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This phenomenological research study explores how districts in Massachusetts support and hinder the work of professionals in the inaugural role of Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I). Through a qualitative approach, the study engaged six Directors of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from suburban and urban school settings in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data analysis revealed several key themes including the challenges of managing ambiguity and uncertainty of the role, the urgency for supporting BIPOC stakeholders, the emotional toll that comes from a focus on racial issues, and the difficulties of navigating resistance from within and outside of the school district. Overall, the findings suggest that districts should consider creating and utilizing standards for practice to clarify the work and function of Directors of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Further, investing in developing coaching skills in these directors will allow for transformational work to take place within the organization. Instituting self-care supports similar to clinical supervision models may combat the racialized stress experienced by these practitioners. Lastly, the researcher recommends that senior district leaders such as the superintendent become the lead voice organizing and communicating equity goals and initiatives within the district.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are concepts that have been embraced by organizations in the past years. More and more, companies understand the need to leverage diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforce, and a group of professionals have emerged to support them to achieve this goal: the DEI teams. These workers play a role in advising organizations about the best talent management practices that support a DEI friendly work environment.   The Information Systems (IS) field has also studied how organizational structures interact with information systems and how they impact each other. Therefore, it is also necessary to learn about the DEI professional’s perspective on how their work in the organizations interact with information systems and technologies.   Moreover, the DEI concepts and the work of DEI professionals have become popular in Canada in the past years, however, there has not been enough research in the IS field on how information systems impact diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce. For this reason, this research aims to contribute to the IS field by adding some piece of knowledge regarding the interaction between the work of the DEI professionals and information systems.   Following a qualitative research approach, some interview was conducted with eleven DEI professionals from different organizations and job positions in Toronto, Canada. The interviews focused on their experience and perception of how information systems can support or impact their efforts to leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations’ workforce. The data collected during the interview was analysed which led to seven main concepts.   The results have shown a positive perception of the DEI professionals in Canada regarding the use of network or social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook in helping organizations to leverage DEI in their workforce. The DEI professionals’ focus on targeted recruitment also has shaped their interactions with the information systems. However, the participants shared some concerns regarding the quality of the data collected from self-identification forms as well as the use of the automated cv screening tools.

No description available.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are concepts that have been embraced by organizations in the past years. More and more, companies understand the need to leverage diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforce, and a group of professionals have emerged to support them to achieve this goal: the DEI teams. These workers play a role in advising organizations about the best talent management practices that support a DEI friendly work environment.   The Information Systems (IS) field has also studied how organizational structures interact with information systems and how they impact each other. Therefore, it is also necessary to learn about the DEI professional’s perspective on how their work in the organizations interact with information systems and technologies.   Moreover, the DEI concepts and the work of DEI professionals have become popular in Canada in the past years, however, there has not been enough research in the IS field on how information systems impact diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce. For this reason, this research aims to contribute to the IS field by adding some piece of knowledge regarding the interaction between the work of the DEI professionals and information systems.   Following a qualitative research approach, some interview was conducted with eleven DEI professionals from different organizations and job positions in Toronto, Canada. The interviews focused on their experience and perception of how information systems can support or impact their efforts to leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations’ workforce. The data collected during the interview was analysed which led to seven main concepts.   The results have shown a positive perception of the DEI professionals in Canada regarding the use of network or social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook in helping organizations to leverage DEI in their workforce. The DEI professionals’ focus on targeted recruitment also has shaped their interactions with the information systems. However, the participants shared some concerns regarding the quality of the data collected from self-identification forms as well as the use of the automated cv screening tools.

Thesis advisor: Christopher Higgins / The heightened use of “safe space” in educational settings has been the subject of polarizing contemporary controversy and protested by conservative and progressive camps alike, raising concerns about whether “safe space” remains an educationally viable concept. In response to claims that safety is conflated with “coddling” students, censoring unpopular speech, or reinforcing privilege, this dissertation argues that safe spaces signify enduring pursuits of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education that are too important to be abandoned. Instead, this interdisciplinary, mixed methods project considers how safe spaces can be rehabilitated to best serve subaltern undergraduate students. Informed by the experiences of six of my former students, I investigate how predominantly White institutions (PWI), like Boston College, can be rehabilitated as places where risky, transformative education is possible. By integrating situated educational philosophy and participatory design research (PDR) that features artistic and embodied methods of relationality (self-portraits, walks, and interactive workshops), I offer a spatial turn in the safe space debates that reveals the ideologically laden ‘normative geography’ of university campuses. Attuning to safe space controversies as spatial struggles uncovers who and what is positioned as “in place” or “out of place” on campus, as well as subaltern students’ transgressive acts of place-making—the quotidian tactics of making a hostile place more habitable for themselves. My dissertation therefore culminates by proposing a risky model of higher education, inspired by Judith Butler’s proposal of ethical formation, that insists on a collective responsibility for inclusive campus place-making. In this iterative framework, safety serves not as a barrier to risk, but as a crucial, co-constructed threshold condition that makes educative risk-taking possible for all students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teaching, Curriculum, and Society.

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<p> There has been substantial growth in recent decades in the variety and popularity of roles for dogs assisting humans in professional therapeutic partnerships. Simultaneously, increasingly rigorous research has repeatedly demonstrated the effects of professional human-canine partnerships in remedying important issues of public health among several at-risk populations. Yet, despite these areas of growth, mechanisms of action and predictors of efficacy in the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) remain poorly understood, and the role of human diversity has been rarely discussed. Thus, the present dissertation examines potential mechanisms and diverse predictors in two distinct samples of professional human-canine partnerships, while building the impetus to explore diversity in the HAI field as a whole. For the first three studies (Chapters 2-4), the selected samples of professional human-canine partnerships include military veterans working with psychiatric service dogs to mediate their symptoms of PTSD and healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals working with facility dogs to benefit their patients. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, the objective of Chapters 2-3 was to examine primary human outcomes in the selected professional canine partnerships. In a crosssectional study of N=198 military veterans with PTSD, Chapter 2 compared PTSD symptom severity between n=112 veterans with service dogs and n=86 veterans on the waitlist to receive service dogs in the future. Next, in a cross-sectional study of N=130 healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals, Chapter 3 compared job-related well-being and mental health of n=65 professionals working with facility dogs to n=65 working without. Findings suggested benefits to the mental health and well-being of both military veterans with PTSD and pediatric healthcare professionals, which were significantly associated with their professional canine partnerships. Subsequently, the objective of Chapter 4 was to explore how variances within a specific professional canine partnership may suggest predictors and potential mechanisms for the observed human outcomes. Thus, in a longitudinal study of N=82 veterans with PTSD and their service dogs, Chapter 4 explored associations of veterans’ outcomes with veteran-service dog demographics and interactions. Results suggested components of the human-canine partnership which might explain observed human outcomes, including social connections, a calming influence, and strong humananimal bonds. </p>

<p>The attached document contains the dissertation of Clare Jensen, including descriptions of all procedures used in the associated research studies.</p>