There is little diversity among earned doctorates in the United States. First-generation college students are especially at-risk for not matriculating to a doctoral degree. This applied dissertation provided an understanding of the obstacles faced by first-generation college students in doctoral programs by studying alumni of the McNair Scholars Program. The study examined the components of the McNair Scholars Program that can help ameliorate obstacles faced by first-generation college students as they enroll and persist into graduate school. This study utilized a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach to evaluate the components of the McNair Scholars Program that prepared students for successful persistence into graduate school and subsequent completion of an earned doctorate.

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This dissertation investigated the development of stereotypes surrounding public school children in Brazil, primarily focusing on poor students of Afro descent. It explored how these stereotypes have influenced education policymaking and examined the efforts of Darcy Ribeiro and Paulo Freire to challenge these prevailing notions. Employing archival research to trace the historical creation of stereotypes about Black Brazilians from impoverished backgrounds since the country's declaration of independence, the study delved into historical accounts and perspectives offered by various political actors—policymakers, educators, families, and society in general. The aim was to understand how ideas and images about poor and Black students have been constructed and impacted the education policy process in the country. The findings revealed that historically, governing elites associated vulnerable populations with societal problems such as crime, diseases, and idleness. Consequently, different policies were designed and implemented, predominantly proposing work as a solution to restrain Black and poor populations. For children, schools emerged as spaces where they should be disciplined and tailored to meet the needs of the workforce. To understand the historical construction of these stereotypes, I conducted interviews with education stakeholders to assess the persistence of these ideas and the efforts schools make, or fail to make, to counteract the influence of negative social constructions on public school students. The research also delved into Ribeiro’s and Freire’s perspectives on public education—how they attempted to translate their theories into practice, and the complexities encountered during the design and implementation of their policies in the state of Rio de Janeiro and the city of São Paulo, respectively. This occurred during a pivotal period: the redemocratization of Brazil. As influential figures in policymaking, they faced resistance from those adhering to traditional narratives reinforcing stereotypes. Archival research and interviews with individuals who worked with Ribeiro and Freire in the design and implementation of their policies were central to understanding the challenges they faced in attempting to transform public schools in Brazil. The findings underscore the intricate connections among historical narratives, policy formulation, and the persistent endeavor to reshape the educational landscape for marginalized communities in Brazil. This research contributes to unraveling the dynamics of challenging stereotypes in education and delves into the transformative potential inherent in policy interventions. By focusing on Brazilians who are most reliant on public policies, the study not only informs the academic discourse but also provides insights for policies that can meaningfully impact the lives of those historically underserved.

[pt] Este trabalho investiga, sob a perspectiva do encontro de serviço, como os alunos de baixa renda - bolsistas - lidam com as diferenças e os preconceitos vividos em um ambiente acadêmico de elite. Encontro de serviço é um conceito que tem origem e importância no marketing de serviços e que trás para este trabalho o papel dos alunos como consumidores de um serviço. O trabalho, de cunho prático, introduz no encontro de serviços o que alguns autores, particularmente Sue et al. (2010), chamam de microagressões. Estuda as estratégias de enfrentamento diante das diferenças socioeconômicas e culturais e o modo como lidam com o preconceito. Foram realizadas várias entrevistas com alunos de último período de graduação de universidade privada para identificar os principais temas ligados às dificuldades de integração e de adaptação. Os resultados indicam que a agressão ocorre de forma sutil, velada e indireta e, em muitos casos, o autor sequer tem a consciência de que comete uma ação de discriminação. Após essa etapa, as principais questões foram levantadas e classificadas segundo o tipo de microagressão, seguindo o modelo de análise de Sue et al. (2010), com o objetivo de compreender o nível de consciência de quem pratica a ação, seja ele professor, aluno ou funcionário e o grau de prejuízo causado a esse grupo de consumidores. As principais questões encontradas, como exclusão e isolamento mostram a necessidade de pensar medidas gerenciais que busquem atender as necessidades deste grupo de consumidores em desvantagem, em relação aos demais. Neste sentido, este trabalho pode auxiliar as universidades e seus gestores no entendimento dos preconceitos vividos por esses consumidores e nas possibilidades de solução. / [en] This work investigates how low-income students handle prejudices in a university elite environment. To that end, it adopts two standpoints. First, it supports the perspective of the service encounter as an underlying concept for the role of students as consumers. Second, it introduces the concept of microaggressions (SUE et al, 2010) to the academic scene of service s marketing. This study also acknowledges the socioeconomic and cultural differences of students as the primary cause of the aggressions. Because of this, the study has a particular concern with how students deal with prejudice. Accordingly, it focuses on the coping strategies students adopt in the face of discrimination. This study results from several interviews with undergraduate students to identify the difficulties of integration and adaptation. The findings indicate that aggressions occur in a subtle, veiled and indirect way. In many cases, even the perpetrator is unaware of the discrimination action. Finally, the work presents a classification of microaggressions following the model of Sue et al. (2010). This model addresses two central issues. The first is the level of awareness of who does the action, be it teacher, student or employee. The other is the degree of damage caused to the consumers. Equally important is to add here the concerns with isolation and exclusion. All these questions require proper managerial attention.

This thesis will use data derived from in-depth interviews, historical research, and environmental justice literature to examine the academic achievement of students living in the Community of Lennox. Specifically, this thesis will explore the intersectionality between social environments and academic resources to analyze how it supports or deters students from obtaining a higher degree education.

This study analyzes how a group of six high school freshmen responded to engaging in Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Justice (TLMSJ), which is one possible articulation of criticalmathematics. Commonalities among this diverse group of students were that they were all students of Color from low socioeconomic status, enrolled in Algebra 1, attending the same Title I public high school. These students participated in an eight-week-long after-school program named “Socially Aware Algebra Students” (SAAS), where they investigated a variety of social injustices through doing Algebra 1 mathematics. This program was designed and facilitated by this study’s author, whose role would be considered practitioner–researcher. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the need for feedback on TLMSJ from a diverse group of students of Color. Specifically, this study sought to determine the participants’ perceptions both of engaging in TLMSJ and of the social justice topics that were investigated as well as the participants’ mathematical learnings that occurred during the SAAS program. This qualitative ethnographic case study relied on the following data sources: interviews, questionnaires, observations, journal entries, student work products, and pre- and posttests. Findings suggest that students’ reactions to this particular version of learning mathematics through social justice are as varied as the students themselves. While all participants reported increased mathematical skill and confidence due to their participation in SAAS and all enjoyed learning mathematics that was related to real-life topics, not every participant was interested in learning about social injustices. Secondly, the post-assessment data did not display measurable growth, despite the participants’ perceptions of their mathematical improvement. These findings suggest that TLMSJ, despite being the most common articulation of criticalmathematics, may not be the most effective means by which mathematics teachers can render their teaching socially just. The study concludes with various recommendations for mathematics teachers interested either in teaching mathematics through social justice topics, or in teaching mathematics in ways that are aligned with the spirit of social justice.

<p>Socioeconomic inequality unduly impacts the pathways of socioeconomically disadvantaged students (SDS) in engineering. Past and present scholarship suggests that inequitable access to physical and interpersonal resources inhibits K-16+ students' ability to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) meaningfully. This lack of access negatively impacts SDS' pursuit of, and success in, engineering. Thus far, quantitative studies seeking to understand SDS' trajectories to and through engineering have used income as a proxy for socioeconomic disadvantage. However, such measures are not theoretically positioned to accurately depict or account for the complex sociological processes that lead to, or result from, socioeconomic inequality. Furthermore, such measures do not account for parallel inequalities such as racism, sexism, and classism that exist, influence, and are influenced by it. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to 1) develop a more sociologically accurate measure of socioeconomic inequality, 2) to use that measure to identify the impacts of such inequality on SDS' pathways to and through engineering, and finally, 3) to explore the narrative experiences of SDS when accounting for a more accurate depiction. Using a Critical Realist Feminist approach to structural equation modeling, restricted data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) as well as other supplemental data were used to construct and test a more complex and representative measure of socioeconomic disadvantage, the Model of Socioeconomic Inequality (Study 1). Study 2 used this model to examine how aspects predicting important engineering student outcomes. Neighborhood location and conditions, level of Parent Educational Involvement, and availability of Household Educational Resources negatively impact SDS' opportunities to engage and succeed in engineering and college more broadly. Furthermore, the model suggested that such interactions are uniquely mediated by the intersectional inequalities experienced by SDS and their families. Finally, a rich narrative of one student, Samantha, is included to better understand the lived experiences of SDS amongst their pathways to and through engineering. Samantha was a Queer Asian American female SDS graduating from Computer Science Engineering who has low scores on Parent Educational Involvement and Household Educational Resources. Samantha's narrative shows the important role that the factors identified in the Model of Socioeconomic Inequality had in her experiences. Specifically, Samantha had little access to Parent Educational Involvement and Household Educational Resources from her parents. Rather, these forms of support came from what she referred to as her ``chosen family,'' a group of professors, co-workers, friends, and others who viewed and supported her identity authentically and provided her physical resources when she needed them. Access to this group and the resources they provided supported Samantha's belonging and her ability to succeed in engineering. However, Samantha's narrative also uncovered findings not included in the Model of Socioeconomic Inequality. Specifically, Samantha's narrative suggested she had experienced significant, long-term traumas that were both related and unrelated to her socioeconomic experiences. These traumas negatively impacted Samantha's feelings of belonging and caused her to question her place in engineering, but they were partially mitigated by the support of her chosen family. This three-study dissertation challenges current engineering education thinking regarding the knowledge and study of socioeconomics, trauma, and Intersectionality more broadly. It also challenges engineering education researchers and practitioners to question the current methods of how they support SDS in a multitude of spaces.</p>

Compared to their peers, low-income students are 90% less likely to graduate within 6 years and are more likely to drop out. At the local site, this problem is also evident in that the retention rate for the Fall 2014-15 cohort was 78.3%, but just 60.2% for those defined as low-income students. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of low-income 1st year college students' perceived confidence in their use of technology and how it influenced their decision to stay in college. Understanding the role technology plays in the decision to stay in college will shed light on ways to offer support to increase retention of these students. The conceptual framework that guided the study was Bruno's confidence based learning methodology. This framework suggests there is a connection between knowledge and confidence. A qualitative descriptive design was used collecting data through a series of 10 open-ended interviews with low-income 1st year college students. The central research question explored how low-income 1st year college students describe their confidence in the use of technology as a factor in their retention. Data analysis consisted of manual coding to identify themes from the interview data. The findings suggested low-income 1st year students do not have confidence in their ability to use technology and remain in college. A policy recommendation to reinstate the information literacy policy for low-income 1st year students could affect social change as additional resources help to raise low-income 1st year college students' confidence using technology and supports them to persist in college.

This dissertation is composed of three chapters, each applying different quantitative methods to study a specific early childhood education policy or program. Chapter One explores whether expanding preschool education in low- and middle-income countries with public resources would be a viable policy option, using a benefit-cost analysis. Chapter Two examines economic costs of an emergent literacy program that places paid community tutors into pre-K classrooms in Minnesota using the ingredients method of cost analysis. Chapter Three investigates the effectiveness of a school-based attendance intervention at public preschools in high poverty communities of Chile by using student level observational data. The three chapters each highlight different policy problems: global inequalities on access to preschool education, reading gaps among American PK-12 students, and high student absenteeism at publicly funded preschool programs. Together, these studies advance our knowledge about ways to address existing early childhood education policy problems. These studies also help shed light on gaps in our current knowledge and lay out future research agenda.