Thesis advisor: Karen D. Arnold / This mixed-methods study examines admissions professionals' consciousness and perceptions of the role that institutional culture plays in attracting and enrolling graduate-level students. This research identifies and describes how graduate admissions professionals learn culture and how that culture is communicated to applicants. Data were gathered through a web-based survey that queried 102 admissions professionals at 236 graduate schools of theology throughout the United States of America and Canada. Additionally, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners directly involved in communicating culture to applicants. Survey and interview data were triangulated with a document analysis of printed promotional materials and website text. Findings suggest that graduate admissions professionals consider culture a crucial factor in their efforts to recruit potential students, regardless of such factors as years of experience working in higher education or working specifically in graduate admissions; professional title; or school's religious denominational affiliation. Across these categories, graduate admissions professionals perceive culture as a leading factor in enrollment decision making. Likewise, graduate admissions professionals indicate that culture is highly and intentionally incorporated into marketing and recruitment strategies. Findings also indicate there is little difference in how culture is viewed between those graduate admissions professionals who have had direct institutional academic experience as a current student/alumnus of the school and those graduate admissions professionals who have not. Although the two populations may experience different ways of learning culture, both indicated similarly high perceptions of culture's importance in the enrollment process. While digital technologies continue to create new potentials for communication methods, face-to-face communication--most notably through campus visits--is still viewed by graduate admissions professionals as most effective. This research highlights the importance of facilitating student discernment within the larger context of the admissions decision-making process. The findings also suggest that external candidates who are hired for their admission expertise can learn and communicate institutional culture effectively. Ultimately, this study reveals culture's perceived importance in the admissions process and its potential as a principal factor in enrollment decisions. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

La thèse porte sur l'étude comparée de trois configurations artistiques situées dans des espaces historiquement gérés par des élus communistes (Saint-Denis, Nanterre, Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis). Dans ces configurations, il s'est agi de mettre au jour les logiques sociales et historiques permettant la reconnaissance de certaines formes artistiques (théâtre, fêtes de ville, cirque, arts de la rue, hip hop, musique principalement). L'approche repose sur une analyse dispositionnelle et relationnelle des individus impliqués dans ces phénomènes de légitimation ou d'illégitimation artistiques. Remonter aux schèmes de perception du monde social et aux contextes de leur actualisation permet d'en comprendre les ressorts. Cette analyse a permis d'identifier l'existence d'individus politisés s'engageant dans les mondes de l'art ou dans le champ politique pour subvertir les rapports sociaux dominants. Outre l'analyse des conséquences de ces engagements sur le paysage artistique, la thèse porte sur l'étude des incidences biographiques, territoriales et politiques croisées. Position sociale, engagement et institutions locales sont dialectiquement liées. Au cours de leur engagement, ces individus atteignent les classes moyennes et en constituent une strate bien spécifique : politisée, autochtone et disposant d'un capital culturel non certifié par des diplômes. L'existence de cette strate, dans les espaces étudiés, a des incidences sur la structuration de la société locale. L'autochtonie et les essais de définition d'une société basée sur un "roman national" post-colonial sont les deux dimensions qui ont été principalement étudiées. / My thesis focuses on the comparative study of three artistic configurations located in spaces historically run by communist elected representatives (Saint-Denis, Nanterre, General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis). In these configurations, I uncover the social and historical logics leading to the recognition of certain art forms (mainly theater, municipal festivals, circus, street arts, hip hop, music). My approach is based on a dispositional and relational analysis of individuals involved in these processes of artistic legitimization (or delegitimization). The study of these processes is conducted by analyzing individuals’ schemes of perception of the social world and the contexts in which these schemes are used. This analysis identified the existence of politicized individuals committed in the worlds of art or in the political field in order to subvert the dominant social relations. In addition to analyzing the impact of these commitments on the artistic landscape, my thesis focuses on the study of their biographical, territorial and political consequences. Social position, commitment and local institutions are dialectically linked. Through their commitment, these individuals reach the middle class and constitute a very specific stratum thereof: politicized, indigenous and possessing cultural capital that is not certified by diplomas. The existence of this social stratum, in the studied areas, has implications for the local social structure. I mainly studied two dimensions of these implications, namely Indigeneity and the definition of a postcolonial national narrative.

Purpose: Significant research has been done on morale within libraries focusing on librarians as teachers, administrators, staff, and faculty members. This review is the second in a series of two with the purpose of providing suggestions on ways to improve morale in librarians and library staff. The first part of this review discusses contributors to low morale in these populations. Methods: Searches were conducted between Spring 2020 and 2021 across six databases and by hand (Medline via PubMed, Library and Information Science Collection via ProQuest, Sociological Abstracts via ProQuest, PsycInfo via EBSCO, Library Literature and Information Science Full Text via EBSCO, and ERIC via EBSCO). Broad and narrow searches were performed utilizing keywords and controlled vocabulary terms related to morale and librarians or library staff. Results were reviewed by authors in three stages according to inclusion and exclusion criteria outlined in the article. Results: The initial search resulted in 735 articles for review. After completion of a three-stage review process and hand search, 52 articles remained. The search and hand search update resulted in 13 additional articles for a total of 65 articles for inclusion in the initial review. These articles were then split into two main groups: articles that address contributors to low morale and those that provide suggestions for improving morale. This article will address 28/65 articles retrieved that provided suggestions for improving morale within libraries. Conclusion: There is currently a large body of research on morale related to librarians and library staff; however, it is worth reexamining morale as librarianship and the world around it continues to change. Researchers confirmed that libraries have unique cultures based upon their region, overarching institution, type of library, customer or patron base, and other factors. As such, supervisors must be creative in terms of encouraging their staff and must adapt morale improvement efforts to their individual institution as material resources are not always available as rewards.

Purpose: Significant research has been done on morale within libraries, focusing on librarians as teachers, administrators, staff, and faculty members. This review is the first in a series of two with the intention to provide perspective on contributors to low morale in librarians and library staff. The second part of this review will be forthcoming and will discuss ways to improve morale in these populations. Methods: Searches were conducted between Spring 2020 and 2021 across six databases (Medline via PubMed, Library and Information Science Collection via ProQuest, Sociological Abstracts via ProQuest, PsycInfo via EBSCO, Library Literature and Information Science Full Text via EBSCO, and ERIC via EBSCO). A hand search was added in Spring 2021 in the interest of completeness. Broad and narrow searches were performed utilizing keywords and controlled vocabulary terms related to morale and librarians or library staff. Results were reviewed by authors in three stages according to inclusion and exclusion criteria outlined in the article. Results: The initial search resulted in 735 articles for review. After completion of a three-stage review process and initial hand search, 52 articles remained. The search update and hand search update resulted in 13 additional articles for a total of 65 articles for inclusion in the initial review. These articles were then split into two main groups: articles that address contributors to low morale and those that provide suggestions for improving morale. This article will address 40/65 articles retrieved that discuss contributors to low moral within libraries. Remaining articles and articles that discuss both contributors to low morale and ways in which to improve morale will be discussed in the second half of this review series. Conclusion: There is currently a large body of research on morale related to librarians and library staff; however, it is worth reexamining morale as this profession and the world around it continues to change. Researchers confirmed that libraries have unique cultures based upon their region, overarching institution, type of library, customer or patron base, and other factors. As such, supervisors and managerial staff indicate the importance of examining the culture of one’s own library including the motivations of staff/faculty and barriers that they encounter.

This thesis examines the lived experiences of Black women academics in South African universities, focusing on a case study from the University of Cape Town (UCT). Since the end of apartheid, scholars have questioned the disconnect between the goals and objectives of transformation strategies and the continued experiences of marginalization and oppression that Black women face. This study adds to this critical analysis by seeking to understand the main challenges that Black women experience in their careers and to assess how they view the transformation agenda, more commonly known outside of South Africa as equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives. This thesis adopts an intersectional lens to study the experience of Black women, drawing on critical race theory and Black feminist thought. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with 10 Black women academics. Using the method of discourse analysis, I identify six common themes: experiences as a student, the strengths and limits of UCT’s transformation agenda, stories of everyday racism experienced as a faculty member, identity as resilience, building communities of mutual support, and the effects of other forms of discrimination (e.g. age, citizenship and sexuality). This thesis argues that while there is evidence that the transformation agenda has been somewhat successful with respect to equity and diversity, efforts remain inadequate to reorder the deeply rooted structures of oppression and the diverse challenges faced by Black women. In particular, the third element of EDI initiatives— ‘inclusion’—remains a work-in-progress. Black women academics perceive that dominant institutional culture and norms prevent them from participating fully in spaces of higher education.

Doctor Theologiae - DTh / In South Africa anti-queer attitudes are propped up by religious moral claims and by strong assertions that queer sexualities are un-African and a secular Western import. This study contributes to the growing body of literature which challenge these claims, and at the same time interrupts scholarly trends in the field of religion and sexuality which either characterises institutional religion as singularly oppressive or homogenises queer Christians as inherently subversive. In this thesis, I explored the lived experiences of six queer clergy (one of whom was discontinued) in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), in order to understand the complex relationship between institutional power and the ordinary lived realities of clergy. The study focuses particularly on the MCSA as it is statistically the largest mainline Protestant denomination in South Africa and holds significant positions of power and influence on national, interdenominational and political platforms, not least of all because it has fostered an institutional identity as the ‘church of Mandela.’ Further, situated within a continental and national context where anti-queer attitudes are politicised through cultural and religious discourses, I have argued that the MCSA also serves as a case study which represents the ways in which institutionalised religion continues to be co-constitutive of social systems and hierarchies.

Women's college culture has been found to have qualities that promote the success of the women who graduate from these institutions. This research sought to identify aspects of women's college culture that students perceive as having impacted their aspirations for an advanced degree. Fifty-eight women at two southern women's colleges were interviewed. The participants were members of each college's senior class and had spent their entire undergraduate years at the same institution. After an email solicitation was sent to all members of the senior class, participants were accepted until there were eight women in each of the three categories. These three categories; Keepers, Droppers, and Aspirers; were developed in order to study participant perceptions by whether they maintained or dropped their previous educational aspirations or had developed new aspirations for an advanced degree while attending a women's college. The interviews were completed over a two-month period with each interview lasting from 45 to 60 minutes. Participants were asked about the importance of aspects of women's college culture on their aspirations for an advanced degree as well as other factors that they perceived as having influenced their decision whether or not to pursue an advanced degree. The majority of the White women in this study confirmed the positive impacts of women's college culture including high academic expectations, a mission and history that supports women, more female role models, a caring, supportive environment, and an abundance of opportunities for involvement and to learn about oneself. In addition, participants confirmed the importance of peer relationships and romantic relationships on their educational aspirations. Some women, however, perceived these same factors as having a negative impact on their degree aspirations. These negative impacts included the Bubble effect, in which women felt that the women's college experience had sheltered them from the realities of the world outside of their present environment, the Burn-Out effect from over involvement in extra-curricular and academic activities, and confusion over field of study interest due to the many opportunities to learn about oneself offered by a liberal arts curriculum. Other findings indicate that despite the supportive environment of women's colleges, women's college students still perceive romantic relationships as negatively impacting their or their friend's aspirations for an advanced degree. In addition, the need to be taken seriously, whether their families are supportive of further education, and how well informed they are about financial aid issues, all were reported to impact educational aspirations. Unexpectedly, male role models were found to have a positive impact on women's aspirations despite the many female role models at women's colleges.The African American women college students in this study reported their experiences of attending a women's college much differently than did the White women. Although they felt they had received a quality education, the African American women were dissatisfied with the lack of representation of the African American culture at the women's college they attended. They felt the women's college culture had negatively impacted their aspirations for an advanced degree because of the lack of representation of African American culture in the women's college environment. Almost all African American women in this study dropped their previous aspirations for an advanced degree because of the discouraging effect of the overwhelmingly White culture of the colleges they attended.Overall, this study found that college culture was perceived to have a clear positive impact for one group of students, no significant impact for another, and a negative impact for the third group of students. In addition, based on the perceptions of the students and the researcher's limited observations, the two colleges were found to have institutional cultures that differentiate themselves from each other. This finding challenges previous researchers' assumptions that all women's colleges share a single culture.This study adds to previous literature about women's college culture and aspirations for an advanced degree in a number of important ways. Key findings include the identification of negative, as well as positive, impacts of women's college culture for some women, the importance of male role models for women's college students, and the dissatisfaction of the African American women in the study with their experience at a woman's college. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Over the past 50 years, living-learning programs (LLPs) have emerged as a dynamic curricular innovation in higher education. These programs are residentially based, seeking to seamlessly integrate the classroom and residence hall environments and blur the traditional boundaries between the academic and residential experiences for students (Kuh, 1996; Inkelas & Soldner, 2012). However, efforts to implement LLPs at some campuses have been met with resistance; this is not surprising, as institutions of higher education are often charged in part with preserving cultural and social norms, therefore making them naturally resistant to change (Shapiro & Levine, 1999). One of the most common challenges facing colleges and universities that seek change is a tendency for institutional culture dynamics to be potentially divisive and foster internal conflict (Kuh & Whitt, 1988). Such conflict impacts faculty, students, and administrative subcultures. Institutional partnerships that can overcome divisive cultural dynamics have the potential to greatly enhance the campus climate (Nash et al., 2016). This qualitative research study asks the overarching question, "How does institutional culture influence the creation and development of an LLP and, in turn, can an LLP reciprocally shape institutional culture?" This case study examines the internal conflict and cultural implications related to the founding of a comprehensive first-year residential college system at St. Lawrence University -- a small, private liberal arts institution in the Northeast. Utilizing Kuh's & Whitt's (1988) Framework for Analyzing Culture in Higher Education, as well as Schein's (2004) Conceptual Model for Managed Culture Change, this study collected data through historical document analysis, as well as narrative inquiry interviews focusing on the artifacts, values, assumptions, and beliefs of the campus community. In-depth interviews were conducted with faculty and administrators who played key roles in the foundational years of this LLP, as well as with faculty who opposed the program. The findings of this study demonstrate how preexisting cultural conditions heavily influenced the creation and development of the LLP. This study also identifies the ways in which several deeply entrenched cultural conditions changed, indicating this comprehensive LLP fostered a relational capacity to facilitate institutional culture change.

Student Number : 0005386G - MSc research report - School of Architecture and Planning - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / The research recognises the IDP as an important post-apartheid planning tool that can potentially lead to integration within the City of Johannesburg. However, for the IDP to attain its mandated goals, an enabling institutional culture of the City and its units need to prevail. The gap/challenge is that the institutional culture of the City and its departments/units are shaped by Joburg 2030, a purely economic strategy that does not embrace the principles needed for attainment of IDP goals. The principles needed for successful formulation and implementation of the IDP are found in equity planning theories and New Institutionalism. These are the principles that do not form part of the Joburg 2030 vision. The solution is for the Joburg 2030 to include the planning principles as already highlighted. This solution will affect departmental practices for the better.