luebbe Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Counselor Education (Education)

As the older adult community increases, there will be a higher demand for counselor professionals who are prepared to serve the needs of the population. Within that cohort, the population of older adult Black women is rapidly increasing. In efforts to serve the unique cultural needs of the population, it will be imperative that counselor professionals are able to provide treatment and support that acknowledges the dense cultural history that shapes their identity. By exploring the cultural framework through the lens of Black feminist theory, counselor educators and professionals can glean greater awareness of how to accommodate older adult Black women in ways that promote mental health, wellness, and healthy aging within the population. This interpretative phenomenological analysis study will explore ways older adult Black women who identify with the Strong Black Woman schema make sense of the aging process while promoting their mental health and wellbeing.

Committee: Mona Robinson (Committee Chair); Christine Bhat (Committee Co-Chair); Theda Gibbs-Grey (Committee Member); Adah Ward-Randolph (Committee Member); Adrienne Erby (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2021, College of Education and Human Services

This research addresses the barriers, support, and aspiration of single mothers participating in work-based training programs. This basic qualitative interpretive study aimed to fill a gap in the literature on understanding the barriers low-wage adult single mother service workers encounter while participating in voluntary workplace learning programs and the support, which has allowed them to persevere. The research considered the following: 1) What were the perceived barriers low-wage, single, adult mothers faced while participating in work-based voluntary training programs offered by their employers? 2) The types of support systems low-wage single adult female participants received while pursuing work-based voluntary training programs? 3) To what degree did participating in work-based voluntary training programs impact low-wage single adult mothers' career plans? Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 15 low-wage single mother participants working either full or part-time in one of two healthcare facilities in Ohio and Michigan. This study used the situational, dispositional, and institutional barriers to learning in Cross (1981) as its theoretical framework. The findings from this study indicate that low-wage single mothers faced obstacles such as lack of childcare, transportation, finances, and time. Time poverty was one of the most insidious barriers reported in this study. Additionally, this study showed how low-wage single mothers navigated their environment by seeking support from various resources as they participated in work-based training programs. The findings of this study suggest that public policy can play a pivotal role in addressing challenges specific to low-wage single working mothers by increasing their economic opportunity and possibly strengthen the fabric of communities across the nation. Of particular interest is how the government can best aid in assisting single working mothers to gain the financial secur (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Hansman (Committee Co-Chair); Jonathan Messemer (Committee Co-Chair); Vickie Coleman Gallagher (Committee Member); Frederick Hampton (Committee Member); JoAnne Goodell (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Health Care

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2021, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

The primary purpose of this dissertation study was to explore levels of resilience in adult women whose mothers died when the participants were children. The death of a mother during an individual's childhood is an adverse event that can affect all areas of that person's life. It is intuitive to believe that early mother death would cause long-term effects on the overall resilience levels of the individuals; however, there has been minimal research exploring resilience in this population. With a sample of 245 women throughout the United States, this study used the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 (CD-RISC-25) to begin investigating resilience in adult women who experienced childhood mother loss. The results of this study showed significant lower resilience mean scores for the mother-loss group when compared to the general population group. Furthermore, within-group differences were found when examining current age and resilience scores, with older women indicating slightly higher resilience scores than younger women. No statistically significant differences were found when comparing mean resilience scores for age at time of loss or length of time since loss.

Committee: Dana Waters PsyD, ABPP (Committee Chair); William Heusler PsyD (Committee Member); Tasmyn Bowes PsyD (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Clinical Psychology; Psychology; Quantitative Psychology

BA, Kent State University, 2017, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

Nadia Montgomery is unapologetic. She tells it like it is and does what she wants, but on the inside she suffers from her emotionally painful past, which she refuses to confront. One day, she decides to drop out of college and run away by herself, a young woman's journey for self-discovery. She winds up in Washington, D.C. looking for fun and adventure, but the trip is not what she expects. Along the way, she is urged to face her true emotions and her unpleasant past. Nadia tells the story of a young woman's journey of running away in the 21st century and the feelings of inadequacy, isolation, and longing for something "more" that so many of her peers experience today.

Committee: Barbara Karman (Advisor); Edward Dauterich (Committee Member); Kimberly Winebrenner (Committee Member); Joy St. James (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2017, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

Spiritual struggle has been described as a disruption in religious practice and spirituality resulting in questioning beliefs, experiencing discord within religious communities, decreasing spiritual practices, and experiencing painful cognitions such as the belief that one is being punished by God. This study used constructivist grounded theory to explore how women identifying as Protestant Christians at the time of the traumatic event resolve their spiritual struggles. Eleven conceptual categories, which are presented in a stage model, emerged from the data. The stages were Experiencing an Event Discordant with Beliefs, Emotional Reaction (following the traumatic event), Questioning (of beliefs, suffering and identity), Disconnection (From God and Others), Seeking Resolution (as a priority), Seeking and Gaining New Understanding, Selectively Seeking Support, Reconnecting with Beliefs, Reconnecting Emotionally with God, Feeling Resolved, and Maintaining Resolution. A definition of spiritual resolution was also constructed. Resolution of spiritual struggle was revealed to be an ongoing process partially simultaneous with spiritual struggle. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Suzanne Engelberg Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jude Bergkamp Psy.D. (Committee Member); Marcia Webb Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Divinity; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Religion; Spirituality

Master of Education, University of Toledo, 2011, Higher Education

The U.S higher education demographic has changed, and adult women constitute the fastest-growing segment in the higher learning environment. Increasingly, many institutions of higher education have come to recognize the important role of student services and support systems in the lives of adult women learners. Although much effort exists in creating supportive learning environments for adult women students, educators and higher education practitioners still know very little of these students' experiences with institutional support and student services, what services are beneficial to them and why. The purpose of this study is to enhance our knowledge of nontraditional undergraduate adult women students' experiences with the student services and support systems. An additional purpose of this study is to explore the types of institutional student services and support systems that are found useful and beneficial by these undergraduate women learners themselves and why they are found useful, as well as to explore the challenges, needs, and expectations of adult women learners regarding institutional support systems that they deem unavailable but necessary. A qualitative research method was employed in this study. The participants in this study were nontraditional undergraduate adult women students enrolled at The University of Toledo (UT). The research design used was a semi-structured open-ended interview questionnaire. The in-depth interviews were conducted face-to-face, and the data generated from the interviews were analyzed. The data analysis provided insight into adult women's experiences with the institutional support services in higher education, and captured adult women students' thoughts on the ways they used and benefited from the available academic support, student activities, and campus facilities. The data analysis also provided insight into the adult women students' challenges, needs, and expectations pertaining to their academic journey for success. T (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Snejana Slantcheva-Durst PhD (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer PhD (Committee Member); Debra Gentry PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2009, Latin American Studies (International Studies)

Education affects both the individual and the nation. Educational programs strengthen community desires and outcomes, and promote the understanding of a community's culture and history. At the turn of the 21st century Costa Rica is forging new paths in adult education. Adult education programs sponsored by universities have a profound impact on the lives of the older adults, particularly women, who participate in them. This is due to the fact that the educational atmosphere provides a space in which each individual can discover, express and appreciate new ideas, values and beliefs. This is very important to ensure that development is effective at the national, personal and community levels. Women's participation in the adult education program at the University of Costa Rica entitled, Integral Education for Older Adults, demonstrates the actions women take to integrate education into their lives, and the societal implications of this phenomenon.

Committee: Risa C. Whitson Dr. (Committee Chair); Betsy Partyka Dr. (Committee Member); Jaylynne Hutchinson Dr. (Committee Member); Edna Wangui Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Gerontology