Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Ohio University, 2021, Business Administration

The purpose of this study is to understand differences in factors in selecting a college major for students studying business and non-business majors by gender. A survey was distributed to students at four-year undergraduate institutions in the United States. Ultimately, it was observed that significantly more business students were influenced by earning potential and college professor(s) in the selection of their major. Significantly more female business students were influenced by their father in their choice of major than were female non-business students. Some factors that influenced female non-business majors more than female business majors included teachers and exposure to major throughout high school. When examining how to increase female enrollment in business colleges, factors seen as more influential by non-business majors should be considered for recruiting women to business.

Committee: Travis Davidson (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

Student belonging is a burgeoning topic in education research because of its positive association with persistence and graduation. It is thought to underscore why students minoritized on a campus, either by race or social class, have higher rates of departure and lower levels of well-being than students who make up the majority (Gillen-O'Neel 2021; Gopalan and Brady 2020; Nunn 2021; Strayhorn 2018). This dissertation is a case study of student belonging. Specifically, I analyze longitudinal surveys and interviews with a sample of first-generation college students who were surveyed and interviewed four times across their four undergraduate years. My findings support the association between marginalization, belonging, and persistence, while also encouraging researchers to reconsider the causal relationship between belonging and positive academic outcomes. Chapter 2 identifies four classes of student belonging based on two waves of survey responses (n=911, n=486). Using Repeated Measure Latent Class Analysis, I find belonging patterns along academic and social axes. Students often change classifications across years, and generally first-year students who feel they belong socially are more likely to maintain or develop academic belonging than students who lack social belonging during their first year. The class-type grouping revealed by the data are clearly connected to race and, to a lesser extent, social class background. White students tend to have higher levels of social belonging than non-White students, and by the second year of college students whose families help finance their education are more likely to relate deeper social belonging than students without familial support. Though belonging is associated with a student's intention to persist, I find no significant association with grades. Chapter 3 explores trajectories of student belonging, and whether and how such belonging shifts, through an analysis of 56 semi-structured longitudinal interviews. In th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Hayford (Advisor); David Melamed (Committee Member); Vincent Roscigno (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Gender; Higher Education; Social Research; Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2008, Psychology/Clinical

In light of religious and worldview differences between psychologists and the general population of the United States (i.e., psychologists are generally less religious and endorse more non-traditional religious views), the researcher sought to determine whether such differences are evident at the level of undergraduate education. Using data from questionnaires administered to 3,680 undergraduate students in their junior year, the researcher compared psychology and all non-psychology majors in terms of scientism, irreligiousness, normative religiousness, humanism, spiritual struggle, and religious embeddedness. MANCOVA and ANCOVA statistical analyses suggested that psychology majors were higher on humanism and spiritual struggle than were students in all other majors; the two groups did not differ with respect to the other four variables. Psychology majors were also compared to more specific subsets of majors, including students of the natural sciences, humanities, theology/religion, business, education, engineering, and health professions. In this case, education and theology/religion majors scored lower on scientism and higher on normative religiousness and religious embeddedness than did psychology majors. On spiritual struggle, psychology majors scored higher than students of business, education, and engineering. Psychology majors were also higher on humanism than all majors except the humanities and theology/religion. These results indicate that the differences between undergraduate psychology majors and their peers are subtle, with psychology majors tending slightly toward humanism and spiritual struggle. Two forces may further lead psychologists-in-training down their divergent religious path. First, those with greater humanism and spiritual struggle may be selectively attracted to graduate education and a career in psychology. Second, additional educational and professional socialization may cultivate humanism and spiritual struggle, contributing to the aband (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kenneth Pargament PhD (Advisor); Annette Mahoney PhD (Committee Member); Michael Zickar PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Psychology