Building Cultural Reciprocity With Families: Case Studies in Special Education

Through use of an interpretive phenomenological inquiry, this study examined the lived experiences of first-generation college students persisting at a mid-sized, private, predominantly White insti...

Strengths and Struggles: First-Generation College-Goers Persisting at One Predominantly White Institution

Minority and Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) businesspersons are carving out for themselves leadership roles in the world of business as entrepreneurs and CEO’s. As they are experiencing much success, and are sought after to help provide unique and necessary perspectives regarding best practices in the areas of inclusion, diversity and strategic planning; they are yet underrepresented in mainstream media and in the business community. This qualitative study explores the enabling and inhibiting factors that select African American Gay Male Entrepreneurs (AAGME) experience throughout their career and ascent into entrepreneurship. The qualitative research includes interviews from ten African American Gay Males, who live in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area and have owned/operated their organizations for three or more years. The accounts obtained of the AAGME are the primary data reviewed and reported. Qualitative research methods are used to analyze the data, and the findings are presented in narrative format. The findings are consistent with the literature review and examined elements of enabling and inhibiting factors experienced by other LGBT professionals. The findings suggest that African American gay men considering starting their own organizations may benefit from utilizing a collaborative leadership approach, inclusive decision-making practices, personal and professional flexibility, and expressing humility and authenticity. AAGME aspiring to begin their own enterprises may also benefit from mentorship from an established LGBT businessperson and/or living in, or establishing their company in a geography that is supportive of LGBT persons and conducive to holistic identity expression.

African American gay male entrepreneurs: A study of enabling and inhibiting factors impacting entrepreneurial success

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of the experiences of Black eighth grade males attending an urban middle school dismantled in the midst of mandated educational reform. Some of the students were the victims of repeated school closures and were left behind because of a lack of space in other schools as a result of efforts to disperse students across the district. These students are part of a group that attends classes in a small section of their former building that has been converted into a high school. To gain insight into the lived experiences of these students, the following questions guided this project: How do students analyze and articulate the experiences of being Black males in an urban school and neighborhood as racialized, gendered, and classed individuals? How do students understand, cooperate with, and resist school structure? This project centers the often-silenced voices of Black male youth as experts with the ability to understand and articulate their lived experiences. My analysis revealed student frustrations related to the school setting and relationships with teachers and administrators. Students voiced concerns about respect, relationships with teachers, and the imbalance of voice and power in school. Students articulated feeling more like objects to be controlled than learners to be nurtured. In spite of the oppressive measures put in place to control their behavior, students continued to actively resist efforts to marginalize their existence in the school building. I argue that these students and others should be read as knowledgeable about their own lives and not seen through the lens of “deficits” they bring to school. I also argue that in light of social promotion and lowered expectations for academic excellence, for some students, schools become prison preparatory institutions (PPI) and structure experiences for students to be “pushed out” and primed to enter the criminal justice system. This work is about finding, recognizing, and engaging students’ knowledge and experiences in sociological research and practice. I AIN’T DO NOTHING: THE SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES OF BLACK MALES IN A DISMANTLED SCHOOL

/pdf/i-ain-t-do-nothing-the-social-and-academic-experiences-of-3n1azd1yv9.pdf

I Ain't Do Nothing: The Social and Academic Experiences of Black Males in a Dismantled School

COVID-19 necessitated the rapid transition to online learning, challenging the ability of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) professors to offer laboratory experiences to their students. As a result, many instructors sought online alternatives. In addition, recent literature supports the capacity of online curricula to empower students of historically underrepresented identities in STEM fields. Here, we present PARE-Seq, a virtual bioinformatics activity highlighting approaches to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research. Following curricular development and assessment tool validation, pre- and post-assessments of 101 undergraduates from 4 institutions revealed that students experienced both significant learning gains and increases in STEM identity, but with small effect sizes. Learning gains were marginally modified by gender, race/ethnicity, and number of extracurricular work hours per week. Students with more extracurricular work hours had significantly lower increase in STEM identity score after course completion. Female-identifying students saw greater learning gains than male-identifying, and though not statistically significant, students identifying as an underrepresented minority reported larger increases in STEM identity score. These findings demonstrate that even short course-based interventions have potential to yield learning gains and improve STEM identity. Online curricula like PARE-Seq can equip STEM instructors to utilize research-driven resources that improve outcomes for all students, but support must be prioritized for students working outside of school.

/pdf/learning-and-stem-identity-gains-from-an-online-module-on-4jtifa72.pdf

Learning and STEM identity gains from an online module on sequencing-based surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the environment: An analysis of the PARE-Seq curriculum

/pdf/informing-higher-education-policy-and-practice-through-mz1mpi4iav.pdf

Don C. Sawyer

Papers

Informing Higher Education Policy and Practice Through Intersectionality