Few debates spark as much interest as the controversy over how to increase access to higher education, particularly for racial minority groups. Despite the knowledge accumulated on the benefits of diversity, the higher education community knows very little about the determinants of minority student enrollment, or what universities can do to affect minority student representation. This dissertation seeks to investigate the factors that affect variance in minority student enrollment levels at public universities, with particular attention devoted to the political environment. This analysis of the relationship between political institutions and public universities draws on a number of subliteratures in public administration and political science, including theories of political control, descriptive representation, and public management. As one of the first major studies of the politics of higher education, the analysis draws on untapped data that allow for better tests of many of these theories. These data include measures of university enrollments, drawn from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Dataset and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, data on political institutions, including racial representation, and interviews of university administrators. The quantitative analysis uses a combination of methods, including ordinary least squares, hierarchical linear modeling, and descriptive statistics. Using a framework of governance to link these subliteratures together allows for progress toward more general theories about the relationship between political institutions and bureaucracy. Substantively, this analysis also adds to our understanding of what factors affect minority enrollments. Chapter V uncovers the redistributive effect of the Hopwood case and California’s Proposition 209, and chapter VI builds on this finding, by testing for the effect of minority representation in state legislatures. Chapter VII then takes a closer look at the Texas system, investigating the effect of the Grutter decisions on enrollments, particularly at the flagship institutions. Overall, findings point to the importance of university-specific characteristics -- such as the institution’s level of selectivity and the values held by the university -- in moderating the influence of political institutions, particularly of court cases and state-level interventions, on minority student enrollment levels.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-155).

Contemporary research on gay men and lesbian women features an increased focus on the manifestations of antigay stigma in their lives. In particular, the development of gay and lesbian identity within a cultural context that may be shifting but remains one that includes intolerance, or at best, indifference (Garnets & Kimmel, 1993). Internalization of anti lesbian and gay prejudice has been termed "the most insidious" form of minority stress (Meyer & Dean, 1998). Most models of lesbian and gay identity suggest that these individuals follow a unique trajectory due to their experiences of prejudice and social oppression (Potoczniak, Aldea, & DeBlaere, 2007). One question not typically addressed by these models, however, is how homosexual individuals vary so markedly in their progression through the phases of sexual minority development and/or the degree to which that identity is a positive one. This study was an attempt to explore the relationship between minority stress, cognitive style, and lesbian or gay identity development. 272 adults identifying as a lesbian woman or gay man participated in this study. A measure, The Lesbian and Gay Salient Experiences Questionnaire (LGSE), in order to examine the management of a sexual minority identity and the interactions or experiences related to identifying as a member of this population. Participants' lesbian or gay identity development and their capacity for cognitive complexity were also measured. Results yielded a significant relationship between three of the five scales of the LGSE and negative lesbian or gay identity but there was no relationship between conceptual complexity and negative identity. Significant sex differences were found on both the measure of negative identity and salient experiences with men reported higher levels on both. The relationship between salient experiences and negative identity were also different between men and women. This finding in particular suggests that men and women may not only have a different trajectory in forming their lesbian or gay identity, but that the experiential factors that influence their identity development may also be different. Therefore, further research is suggested in order to investigate whether gay men and lesbian women should be studied separately.

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We now have a student population that is culturally, linguistically and economically diverse. This, in turn, has resulted in school board initiatives in response to this diversity, primarily; it appears, in ways that harden social class and racial divisions in the society (Roberston & Kushner, 2006). One clear example of this is the over-representation in Special Education of poor, immigrant students of colour, whose culture and language differs from that of English-speaking Canada. This thesis focuses on the experience of Somali parents whose children have been placed in Special Education or where an attempt has been made to place them. The purpose of this study is to examine if high or low cultural capital among Somali parents’ influences the placement of their children in Special Education. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, I look at the experience of 8 Somali parents. Thematic analysis of the data is used to understand the findings.

We now have a student population that is culturally, linguistically and economically diverse. This, in turn, has resulted in school board initiatives in response to this diversity, primarily; it appears, in ways that harden social class and racial divisions in the society (Roberston & Kushner, 2006). One clear example of this is the over-representation in Special Education of poor, immigrant students of colour, whose culture and language differs from that of English-speaking Canada. This thesis focuses on the experience of Somali parents whose children have been placed in Special Education or where an attempt has been made to place them. The purpose of this study is to examine if high or low cultural capital among Somali parents’ influences the placement of their children in Special Education. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, I look at the experience of 8 Somali parents. Thematic analysis of the data is used to understand the findings.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains x, 133 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-141). Also available via the Internet.