The purpose of this study was to expand on the current research pertaining to women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, better understand the experiences of undergraduate women in the sciences, identify barriers to female persistence in their intended STEM majors, and understand the impact of the STEM co-educational Living Learning Community (LLC) model on female persistence. This study employed a mixed-methods approach that was grounded in standpoint methodology. The qualitative data were collected through focus groups and one-on-one interviews with the female participants and was analyzed through a critical feminist lens utilizing standpoint methodology and coded utilizing inductive analysis. The quantitative data were collected and analyzed utilizing a simple statistical analysis of key academic variables indicative of student success: cumulative high school GPAs, SAT scores, first year cumulative GPAs, freshman persistence patterns in the intended major, and freshman retention patterns at the university. The findings of this study illustrated that the co-educational LLC model created an inclusive academic and social environment that positively impacted the female participants‟ experiences and persistence in STEM. The findings also found the inclusion of men in the community aided in the demystification of male superiority in the sciences for the female participants. This study also highlighted the significance of social identity in the decision making process to join a science LLC.

This project addresses problems of political disengagement, social exclusion, multi-generational poverty, and social injustice in communities left behind by an incomplete democracy, now in acute crisis. Using jazz improvisation as a metaphor for Dewey’s ideals for a thriving and creative American democracy, this normative critical theory and pedagogy is part of a multi-pronged approach to radical democratic reform. Building on theories of humanistic prophetic pragmatism, critical pedagogy, and democratic theory, and suffused with critical race feminism, this critical approach begins with individual transformation, critical consciousness, and agency of marginalized citizens, through critical improvisational pedagogy. The approach seeks to prepare more diverse voices for active democratic deliberation and effective participation in democratic public spaces of input, negotiation, and challenge for the issues that affect marginalized people. The project creates an architecture, a basic template, and an operationalization strategy for the development of centers of critical improvisational pedagogy for the transmission of critical knowledge, mentoring, community support, and apprenticeships through culturally appropriate arts and cultural programming in accessible local community sites. Key Words: critical improvisational pedagogy, prophetic pragmatism, critical feminist theory, radical democratic reform, jazz imaginary, critical consciousness / Political Science

This thesis adopts critical feminist theory, which is a combination of both critical theory and feminist theory, to explore the nature and experiences of Omani women involved in tourism entrepreneurship with particular regard to empowerment. Several studies have identified the potential role of tourism entrepreneurship to empower women due to the many benefits that it provides. However, this potential, and the extent that it empowers women, has been questioned. A review of the literature on women in tourism entrepreneurship reveals that there are several issues that have theoretical and practical implications for women's empowerment through this activity. Furthermore, a review of the development studies literature indicates that there are many prevailing issues and debates surrounding the concept of women's empowerment thatmerit further investigation. The fieldwork for this research took place in Oman during 2013-­‐2014 and included an examination of a hosting group, sewing group and a number of women tourism entrepreneurs. Participant observations and semi-structured/unstructured interviews were conducted to collect information about these women. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected information and to develop three ethnographic case studies. The findings of this research reveal that tourism entrepreneurship does not inevitably bring about empowerment for Omani women. It is far from being an activity for women's individual and collective empowerment, given that the scope for such remains dependent on the embedded environment and is influenced by the nature of tourism enterprise work. An empirically informed conceptual framework was developed from the data to present this phenomenon. A grounded conceptualization was also developed from the data to conceptualize the process of women's empowerment for Omani women in tourism entrepreneurship. Theoretical implications of the findings areidentified in relation to the appropriate use of the concept of women's empowerment in tourism research. Practical implications of the findings are also identified in relation to local and international tourism organisations that utilises tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for women's empowerment purposes.

<p>This dissertation explores ten teachers´ approaches to managing conflicts with/between pupils. The relevance of gender is analysed according to the strategies and representations chosen by the teachers. The methods used for data collection include ´rounds´, role-plays and ongoing reflexivity, mainly in single-sex groups. Three main strategies were identified in managing conflicts with/between pupils: challenging, confirming and physically touching. The strategy of challenging reveals that teachers have high expectations of how competent pupils ought to be. It is no longer enough to be competent and independent as a pupil (in Sweden); he or she is also expected to have an integrated ethic of caring. Values such as an ethic of caring are conventionally associated with femininity, and are usually invisible and/or low status; though they have now become the dominant norm for both female and male teachers. The strategy of confirming is used to give support to the pupil but there is a risk of confirming one individual “too much” which can lead to relational problems with other pupils. Physical touching as a strategy relates to dilemmas arising from gendered expectations of physicality in teacher-pupil interaction. Overall, difficulties were found in getting male teachers to discuss and ‘role-play’ conflicts with girls, which did not arise with female teachers concerning conflicts with boys. Also criticized were the demands on teachers’ workloads as a result of their social responsibility for pupils’ welfare, and also lack of institutional support. When the teachers had time to reflect together on their experiences, they seemed willing to criticize norms and representations. Four phases in the mode of talking were identified: (1) the telling of an experience; (2) interpretation of experience as a form of difference, either as deviance or according to gender; (3) narration of experience that contradicts the above dichotomy of difference; and (4) ongoing reflexivity resulting in motivation to change strategy or strengthen former strategies based on a wider awareness of work context.</p>

This dissertation explores ten teachers' approaches to managing conflicts with/between pupils. The relevance of gender is analysed according to the strategies and representations chosen by the teachers. The methods used for data collection include 'rounds', role-plays and ongoing reflexivity, mainly in single-sex groups. Three main strategies were identified in managing conflicts with/between pupils: challenging, confirming and physically touching. The strategy of challenging reveals that teachers have high expectations of how competent pupils ought to be. It is no longer enough to be competent and independent as a pupil (in Sweden); he or she is also expected to have an integrated ethic of caring. Values such as an ethic of caring are conventionally associated with femininity, and are usually invisible and/or low status; though they have now become the dominant norm for both female and male teachers. The strategy of confirming is used to give support to the pupil but there is a risk of confirming one individual "too much" which can lead to relational problems with other pupils. Physical touching as a strategy relates to dilemmas arising from gendered expectations of physicality in teacher-pupil interaction. Overall, difficulties were found in getting male teachers to discuss and 'role-play' conflicts with girls, which did not arise with female teachers concerning conflicts with boys. Also criticized were the demands on teachers' workloads as a result of their social responsibility for pupils' welfare, and also lack of institutional support. When the teachers had time to reflect together on their experiences, they seemed willing to criticize norms and representations. Four phases in the mode of talking were identified: (1) the telling of an experience; (2) interpretation of experience as a form of difference, either as deviance or according to gender; (3) narration of experience that contradicts the above dichotomy of difference; and (4) ongoing reflexivity resulting in motivation to change strategy or strengthen former strategies based on a wider awareness of work context.

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