Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, Educational Leadership

Teachers need a greater understanding of implicit (unconscious) bias and how these phenomena reinforce and support racist processes and systems. The current public education landscape in parts of the United States focuses too much attention upon data-based decision-making, integrated comprehensive systems, collaborative work in teacher teams, and so-called value-free improvement processes meant to enact system-wide changes in teaching. Unfortunately, there is not enough emphasis being placed upon altering teachers' implicit biases about African-American students. More research is needed to better understand the barriers teachers face in coming to the realization they harbor implicit bias toward African-Americans. This study offers an analysis of educators' perceptions and understandings of implicit (unconscious) bias by detailing their stories of how they came to the realization they possessed bias toward African-American students. My research question was: "What are the stories of educators who have come to the realization they possess implicit bias toward African-American students?" The title is somewhat of a misnomer because coming to the full realization of possessing implicit bias toward African-American students is quite difficult for Whites to attain. Three teachers in a diverse suburban school called Northfield High School -- adjacent to a "hypersegregated" Midwestern city -- were interviewed with the aim of understanding how they came to the realization they had implicit bias. The three participants answered questions in advance of being accepted into the study to demonstrate they had an interest in studying and an understanding of implicit bias. An initial interview was conducted to understand teachers' educational pasts, presents, and imagined futures without implicit bias. A follow-up interview gauged teachers' understandings of implicit bias on the basis of open-ended questions about readings. The findings indicated White participants possessed signific (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member); William Boone (Committee Member); Joel Malin (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Sociology; Teacher Education; Teaching

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2020, Economics

I use data from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Florida Highway Patrol to test for racial bias in traffic stop outcomes and to analyze racial bias training in Pittsburgh. The primary empirical obstacles are selection and omitted variable bias. Selection occurs when officers select into patrol areas or individual interactions based on race, which leads to different racial groups of officers interacting with different distributions of motorists. The omitted variable problem arises from unobservable civilian factors which may be correlated with civilian race and receiving traffic citations or getting arrested after a traffic stop. I use high speeds on the highway and stops made in low visibility conditions to argue for random officer assignment to each interaction in Florida. I utilize fixed effects regressions to capture within-officer civilian race effects and then I compare civilian race effects across officer racial groups to combat omitted variable bias. I find suggestive evidence of widespread bias in both datasets, and that racial bias training in Pittsburgh may have backfired in the realm of traffic stop outcomes.

Committee: Deborah Fletcher (Advisor); Austin Smith (Committee Member); George Davis (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Economics

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

The enclosed study examines the systemic equity of classical dance training by questioning the existence of implicit bias, its impact on teacher identity, and its role in building pedagogical practices that reflect experiences with implicit bias in ballet training. Motivated by the ongoing conversation about the lack of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), it departs from conventional student deficit-centered reasons. Instead, in it you will find a qualitative, self-reflective, actionable study that focuses on the teacher roles in equity-facing change determined through Critical Action Research methods. The study uses focus groups comprised of ballet practitioners who have experience studying, teaching, observing, and accompanying ballet classes that serve inclusive student bodies. Because of the affective construction of implicit bias; furthermore, the study employs a proprietary conceptual framework, Contemporary Intentional Change (CIC) shaped by pre-data collection, self-reflective examinations of identity undertaken by participants. Focus group participants provided description-rich data that is organized in a resulting Taxonomy of Implicit Bias in Classical Dance Training. As an insightful schema into what comprises implicit bias in ballet training, it will be foundational to further, post-study inquiry to determine long and short-term, equity-facing interventions that foster inclusion, increased student engagement, and organizational change.

Committee: Matthew A. Witenstein (Committee Chair); Rodney Veal (Committee Member); Elizabeth Essex (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Arts Management; Dance; Educational Leadership; Teaching

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Communication Disorders

Parkinson Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative motor disorder that often affects phonation, articulation, and prosody. As demonstrated in other communication disorders, negative perceptions associated with differences in speech production and fluency can lead to stigmatization and feelings of isolation that negatively impact quality of life. Prior research suggests that self-disclosure can reduce negative perceptions of speech disorders and result in more positive social evaluations. The purpose of the current study was to determine the extent to which listeners make negative explicit and implicit social judgments about speakers with Parkinson disease and to determine how knowledge of a PD diagnosis impacts these perceptual judgments. Participants made a series of social judgments related to the confidence, friendliness, naturalness, intelligence, and intelligibility of spoken utterances produced by talkers with and without PD. Mouse trajectories were recorded to examine the extent to which implicit bias affected the response trajectory during the task. Listeners were significantly more likely to make negative social judgments about talkers with PD. After exposure to an informative statement describing how PD could affect voice and speech, listeners were significantly less likely to make negative judgments about talkers with PD. However, an analysis of the cursor trajectories indicated that listeners exhibited greater deviations toward the negative judgment response option when selecting a positive judgment about talkers with PD than those without PD. The results highlight the need to address bias toward talkers with PD and reduce negative perceptions and stigma associated with this disease.

Committee: Jason Whitfield Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Brent Archer Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Speech Therapy

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2022, Educational Leadership

Asking the question, “Am I racist?” is a hard thought to process, one that can even be offensive to some, unthinkable to others. However, considering recent events like the #SayHerName movement and other demonstrations that bring racial justice and implicit bias to center stage again, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was shared with the nation, educators find themselves asking, “What more can we do?” This research is about finding the answer to the question how do we identify and change our own implicit bias as educators, how can we use this knowledge to improve education today and, in the end, make us all more comfortable? Using a participatory action research model, 15 educators and one researcher set out to find ways to work together to tackle this topic in ways that can be reproducible for the next set of courageous role models. Using surveys, focus group discussions, case study scenarios, and exit tickets, ideas of how to incorporate bias training for teachers and teachable moments for students were discovered. Combining ethnographies, transformative leadership, critical race theory, implicit bias, social justice theory, and a willingness to change, this research shows one way that the status quo can be altered. By setting up small focus groups, trustworthy dialogues were able to occur and common themes such as childhood experiences, workplace experiences, classroom trust, and fear emerged from the conversations, leading to pathways that can be recreated by others.

Committee: Joel Malin (Committee Co-Chair); Sherrill Sellers (Committee Member); Lucian Szlizewski (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Teacher Education

BS, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Health Sciences

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify implicit and explicit attitudes of the public towards people who stuttering using a computer mouse tracking paradigm when answering questions on the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes -Stuttering (POSHA-S). Methods: Participants were 21 males and 11 females who reported using a computer mouse to complete an online modified version of the POSHA-S remotely. Responses were compared by the helpful/correct and unhelpful/incorrect response to the questions in each component of the POSHA-S. Area Under the Curve (AUC), measuring mouse trajectory, and Reaction Times (RT) were used as measures of implicit attitudes. Results: Participants demonstrated a significant difference in the number of correct and helpful responses on one component of the POSHA-S, and in reaction time for another component. No significant difference in area under the curve was found. Discussion: The results the findings of this study offer evidence of participants reporting more correct/helpful explicit responses in a dichotic response task to the commonly used assessment, the POSHA-S. The implicit measure of area under the curve did not support the hypothesis that area under the curve would be higher when participants select the correct/helpful responses, reaction time provided some limited indications that participants may respond quicker to the incorrect and unhelpful response options than to the correct and helpful response options, particularly for one component. Based on these findings, further data should be collected to have a better understanding of the relationship between the public's implicit and explicit towards people who stutter

Committee: Hayley Arnold PhD. (Advisor); Jennifer Roche PhD. (Committee Member); Jian Li PhD. (Committee Member); Jennifer Taber PhD. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Psychology; Speech Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2016, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology PhD

The effect of implicit bias on discriminatory grading in education has received considerable attention but, to date, no study has examined the effectiveness of using a rubric to reduce biased grading. Current research has demonstrated that the presence of a gender-normative name is sufficient to activate implicit gender bias, which can result in disparate treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implicit and explicit gender bias on grading decisions for written assignments. When grading identical essays on the topic of computers (stereotypically-male), participants assigned significantly lower grades when the essay was supposedly written by a female author, compared to a male author. This difference was more pronounced in participants who had a stronger implicit association of men with science (high implicit bias). Male and female author grades did not differ when assigned by participants who were low in implicit bias. Further, participants who were high in implicit bias, but reported low explicit prejudice toward women in STEM graded the female author more harshly than the male author. This study also investigated the effectiveness of using a rubric to decrease bias effects on grading. Unexpectedly, use of the rubric enhanced the effect of implicit bias on grading when the author gender and essay topic were stereotype-inconsistent (i.e. female computer author). It is possible that rubric use further depleted cognitive resources already limited by dissonant implicit and explicit attitudes. While rubrics might increase the perception of objectivity, they might also inadvertently serve to amplify the effect of implicit gender bias when the topic being graded is strongly-gender normative.

Committee: Tamera Schneider Ph.D. (Advisor); Kevin Bennett Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Burns Ph.D. (Committee Member); Martin Gooden Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Evaluation; Educational Psychology; Gender Studies; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Womens Studies

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

Head Start provides comprehensive services to children and families identified as low-income and culturally minoritized. Social service providers should be attuned to the community where they live and work to embrace diversity and ensure inclusion to strengthen and enrich the serviced community's needs. The ability to increase cultural awareness and perspective while gaining the knowledge and ability to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion to inform the design and implementation of related professional development efforts has been examined while maximizing the safety of the learning environment. The Individualized Cultural Conceptual Framework seeks to guide the learning and understanding of this study.

Committee: Matthew Witenstein Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Joy Milano Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lindsay Gold Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Education; Educational Leadership; Inservice Training; Organizational Behavior; Teacher Education

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Health Programs

The United States pediatric population is unique in that the epidemiological trends differ from those seen in the adult population. When discussing the pediatric emergency department (ED), this is typically a setting with high patient flow which requires swift diagnoses and treatment. Ideally, all patients should have equal opportunity to receive their highest possible level of quality healthcare, regardless of social determinants of health (SDOH) such as patient race/ethnic background, preferred spoken language, socioeconomic status, and insurance status. This is essentially the concept of health equity. The goal is to provide responsible and ethical healthcare to patients. If healthcare delivery is disproportionate, this may result in the overcrowding of EDs, delays in patient care, economic burden on the healthcare system, and increased morbidity and mortality. Some scholars have claimed that both individual and systemic biases have resulted in inequitable healthcare delivery. The following research study investigated health equity in the United States pediatric ED via the following question: What government and organizational policy changes can be made to enhance ED pediatric patient equity by utilizing first-hand information from ED physicians? The selected methodology for this research was qualitative and utilized in-depth semi-structured interviews of 15 pediatric ED physicians via Franklin University's Zoom platform. ATLAS.ti software was used to assist in identifying key themes and sub-themes from the code transcriptions.

Committee: David Meckstroth (Committee Chair); Karen Lankisch (Committee Member); John Suozzi (Committee Member) Subjects: Epidemiology; Ethics; Gender Studies; Health; Health Care; Health Care Management; Language; Literacy; Medical Ethics; Medical Imaging; Medicine; Mental Health; Native American Studies; Public Health; Public Health Education

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2024, Education

The purpose of this study is to understand the prevalence of faculty members' abilities to incorporate cultural humility into their Masters of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) program curriculum and barriers they feel they face in implementing this into regular practice. There is a severe lack of focus on issues pertaining to social justice within the athletic training profession, and implementation of cultural humility skills into MSAT programs can help address the systemic injustices within athletic training healthcare delivery. While there has been a focus on cultural competency in athletic training education, there is little to no current research on cultural humility and how it is used in programs currently, nor how comfortable faculty members are with teaching their students cultural humility in intentional and effective ways. A qualitative method was utilized to explore the research question, and to understand perceived barriers to implementation of culturally humble training within the current curriculum. Faculty members at accredited institutions were interviewed virtually, and it was determined that cultural humility is taught to various degrees within differing programs. Student identity, faculty identity, social determinants of health, open-mindedness, and commitments to action are some themes identified within the work. Identified barriers include time, identity, and legislative restrictions. This study looks to provide a foundation so future research can shift the focus to patient-centered care techniques that will serve people of all identities and backgrounds. Athletic training needs to become a pioneer profession of equitable and compassionate healthcare, setting the standard for other professions to overcome systemic inequities that decrease the quality of care delivered to diverse and historically marginalized patient populations. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leslie Jackson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Emiliano Gonzalez Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christina Davlin-Pater Ph.D. A.T.C., E.M.T. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Evaluation; Health; Health Education; Health Sciences; Higher Education; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Sports Medicine; Teacher Education

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

Disparities in the rate of exclusionary discipline of African American students and their same-aged peers continue to exist. African American students are administered lengthier punishments than their White peers and often for more subjective offenses. They are often the subjects of implicit bias, with adults perceiving African American children as being older than they are, less innocent than their peers, more culpable and aggressive, and more deserving of harsher punishment than White children (Gilliam et al. 2016; Lewis & Diamond, 2015; Welsh & Little, 2018). The excessive use of exclusionary discipline on African American students has been linked indirectly to higher dropout rates, future incarceration, and lower higher education outcomes (Skiba et al., 2014). Restorative justice is cited as a way to mitigate the implicit bias that has the potential to lead to the perpetuation of disparities in school discipline. Originating in New Zealand, restorative justice is seen as a solution to the negative consequences of exclusionary punishment and its disproportionate application. The purpose of this study is to use statistical analysis to determine the impact of restorative justice implementation on a large, urban district. Results of this study revealed that there has been no significant impact on instances of exclusionary discipline for African American students. Over the span of the study, there was no significant change in the suspension rates of African American students with regard to year, infraction, or grade band. Results of the general linear modeling analysis indicate that the change over time of the rate of suspensions for the 9-12 grade band was significant, F (4, 115) = 7.048, p = <.001. Results of the Tests of Between-Subject Effects indicate that a significant interaction existed between race and interaction by year term.

Committee: Karen Larwin PhD (Committee Chair); Katie Fallo EdD (Committee Member); Sherri Harper-Woods DM (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

Past and current research has explored the link between the “blackness” of a person's name and socioeconomic outcomes in American society. Black-sounding names were shown to influence employment prospects, access to credit markets, and choice of housing among other opportunities. While education research had identified a relationship between teachers' perceptions of students with distinctively Black names and perceived academic potential, it had yet to examine how targeted students perceive and internalize nameism, a portmanteau of name and racism, in predominantly white learning environments. A qualitative study examined nameism and its influence on students' selfconceptions and learning experiences. Using a phenomenological gaze to study participants' experiences, the results revealed mixed, contradictory views on Blacksounding names within the sample. Study participants expressed feeling compelled to maintain varying situational identities to avoid name-identity threats expressed through implicit bias and microaggressions. Participatory action research was used to construct a multimodal, evidence-based intervention to address nameism as a problem of practice in classrooms where experiences with nameism are most likely to occur.

Committee: Aaliyah Baker (Committee Chair); Kiara Lee (Committee Member); Rochonda Nenonene (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Black History

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2023, Counselor Education and Supervision

This study examined the contribution of affirmative training and implicit bias on affectional identity counselor competencies among new professionals. Data were collected from June to August 2023. New professionals from across the four geographic regions of the United States (N = 92) completed an online Qualtrics survey comprised of four instruments: (1) the survey-software Implicit Association Test (IAT), (2) the Affirmative Training Inventory-Student Version (ATI-S), the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS), and a demographic questionnaire. Canonical correlation was used to investigate the research hypothesis. Results demonstrated that affirmative training and implicit bias were statistically significantly related to affectional identity counselor competencies among new professionals. Notably, lower levels of affirmative training in counseling graduate classrooms, less affirmative stances in counseling graduate programs, and higher levels of implicit bias were associated with lower awareness, knowledge, and skills competencies. However, univariate regression analyses revealed that only implicit bias was statistically significantly related to the three affectional identity counselor competency factors (Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills). Results suggested that affirmative training and implicit bias can be crucial in developing and enhancing affectional identity counselor competencies. Limitations and recommendations for further research on affirmative training, implicit bias, and affectional identity counselor competencies were discussed.

Committee: Varunee Faii Sangganjanavanich (Advisor); Robert Schwartz (Committee Member); Delila Owens (Committee Member); Yue Dang (Committee Member); Ronald Otterstetter (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education; Multicultural Education

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

This qualitative case study explored teacher perceptions and interactions with students who have social-emotional disabilities (SED) in Happy Valley Middle School general education settings. Through semi-structured interviews and a focus group, data was collected from 14 participants, and findings revealed that authentic relationships helped teachers play a significant role in SED students social-emotional development. Time constraints with students and lack of skill-building opportunities were identified as challenges to building relationships with SED students, and the need for teachers to address their biases was highlighted. Recommendations for further research were provided, emphasizing the importance of understanding teacher implicit biases and deepening teacher-student relationships to specifically support students with SED. The study limitation was its small sample size.

Committee: Elizabeth Essex (Committee Chair) Subjects: Education

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Abstract Despite abundant evidence demonstrating that the presence of women in leadership can bolster organizational outcomes, women remain underrepresented in executive leadership positions across most sectors. Gender-Role Congruity theory and Implicit Leadership theory (ILT) provide two cognition-based frameworks that explain why women may be passed over for leadership positions or may struggle to be perceived as effective leaders because they do not fit with the prototypical definition of a leader. Both perspectives attribute the persistence of the glass ceiling to outdated and unfounded stereotypes regarding women's readiness, capacity, and ability to lead. Yet, interventions designed to address the phenomena by acknowledging and minimizing gender-based stereotypes remain largely ineffective, suggesting that more research is needed to understand how ILTs are formed and how they contribute to perceptions of effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to address these gaps by exploring the role of gender in forming ILTs and responding to ILT congruence or incongruence. I also examined the role of empathy, hypothesized to be greater for women than men, in shaping the relationship between incongruence and leader effectiveness. Findings contradicted previous studies indicating that women are more empathic than men but confirmed that a follower's level of empathy does shape perceptions of a leader's effectiveness. Contrary to expectations, empathy did not affect the relationship between leader incongruence and perceptions of leader effectiveness.

Committee: Stacie Furst-Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Megan Church-Nally Ph.D. (Committee Member); Donna Chrobot-Mason Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Throughout the world today countries are competing to provide the highest quality STEM education to their pupils (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education to their K-12 students. However, in most countries, roughly half of those students, females, must compete also with negative stereotypes regarding their abilities in the academic discipline of mathematics, a field intimately intertwined with the other three components of the STEM acronym. The math–male association in the United States needs not elaboration. Even the best pedagogues can possess narrow, detrimental beliefs about the potential for their students to improve upon and develop their abilities in mathematics. Furthermore, these beliefs can either be conscious to the person or non-conscious, meaning either in or out of their awareness. This study sought to shed light on how two types of gender bias in mathematics may relate to each other and beliefs about growth in math intelligence in a sample of preservice teachers. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), implicit gender bias was measured subsequent to the completion of self-report measure on both explicit gender bias in math and beliefs about math intelligence (either a growth or fixed mindset). Implicit bias was unrelated to explicit bias, GPA and age. No differences were found between participant gender or intent to teach K-12 math. Further, implicit and explicit bias were also unrelated to intelligence beliefs and no differences were found between mindsets. This study highlights the nebulous nature of implicit bias and supports literature demonstrating its presence across diverse individuals and contexts.

Committee: Michael Glassman (Committee Member); Eric Anderman (Advisor) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Education; Educational Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

Various research studies illustrate that Black students are targeted disproportionately when it comes to discipline in the public-school system. The focus of this research included determining the root causes of and providing solutions for the disproportionality of discipline referrals between Black and White students at Rocky Run Middle School (RRMS), a pseudonym for a middle school in rural Georgia. An action research design was used along with a phenomenological approach to identify perceived root causes of racial discipline disparities at RRMS and to provide potential solutions to the administrative team. Semi-structured interviews and a student focus group were conducted. Based on a Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) design, each participant provided feedback for the final action research plan. Study findings, a brief outline of the action plan, and the logic model informing the action plan are provided in the second section of the study. A detailed action plan is provided in the final section of the study.

Committee: James Olive (Committee Chair) Subjects: African Americans; Black Studies; Education; Educational Leadership; Middle School Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Leadership and Change

Of the roughly 3.5 million public school teachers in the United States, approximately 80% are White. In contrast, about 51.7% of the nation's students are African American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian. This mismatch is expected to grow as the number of BIPOC students in our nation's public schools continues to increase. Studies have shown that strong positive relationships are essential for learning, but often, the relationships between White teachers and BIPOC students are strained at best, leading to poorer learning outcomes. The purpose of this Constructivist Grounded Theory study was to explore an understudied question: How do White teachers who have been deemed exemplary by educators and parents of Color perceive their relationships and experiences with BIPOC students in an educational system and a society that often marginalizes them? Open-ended interviews were conducted with 19 middle and high school teachers in Massachusetts. Dimensional analysis revealed Being-and-Becoming Across Difference as the core dimension. Five primary dimensions were identified: Reflecting, Relating, Embodying Humility, Affirming Culture, and Holding Hope. Results of this study suggest that significant changes are needed in the recruitment and hiring of White teachers and that pre-service and in-service professional development must support White teachers in far more robust and sustaining ways than currently exist. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Chair); Harriet Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Maureen Walker PhD (Committee Member); Christine Sleeter PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Education History; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Theory; Ethnic Studies; Inservice Training; Middle School Education; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Personal Relationships; Psychology; Secondary Education; Social Psychology; Social Research; Sociology; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Social Work

Racial disproportions in discipline within the U.S. public school system have been documented since the 1970s and continue to grow despite decades of research and intervention. A solid base of research ruling out individual student- and family-level factors as main causes of the racial disproportions has amassed, however, deficit narratives, stereotypes, and biases about students and families of color continue to be documented throughout the literature. Likewise, interventions directing change toward student and family behaviors and claiming to be “race neutral” by applying the same behavioral expectations and discipline decisions across all students, continue to fail at reducing disproportionate discipline outcomes for students from marginalized groups. A large portion of the literature about teachers' perceptions of students also does not accurately account for the intersectional nature of students' multidimensional identities. Further, many studies fail to use analysis methods that accommodate the complexity of school data. Through the lenses of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Disability Studies (DisCrit), the current study aimed to test relationships between various dimensions of student identity (race, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status) and U.S. public elementary school teachers' perceptions of students in areas vulnerable to systemic identity-based stereotypes (student academic capability, effort, oppositionality, aggression, and parent involvement). Specifically, the current study used structural equation modeling with secondary data collected from 1,251 elementary school students and their teachers in a southeastern U.S. state, to test structural relationships between student identities and teacher perceptions across areas vulnerable to stereotypes. Relational patterns between student identities and areas of teacher perception in the study largely mimicked patterns of identity-based stereotypes in society. For example, Black stude (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Natasha Bowen (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Social Research; Social Work; Special Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Food Science and Technology

Consumer product testing aims to provide valuable insights to product developers. It is assumed that the acceptance scores collected during the pre-launch evaluation are predictive of future consumer experiences with the product after market launch. However, many new consumer products with promising pre-launch testing results still fail. The disconnect between sensory evaluations and market success may be in part due to the current methods used to measure consumer acceptance. Traditional sensory methods overwhelmingly implement hedonic-centric protocols. However, a growing body of research suggests incorporating complete measures of the consumer reward complex—desire, liking, and satisfaction—may provide complementary, or even superior, insights regarding product acceptance. Currently, clear methodology informing researchers how to measure each reward complex sub-component during a consumer evaluation is lacking. Therefore, we sought to develop a protocol capable of capturing consumer desire, liking, and satisfaction in one cohesive sensory test (Chapter 3). Data collected for each reward metric were then compared to determine the change in sample performance. Desire, liking, and satisfaction results were similarly as effective at determining the worst six performing samples; however, the rank order of the top five rated products differed by reward metric. Consumer engagement was also measured using the Engagement Questionnaire to see if multi-week repeated testing impacted consumer engagement. Results showed engagement dramatically varied across the three weeks of testing (Chapter 4). Consumer researchers are also encouraged to limit biasing information during product testing. Nonetheless, negativity bias research suggests consumers are more responsive to aversive product attributes than positive drivers of liking. Sensory professionals may be able to use this bias to their advantage by focusing consumer attention to attributes driving product disliking, and thereb (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Simons (Advisor); Neal Hooker (Committee Member); Devin Peterson (Committee Member); Ken Lee (Committee Member) Subjects: Food Science