Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

This study provides a vital contribution to the discourse on women's career trajectories by amplifying the often-overlooked experiences of women middle-level leaders. Positioned at the intersection of strategic and operational functions, these leaders play a vital role in organizations—developing and motivating employees, driving change, and serving as relationship managers and key connectors to senior leadership. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences of 15 accomplished women middle-level leaders, each with over 15 years of service across private, public, and nonprofit sectors in the United States. Grounded in relational-cultural theory (RCT), career theory, positive work relationships, and workplace learning, the findings enrich our understanding of women's leadership journeys and challenge conventional notions of career success. The study identified one overarching theme, Evolving as a Person, and three group experiential themes: A Journey of Experiences, Support is Energy, and Purpose Over Position. Participants emphasized purpose, values, and spirituality over traditional career advancement, highlighting the importance of connection and mattering, which align with RCT's growth-fostering relationships and the "five good things." This study reframes career success as a holistic concept, demonstrating that thriving in middle management can align ambition with influence and personal fulfillment. Practical insights are offered for leaders, practitioners, coaches, and organizations to support emerging and experienced leaders seeking meaningful growth, even within middle-level roles. By challenging societal narratives around career and success, this study advocates for a more inclusive and equitable workforce that values thriving at all organizational levels. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: J. Beth Mabry PhD (Committee Chair); Amy Rutstein-Riley PhD, MPA (Committee Member); Lisa Frey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Womens Studies

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Business Administration

This research study aimed to determine if code-switching in Arkansas workplaces helps Black women achieve upward career mobility, as their strategies might assist other Black women in advancing their careers in Arkansas workplaces. Code-switching, the practice of alternating between different languages, dialects, or cultural behaviors, is a common strategy among Black women in the workplace to navigate predominantly White or non-Black environments. Researching Black women code-switching in the workplace is important as it sheds light on broader issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and organizational dynamics and is crucial for understanding and addressing the complexities of their professional experiences. This research provides valuable insights that can drive systemic change, enhance workplace inclusivity, and support the overall well-being and career advancement of Black women. Employing conceptual frameworks grounded in Black Feminist Thought (BFT) theory and systemic racism theory allowed the assertion that Black women face unique challenges related to both racism and sexism in the workplace. While these theories offer a comprehensive understanding of Black women in workplaces generally, this research seeks to expand on these theoretical models to explore the specific impacts on Black women in Arkansas workplaces. Utilizing an exploratory case study methodology, the researcher interviewed Black businesswomen in Arkansas workplaces to explore their strategies for managing code-switching and determine if they work. This research unveiled three main themes revealing that the study participants learned to code-switch early in life, have challenging work environments, and need to prove themselves moreso than others at work.

Committee: Leo Sedlmeyer (Committee Chair); Lori Salgado (Committee Member); Crissie Jameson (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Black Studies; Cultural Resources Management; Demographics; Gender; Gender Studies; Linguistics; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2023, Instructional Technology (Education)

Lawler, Beverly E., Ph.D., May 2023, Innovative Learning Design & Technology Instructional Design as an Occupation: The Lived Experiences of African American Women Accessing That Occupation Director of Dissertation: David R Moore Most women have faced challenges in the workplace. They often encounter sexual harassment, gender bias, challenges with working motherhood, unequal pay, and for people of color racism (State of Black Women in Corporate America, 2021). African American women particularly deal with a unique set of problems. They remain underrepresented at every level causing them to stay behind white men, men of color, and white women (Dutta, 2021). The goal of this study was to explore the lived experiences of African American women accessing the occupation of instructional design and identify issues of concern as viewed by African American women in this occupation. Participants noted strategies African American women use to navigate their professional lives. The participants selected included 13 African American women currently working as instructional designers. A particular focus was on African American women's unique experiences from corporate America to the private sector; regarding race, gender, sexism, compensation, and diversity and how these identities intersect and influence their careers. Another goal of the research was also to examine income and how these women viewed the distribution of wealth. Finally, the participants revealed how they believed work conditions had shaped African American women instructional designers' career paths.

Committee: David Moore (Advisor); Greg Kessler (Committee Member); Candice Thomas-Maddox (Committee Member); Dwan Robinson (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Black Studies; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Design; Educational Technology; Information Technology; Instructional Design

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2016, Educational Administration (Education)

Women continue to be underrepresented in the nontraditional careers. With areas of cosmetology, health sciences, education and child care being the dominate female careers; there is limited female representation in welding, carpentry, plumbing/pipefitting, electrical and other traditional male careers. Due to facing social barriers and developing an understanding of skill measurement among peers by the age of adolescence, individuals will disregard career options that may be viable for the future based on limited exposure and inaccurate facts. In addition, as students become aware of their own interests and abilities career preferences begin to emerge. Choices tend to be toward jobs in which students find accessible and in which there is a familiarity. The process of self-selection and differentiated task-specific beliefs among students occurs as early as elementary school. Researchers have gathered data to bring awareness that gender stereotyping occurs within the elementary setting and students are already self-selecting careers based upon those stereotypes at young ages. By the age of adolescence, the experiences students have had within the school setting, within the home, and through experiences or lack thereof, can already determine the career path for an individual. Due to females being strongly influenced by their setting and the expected gender roles they are to play, understanding the research is critical for the recruitment and retention of women within a nontraditional work setting. Recruitment and early exposure can start at earlier ages by providing job shadowing and mentoring early in the educational life of a child. By researching ways to improve the recruitment and retention of females into nontraditional occupations, tremendous financial opportunities could be available to women who may never have considered the skill sets and talent they have as being viable. This qualitative study uses a series of three interviews with selected participants (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Charles Lowery Ed.D (Committee Co-Chair); Krisanna Machtmes Ph.D (Committee Co-Chair); Emmanuel Jean Francois Ph.D (Committee Member); Dwan Robinson Ph.D (Committee Member); Jason Stoner Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Continuing Education; Counseling Education; Curriculum Development; Education; Education Policy; Educational Theory; Gender Studies; Labor Relations; School Counseling; Vocational Education; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this qualitative research was to study the experiences of Latinx women who lead in health information management in the United States. Latinx health information management professionals are faced with everchanging workplace dynamics and biases in which they are repeatedly reminded of their individual and ethnic differences that require them to construct and co-construct new facets to their identities in social contexts. By grounding this work in narrative inquiry and viewing identities critically, space is given for delving deeper into the specifics of how gender, ethnicity, culture, and class influenced Latinx women's leadership practice. Interviews offered the opportunity for discussion about how the Latinx women in this study navigated various faultlines and engaged in internal dialogues that contributed to their ability to construct, co-construct, and refuse identities on offer in two social contexts, family and the workplace. A Model of Dialogic Identity Construction in Practice emerged as a result of the participants' stories. While this study shines a light on Latinx women, it also creates awareness and discussion for all ethnic minorities who are often underrepresented and overlooked in the workplace. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/.

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Donna Ladkin PhD, FRSA (Committee Member); Merida Johns PhD, RHIA (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender; Health Care; Hispanic Americans; Information Systems

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 2018, Psychology

This study sought to examine the career advancement potential of mothers in the workplace in relation to other variables, including family-oriented workplace practices, work-family stress, career advancement self-efficacy, family-supportive organizational perceptions, and family-supportive supervisor behaviors. Additionally, this study analyzed the relationship between career advancement self-efficacy and family-oriented practices; work-family stress and family-oriented workplace practices; and career advancement self-efficacy and career advancement potential. Data collected from 101 participants showed that family-oriented workplace practices significantly predicted a mother's career advancement potential. Additionally, a significant correlation between career advancement self-efficacy and career advancement potential was found. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Committee: Morrie Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Dalia Diab Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sjen Johnson M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Business Education; Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Occupational Psychology; Organizational Behavior; Psychology; Womens Studies

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

Scholars have identified various reasons for the underrepresentation of women in the upper echelons of organizations. This study used grounded theory methodology enhanced by situational analysis to explore how American women at senior levels in large organizational contexts engage and negotiate the totality of their situation. Utilizing a predominately White, married, middle to upper class, heterosexual sample, this study sought to understand how women create and consign meaning around their experiences; how they experience the fluidity and boundaries of multiple identities; and how they experience the entanglement of macro, meso, and micro societal forces. It explores relationships among factors participants named as influential in experience in leading. Most importantly, this study sought to elevate not just one component as problematic, but to elucidate all interconnecting complexities that are problematic. Five key contexts were identified in the situational analysis as spaces of influence, related to the conditions of the dimensional analysis. Five emergent dimensions were rendered in the dimensional analysis: Growing in Leadership, Solving for Having It All; Stalking the Unknown, Leading in a Glass Box and Negotiating Equality. A grounded theory model was developed of the experience of women who lead, providing an interactive model of how women interpret and engage with the totality of their situation. Four theoretical propositions were extrapolated from the study. The study combined a commanding view of the situation in which women lead, with an interactive theoretical model, mapping places of entry toward resolution of gender leadership parity. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Member); Harriet Schwartz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susan Adams Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Business Community; Gender Studies; Organizational Behavior

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2011, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the communication channels six Emirati females concurrently employed in organizations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in which they had supervisory responsibilities; formal, legitimate authority; and positional leadership roles recalled using with their direct reports to enact leadership. In particular, the study attempted to ascertain the reasons for the selection of communication channels when engaged in downward communication with organizational subordinates. Data were collected via three interviews with each participant over a four week period. Interviews were conducted both face-to-face and via telephone. Data were analyzed via thematic content analysis to identify themes, patterns, and/or trends in communication channels selected and the reasons for selection of these channels when engaged in downward communication with direct reports. Findings indicated the participants' preferred channel of communication when engaged in downward communication with their direct reports was face-to-face. Frequently face-to-face communication was reinforced via written follow-up. Encoding negative messages via written channels was found to be vigorously avoided except in the most extreme cases. Cultural factors were indicated to be influential in the participants‘ selection of communication channel. The findings of this study have workplace preparation and training applications for private sector organizations, government, and state-owned enterprises in Abu Dhabi—in particular, those organizations in which expatriates have supervisory responsibilities; formal, legitimate authority; and positional leadership responsibilities in relation to Emirati direct reports. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu.etd.

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Ingrid Piller PhD (Committee Member); Mark Neal PhD (Other) Subjects: Communication; Management

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Leadership and Change

NASA is an organization known for pushing the envelope of engineering and scientific achievement. It can be argued that engineers working for NASA are intrinsically highly motivated due to the nature of the work and the mission of NASA. This study explores how supervisor behaviors, both intrinsic and extrinsic and demographic factors influence motivation of NASA Goddard engineers in their current environment. Recent Congressional and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policies, such as full cost accounting, levy strict oversight of project spending. As a result of these policies, NASA engineers must now focus their attention on getting assigned work on funded projects in addition to pursuing technical innovation and creativity. The literature is replete with previous studies on motivation of engineers and scientists. These studies investigated Maslow (1970), Vroom (1964), Herzberg (1971), and Deci's (1975) theories of motivation. Today, the workplace is much more diverse with regard to race, gender, and age. A web-based survey was used to collect data from a sample of engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 260 out of 583 engineers responded to the survey. 238 cases provided useable data for analysis. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed the demographic categories of females and non-whites did not significantly predict the level of motivation of engineers. Age was a significant factor influencing motivation. The age group of 39 and under had less of an influence on motivation and the age group of 40 and over had more of an influence. The over 60 age group had a very significant positive influence on motivation. Other significant factors influencing motivation were: supervisor behaviors, intrinsic factors such as feedback and competence, and extrinsic factors such as benefits, rewards and promotions. The results support the argument that NASA engineers are motivated by getting feedback from their immediate project supervisor, that they feel competent (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Charles Seashore PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Behaviorial Sciences; Engineering; Gender; Management; Organizational Behavior