EDD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

This Dissertation in Practice (DIP) explores the experiences of Black male faculty at Kent State University, a predominantly White institution, employing counter-narrative, a tenet of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Using qualitative narrative inquiry and autoethnography, the study investigates how race, gender, access to resources, and preparedness intersect and impact Black male faculty members' professional identities, sense of belonging, and pursuit of success. By centering the voices of five Black male faculty members, this research uncovers systemic barriers such as racial bias, isolation, and lack of mentorship that impact their career trajectories and overall wellbeing. The dissertation aligns with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) principles by focusing on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), generating new insights into institutional practices that could affect recruitment, retention, and advancement of Black male faculty. Key findings underscore the importance of tailored support systems, recognition of invisible labor, and the establishment of community as mechanisms for fostering resilience and empowerment. The study concludes with actionable recommendations for academic institutions to enhance DEIB initiatives and support Black male faculty members, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable higher education landscape.

Committee: Elizabeth Kenyon (Committee Chair) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Educational Leadership; Higher Education

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

Through a Critical Action Research (Hesse-Biber, 2017) study utilizing the sequential mixed method to examine the experiences of Black women leaders in corporate spaces in the U.S. by situating their experiences in national and local Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) data and delving into the nuanced experiences of four Black women previously employed at the organization of interest (Mertler, 2020). This study focuses on researching the problem of practice regarding the disproportionately low number of Black women in leadership roles in my organization, which professes to value inclusion, diversity, and equity (IDE) in the workplace. The study results indicate an urgency for senior leaders to commit to increasing inclusion, diversity, and equity and create a space for Black women to be their authentic selves. These themes introduce an action plan, discussed in greater detail within the dissertation, that objectives are to (1) increase the recruitment and retention rate of Black talent within the organization by intentionally engaging Black women college students at career fairs and (2) improve opportunities for success and advancement of Black women by improving the cultural proficiency of the organization. Meeting the program's objectives better aligns the organization with its mission and minimizes the disproportionately low number of Black women in senior leadership and executive positions, as reflected in the EEO reports.

Committee: Meredith Wronowski (Advisor) Subjects: Minority and Ethnic Groups

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Leadership

This study explored what motivates White male tenured faculty to increase their cultural competence. The purpose of the research was to provide deeper insight into white male faculty's motivation to increase their cultural competence. Critical qualitative research methodology was the chosen methodology with a critical theory and critical ethnographic framework. Fourteen White male tenured faculty volunteered to participate in sixty-minute semi-structured Zoom interviews. Participants responded to five questions exploring their journey with cultural competence ranging from experiences in their childhood to school both pre-k thru twelfth grade to experiences as a faculty member. Findings revealed several themes important to development of cultural competence, which can positively influence student learning. Identified motivating themes include childhood experiences and identity development, call to become an educator, experiences of Whiteness in higher education as well as approaches to inclusive excellence on campus, and an individual love of learning. Embedded in the research findings are also strong support for college student experiential learning opportunities. Insights gleaned from this research can have a direct influence on the design of future learning programs and how best to develop White faculty cultural competence to support inclusive excellence.

Committee: Pamela Cross Young (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Social Work

Despite the attention and commitments made toward anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices within social work systems, there is a dearth of research examining student development of such competencies. Using ecological systems theory as an investigative framework, this study examined factors and processes involved in anti-oppressive skills development among White social work students. The psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (PCRW), racial identity development and intergroup contact theories were used to select potential predictive factors and generate hypotheses. An explanatory sequential mixed-methodology was used to address research questions by integrating quantitative and qualitative methodologies throughout data collection and analysis phases of the project. Participants were recruited from Master of Social Work (MSW) programs by targeting institutions within the midwestern United States. The study sample comprised of 186 White MSW students from programs across 18 states. Most participants were female (65%) full-time students (58%) between 18 to 29 years of age (64%). Cluster analysis was used to classify students into White racial affect orientation (PCRW) types characterizing their emotional reactions toward people of color using combinations of measures for White empathy, White guilt, and White fear. The majority of participants aligned with the Insensitive and afraid (30%) or the Fearful guilt (26%) types describing their reactions to people of color and racism with differences observed across gender, ethnicity, program year, and student academic status. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between anti-oppressive competencies and predictive factors across levels of an ecological system. Reliable predictors of anti-oppressive competencies included White empathy (B = .348, t = 5.91, p = <.001), reflective processes (B = .274, t = 3.07, p =.002), White Fragility (B = -.200, t = -2.94, p = .004), White fear (B = -.1 (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mo Yee Lee (Committee Chair); Steven Stone-Sabali (Committee Member); Njeri Kagotho (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Work

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Climate change affects everyone but lack of racial diversity in the climate movement makes it challenging for it to be truly inclusive, champion solutions that are equitable, and affect transformative change. This dissertation describes a two-part study of diversity in the climate movement using a survey of 1,003 climate activists and interviews with 17 people of color who work or volunteer in the U.S. climate movement. The study analyzes differences between Whites and people of color in terms of their (a) demographics, (b) engagement in climate action, (c) experience of climate impacts, (d) worries, (e) challenges and barriers to participation, and (f) proposed strategies for diversity, equity, and belonging. My research provides the following takeaways: (a) Progress has been made in terms of diversity in the U.S. climate movement, but diversity is insufficient without equity belonging. (b) Anti-racism must go beyond symbolic gestures towards deep transformation at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic levels. (c) Oppression is intersectional, with racism intersecting with other oppressions of gender, age, class, physical ability, among other identities. (d) People of color and those with marginalized identities contribute essential perspectives and skills to the climate movement. The discussion includes implications for theory, practice, and further study.

Committee: Abigail Abrash Walton Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jason Rhodes Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carolyn Finney Ph.D. (Committee Member); Marcelo Bonta (Committee Member) Subjects: Climate Change; Demographics; Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2022, Foundations of Education - Educational History

A single case study was conducted to explore how and in what ways a university Racial Equity Center (REC) conceptualizes antiracism to engage in racial equity efforts. Ten sub-research questions are answered in this research using qualitative data (i.e., fieldwork, documents, and interviews). Through this research method, it was found that the site of this study (the Student Success and Racial Equity Center or SSREC) conceptualized antiracism to be the work of actively opposing racism that is manifested in the form of racist policies and racist practices. The SSREC opposes racism collaborating with campus partners to advocate on behalf of underrepresented racial minority students (URMs), and by coordinating academic programs which cater to the academic needs of students of color. As a result, the SSRECs efforts aim to increase sense of belonging among URM students and to enhance graduation rates among URM students attending Midwestern State University (MSU). This research extends the newly theorized antiracism as developed by Ibram Kendi (2019) by contextualizing antiracism in educational settings

Committee: Dale Snauwaert (Committee Chair); Ketwana Schoos (Committee Member); Edward Janak (Committee Member); Vicki Dagostino-Kalniz (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Multicultural Education

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

Through a critical phenomenological approach, this study captured the lived experiences of directors in the Ohio Private Academic Libraries (OPAL) consortium and their responses to dual pandemics, the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic of racism. Individual qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten OPAL directors to examine their roles as leaders in times of upheaval. Findings indicate that the pandemics amplified challenges in emotional and practical ways. Directors contended with emotional labor marked by ambiguity and burnout. Practical challenges (staff reductions, enforcing safety protocols, and the Great Resignation) further impacted morale. Racially just, equitable systems encourage workplaces defined by compassion, autonomy, and respect. Thus, directors must prioritize antiracism actions to dismantle white supremacy and racial capitalism in their libraries.

Committee: Meredith Wronowski (Committee Chair); Miriam Matteson (Committee Member); Thomas Oldenski (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Library Science

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

It is well established that the graduate school experience is significantly different for students of color; on top of a rigorous training program, they face additional distinct challenges including racism, discrimination, and feelings of isolation. Insidious Trauma theory provides the framework for this quantitative exploration assessing the impact of poorly facilitated anti-racist conversations on the physical and emotional wellbeing of clinical psychology graduate students of color. George Floyd's murder, among many other incidents of racial injustice, was a powerful catalyst that propelled academic institutions into action. Anti-racist dialogue became the intentional focus of graduate classes almost overnight. Well-meaning but insufficiently-prepared professors dared to facilitate cross-racial dialogues. This dissertation addresses a knowledge gap, assessing whether anti-racist conversations currently do more harm than good for students of color in predominantly White programs. A survey research design was used to examine how students of color rate their program's overall facilitation of anti-racist conversations in the following domains: 1) emotional safety, 2) identifying and addressing micro-aggressions, 3) cultural competence, 4) cultural sensitivity, 5) and racial representation of facilitators. The survey further examined physical and emotional symptoms of distress, as well as positive and negative emotions experienced during and immediately following anti-racist dialogue. The findings revealed that the average participant was neither satisfied nor unsatisfied with their graduate program's overall facilitation of anti-racist conversations. When asked to reflect on their most memorable negative anti-racist conversation, the average participant recalled feeling quite a bit upset and distressed; levels of negative emotions lessened immediately afterwards. Finally, increases in the frequency of negative conversations was correlated with increases in the emoti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Martha Straus Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Denzel Jones Ph.D., LMFT, AAMFT (Committee Member); Katherine Evarts Rice Psy.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

This systematic literature review explores the relationship between mental disorders and nutrition through a review 547 available articles. Of these, 74 were selected for inclusion in this review. The research question guiding this inquiry was: What is the effect of nutrition on the mental health of individuals in the United States? A PRISMA flow diagram was used to develop systematic assessments of the existing research to produce a dataset of literature to answer the research question. It was found that nutrition and health are critically linked, with supplements being associated with positive health outcomes. It was also found that research is shifting to focus on the connection between the gut and the brain. The culmination of this review is that nutritional changes and support can positively impact anxiety and depression, and probiotic treatments have been linked to better dopamine regulation. Each disease is reviewed in relation to existing evidence on nutritional supplements that impact health symptoms. The findings of this review indicated that nutrition could have a notable impact on managing health conditions. It is recommended that models for health and nutrition be updated to encompass nutritional issues in the treatment of mental health disorders with a critical focus on patients' nutritional intake. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Committee: Brett Kia-Keating EdD (Committee Chair); Christina Donaldson PhD (Committee Member); Kelli Davis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Health; Mental Health; Nutrition; Psychobiology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Educational Studies

The purpose of this narrative study was to explore the racial literacy of white faculty members at a predominantly white higher education institution. This study employed a narrative methodological approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) anchored in critical epistemology (Tierney, 1993) with the use of Critical Race Theory (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This study was guided by the following two research questions: (1) How do white faculty describe how they learned about race, racism, and whiteness? and (2) What does racial literacy look like for white faculty at a predominantly white institution? Additionally, two sub research questions also informed this study: (a) How do white faculty speak about and interpret racialized incidents involving Black people, on and off campus? and (b) What role do white faculty have in ensuring a positive racial climate for Black students? Seven white participants with varying social identities served as the sample for this study. Data were collected through two semi-structured interviews. Four themes emerged from the participant interviews that helped identify the ways faculty learned about race, racism and whiteness throughout their lives. These themes include: Entryways to Making Meaning of Difference, Earliest Experiences Navigating Race, The Failures of K-12 Education for Racial Literacy Development and Learning Race in Adulthood. Additionally, the way participants applied their knowledge of racial literacy varied. This application was categorized in three ways: Ignorant, Emergent and Critical.

Committee: Marc Johnston Guerrero (Committee Chair); Susan Jones (Committee Member); Cynthia Tyson (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, English (Arts and Sciences)

This dissertation explores what happens when antiracist education is brought into the composition classroom, not simply as a theme, but as an organizing principle for the exigencies of composition education and the field at large. It engages with critical concepts from postcolonial theorists like Edward Said and Frantz Fanon, scholarship on the rhetorics of race from rhetoricians like Victor Villanueva, as well as antiracist frameworks from diversity scholars like Robin DiAngelo as I conceptualize my project through critical and pedagogical loci of power and possibility. Using cultural competency and racial literacy education frameworks and the results of two qualitative studies, I argue that composition education should prioritize the subject of race toward meeting both writing and social justice education goals.

Committee: Mara Holt PhD (Committee Chair); Talinn Phillips PhD (Committee Member); Ryan Shepherd PhD (Committee Member); Devika Chawla PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Literacy; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Rhetoric

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Sociology

Racial inequality persists in American society and, thus, scholars have called for systematic analyses of the mechanisms and processes that reproduce racial differences in access to resources, opportunity, and power. Using data collected from 121 leaders and 684 members of diverse churches, I investigate the role of race in how leaders access and mobilize social capital and how these processes influence the formation of friendships. While racial integration increases the social proximity of racial and ethnic minorities to resource-rich networks, the ability to access those networks is limited by the social ties that people form. Drawing upon an in-depth analysis of qualitative interviews, I first find that white men form social networks that facilitate interracial sharing and opportunity hoarding and, in comparison to white women and people of color, experience greater access to resources through personal, community, and institutional networks. My second empirical chapter examines how and why leaders develop diversity initiatives for their congregations using a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. I find that while white leaders promote equality and diversity, they also commodify the social value of race and ethnicity to generate resources from their social networks. In the final empirical chapter, I conduct a multilevel analysis examining how diversity strategies and other organizational factors shape the diversity and strength of friendships that form within multiracial churches. I find that increasing the proportion of paid leaders of color is the only diversity strategy that positively associates with increased diversity of member networks. Further investigation reveals that churches who receive funding for being diverse are less racial integrated and that race moderates the strength of close ties. These findings of this dissertation suggest the need for further investigation into the racial mechanisms that influence the social capital of leaders and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Korie Edwards (Advisor); Vincent Roscigno (Committee Co-Chair); David Melamed (Committee Member); Reanne Frank (Committee Member) Subjects: Clergy; Organization Theory; Religion; Religious Congregations; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Educational Studies

This critical narrative inquiry was guided by two overarching research questions. First, this study examined how white undergraduates interpreted and gave meaning to their white racial identities. This line of inquiry sought to understand how participants made sense of their white racial selves, the self in relation to people of color, and the self in relation to systems of racism and white supremacy. Thematic analysis of participant narratives resulted in three constructions of white racial identity: Ignorant, Emergent, and Critical. Second, this study explored how white college students perpetuated racial ideologies of whiteness on campus. This line of inquiry examined how, through discourse, white undergraduates maintained the dominant/subordinate relationship between white students and students of color. In order to do so dialogic/performance analysis of narratives was utilized. Such an approach is concerned not only with the content of narratives, but the structure and telling of a given account. This analysis resulted in four distinct narratives that participants frequently employed within the context of the interview: Narratives of Campus Racial Harmony, Narratives of Imposition, Narratives of Enlightenment, and Narratives of White Racial Innocence. Each narrative represented a motivated telling with a unique plotline. Further each narrative operated to mask racial hostility, protect white innocence, and locate problems of racism elsewhere.

Committee: Susan Jones (Committee Chair); Tracy Davis (Committee Member); Kelly Purtell (Committee Member); Marc Guerrero (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

What, and how, do middle-class White parents teach their children about race and being White in America? Though Whites are the majority racial group in the United States, very little is known about how they racially socialize their children. Drawing upon observational research and interviews with 40 parents, I examine the explicit and implicit racial socialization practices of middle-class White parents in two Cincinnati, Ohio neighborhoods. I argue participants adopt “happy” racial socialization practices that promote positive racial narratives and interactions whilst simultaneously minimizing conversations and interactions that challenge or threaten their family's race and class-based privileges. In terms of explicit racial socialization, this means parents do speak with their children about race but they ignore or downplay racial discussions that concern issues of racial inequality, racial tension, and racial protest. A similar pattern of behavior is evidenced in parents' implicit racial socialization practices, or what I term their “exposure to diversity” efforts. Participants all claim to value racial diversity and actively pursue opportunities for their children to be in the presence of people of color. They envision their “exposure to diversity” efforts as a means to foster small-scale social change and to achieve racial and class distinction for their child. However, a study of participants' parenting practices reveals that parents are not enthusiastic about all racial diversity. They embrace middle-class, people of color but are decidedly ambivalent about contact with the poor; they fear that too much contact will diminish their children's middle-class presentation of self. Taken together, study results provide insight as to the role middle-class White parents play in the cultivation of a White identity.

Committee: Jennifer Malat Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David L. Brunsma Ph.D. (Committee Member); Erynn Casanova Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sarah Mayorga-Gallo Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

What, and how, do middle-class White parents teach their children about race and being White in America? Though Whites are the majority racial group in the United States, very little is known about how they racially socialize their children. Drawing upon observational research and interviews with 40 parents, I examine the explicit and implicit racial socialization practices of middle-class White parents in two Cincinnati, Ohio neighborhoods. I argue participants adopt “happy” racial socialization practices that promote positive racial narratives and interactions whilst simultaneously minimizing conversations and interactions that challenge or threaten their family's race and class-based privileges. In terms of explicit racial socialization, this means parents do speak with their children about race but they ignore or downplay racial discussions that concern issues of racial inequality, racial tension, and racial protest. A similar pattern of behavior is evidenced in parents' implicit racial socialization practices, or what I term their “exposure to diversity” efforts. Participants all claim to value racial diversity and actively pursue opportunities for their children to be in the presence of people of color. They envision their “exposure to diversity” efforts as a means to foster small-scale social change and to achieve racial and class distinction for their child. However, a study of participants' parenting practices reveals that parents are not enthusiastic about all racial diversity. They embrace middle-class, people of color but are decidedly ambivalent about contact with the poor; they fear that too much contact will diminish their children's middle-class presentation of self. Taken together, study results provide insight as to the role middle-class White parents play in the cultivation of a White identity.

Committee: Jennifer Malat Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David L. Brunsma Ph.D. (Committee Member); Erynn Casanova Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sarah Mayorga-Gallo Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Gender Sexuality and Feminist Studies

I examine online diversity initiative pages, student activism and administrative responses in Fall 2015 at Princeton University as a case study. In the first section, I analyze Princeton's online diversity initiative page “Many Voices, One Future” by demonstrating how “diversity” becomes individualized, commodified, and quantified. In its claims to aspire to equality (or equal representation), the discourse of diversity ignores historical and sociopolitical contexts of oppression that produce and maintain difference in the first place. In the second section, I investigate how the actions of the Black Justice League challenge or the rhetoric of diversity that the administration embodies. Further, I argue that the administrative and student body responses that opposes BJL's actions use words such as “equality” and “civility” in order to silence and divert BJL's arguments. In positing the idea that all individuals have an equal stake in a situation, those who advocate this argument both intentionally and unintentionally fail to recognize the meaning behind the demands of Black Justice League. Ultimately, I question the implications of demanding “inclusion” for non-white bodies into the academy almost half a century after the struggle for Ethnic Studies.

Committee: Ann Sherif (Committee Chair); Jan Cooper (Advisor); Afia Ofori-Mensa (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Ethnic Studies; Gender Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2006, Educational Leadership

This dissertation is required by the Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership at Miami University. It consists of five chapters that discuss how racial diversity is understood among faculty and staff at an evangelical Christian college. Hunter (1991) defines contemporary evangelical Christians as people who adhere to the belief that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God; the belief in the divinity of Christ; and the belief in the efficacy of Christ's life, death, and physical resurrection of the salvation of the human soul. Emerson and Smith (2000) describe evangelical Christians as a mosaic socially, politically, economically, and regionally who share the defining feature that the final ultimate authority for truth is the Bible. The primary research question of the study was how do evangelicals in Christian institutions of higher learning understand racial diversity? There were two subquestions: (1) What prevents a Christian from taking the moral action of embracing racial diversity within their institution of higher learning; and (2) What social identity is primary when evangelical Christians think about the subject of racial diversity on campus? Chapter one provides a statement of the problem and other introductory information. Chapter two provides a review of relevant literature as well as describes the conceptual framework of the study, which is the social construction of the evangelical Christian. In Chapter three the site of study, which is fictionally named Evangelical Christian College (ECC), is introduced. There is also a discussion concerning the methodology, which is a combination of case study/phenomenology research. In chapter four the main focus is on a critical hermeneutical analysis of the interviews which serves as the main source of research data. The interview texts produced were analyzed utilizing critical theory in the tradition of Jurgen Habermas (1999). In chapter five implications of the study are presented and a theoretical framework for imp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Michael Dantley (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Administration

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2008, Communication Studies

Communication scholars have acknowledged that racial diversity does not receive adequate examination from organizational communication scholars. This study examined race-related diversity training at a predominantly white Northwest Ohio university from the perspectives of undergraduate African, Latina/o, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American (ALANA) students. Research demonstrates that on predominantly white campuses, ALANA students may face unique challenges that may differ from the experiences of their white peers. However, race-related diversity training programs are frequently developed without assessing the needs of ALANA people. This research used open-ended surveys with 127 ALANA students, audiotape recorded interviews with seven ALANA students, and a diversity training manual. Grounded theory was used to develop themes. The manual themes were compared to ALANA-generated themes to assess whether students needs were being met by the current diversity training program. There were three race-related themes that materialized as unmet needs for the participants. The three unmet needs were assistance with coping with the biases of others; the ability to recognize support and develop richer interpersonal relationships; and the obligation to educate others about ALANA people while simultaneously representing all people from their respective ALANA groups. There were two themes that manifested differently in the manual and student data. These themes were examining natural behaviors and actions and making connections with life experiences. In conclusion, the diversity training activities contained in the manual do not fully meet the needs of ALANA students. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the findings, implications, and future recommendations.

Committee: Lynda Dixon PhD (Advisor); Milton Hakel PhD (Committee Member); Laura Lengel PhD (Committee Member); Radhika Gajjala PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Communication; Higher Education; Hispanic Americans; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Native Americans