This study sought to understand how post-secondary students experience and process issues of diversity, to discover what those views of diversity are, and how those views might change. The two issues that participants felt most strongly about were homosexuality and scholarships for students of color. Their views on homosexuality ranged from admitted homophobia, to ambivalence, to tolerance, to full acceptance. Religion seemed to play a part among those who were ambivalent, but not for those who were homophobic. Views were not static, but shifted depending on the circumstances. A participant who might object to a homosexual serving in the military might have no problem having a homosexual as a neighbor. Regarding scholarships for students of color, some of the 27 White students agreed that this was fair, while others seemed to resent the idea and questioned its need. Two of the four multi-racial students were somewhat sympathetic to the latter view. A high degree of acceptance on one diversity issue did not necessarily mean high acceptance on other issues. A participant who advocated for gays to have equal admittance and acceptance in the military was against scholarships for students of color. Participants' views were most influenced by their personal experiences. Interventions such as coursework, workshop, panel presentation, and social contact seemed to have a less influence than personal experiences. Those pivotal moments, as discussed by Young Y. Kim, seemed to have caused stress, adaptation, and growth, which resulted in a greater awareness of an issue, of themselves, and of others. The rejection of experiences and interventions might be explained by encapsulation, as proposed by C. Gilbert Wrenn. Encapsulated individuals seem to choose to reject information or experiences that might challenge their views. The implication for educators is to provide more opportunities for students to have personal experiences involving diversity that might lead to pivotal moments. Thirty-one undergraduates at a small, liberal arts university in the Pacific Northwest were interviewed three times over an average of seven weeks. All had participated in a nationally known diversity workshop and had also participated in regular courses that addressed diversity issues. / Graduation date: 2002

This phenomenological research study focused on educational change as perceived by 16 Liberal Arts faculty members at a Pacific Northwest community college. Research data were collected through in-depth dialogic interviews and a follow-up dialogue session with six participants. The principal guiding research questions comprised the following: 1) What is the context of the community college? The institution is facing severe budgetary restrictions, widening diversity of students, the implementation of new technologies and distance learning, changing faculty and administrator roles, competition from the private sector, and the redefining of the community college role. 2) What is the background of the faculty participants? In the past, faculty have experienced a collegial culture and a shared sense of purpose, which no longer seems to exist. Their values are deeply connected to the social responsibilities of education and student needs, which they feel is at odds with the trend toward commodification of education. 3) What are faculty's perceptions of change and its effects? Change is constant; and instructors adapt incrementally. Mandated changes are seen to have fuzzy meanings and hidden agendas, which sometimes go against the core values of higher education. 4) What do faculty want? Faculty want to wrestle with the issues and solutions for dealing with change collaboratively, and they need the time and space to do so. They also want administrators to hear their voice, and to include faculty priorities in educational decision-making. Faculty participants had clear ideas on ways that would make the implementation of change more successful and meaningful in their lives and in the future of their community college: 1) Make change for a worthy or merited purpose. 2) Listen to what faculty have to say. 3) Allow faculty to wrestle with the challenges. 4) Provide faculty with support and recognition. 5) Keep student needs as a central priority. 6) Maintain the human values and social purpose of education. Most important, faculty feel that the human element cannot be discounted or forgotten in the rush to transform higher education, for faculty are the ones charged with the implementation of most change initiatives and they must deal with the consequences. / Graduation date: 2002

At a state university in the Pacific Northwest, the authors surveyed 477 matriculating college students about their immunization status, knowledge, self-perceived risk, and health risk behaviors for hepatitis A and B vaccinations. Review of immunization records revealed that 10% of these students were completely immunized for hepatitis A and 58.8% were completely immunized for hepatitis B. Although their knowledge about hepatitis A and B was very good, there were no significant differences in immunization status or health risk behaviors based on their knowledge or their self-perceived risk of hepatitis A and B. About 66% of students perceived they had no risk or low risk for hepatitis A and B and only 5% felt they had a high risk. In spite of the low self-perceived risk, health risk behaviors for hepatitis A and B were common in this population of college students. In the past twelve months, 56.2% of these students reported being sexually active (vaginal, oral, anal sex), including 20.5% who had two or more sexual partners. Students with multiple sexual partners reported having unprotected sex at a high frequency: 61.3% vaginal, 81.1% oral-genital, and 13.2% anal. The non-sexual health risk behaviors were also common in this population: 53.2% had body piercing/tattoos, and 26.5% traveled internationally to regions with intermediate to high rates of hepatitis A (Africa, SE Asia, Central/South America). These students who traveled internationally were more likely to be immunized for hepatitis A, although 70% remained unimmunized. In addition, students with multiple sexual partners or with a body piercing/tattoo were more likely to be immunized for hepatitis B. However, about one-third of these students with multiple sexual partners or body piercing/tattoo have not completed the hepatitis B series. The theory of planned behavior was applied to determine factors that are associated with college students' decision to be vaccinated for hepatitis A and B. For hepatitis A and B vaccinations, important attitude constructs identified were 'vaccine effectiveness, vaccine adverse effects, anticipation anxiety, inconvenience, and vaccine expense.' The subjective norm constructs with the greatest influence for college students were: 'parents, family doctor, and student health services staff'. The significant perceived behavioral constructs were 'parents reminder, student health services (SHS) reminder, and SHS hepatitis vaccine clinic.' In conclusion, there is still a sizable portion of unvaccinated college students who possess health risk behaviors for hepatitis A and B, such as multiple sexual partners, unprotected sexual behaviors, body piercing/tattoos, and international travel. With a greater understanding of college students' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control college health services could develop more effective strategies to educate unvaccinated college students about these risks and motivate them to be immunized. / Graduation date: 2003

College student retention has been described as a puzzle because retention rates have stagnated, and in some cases declined, despite over seventy years of research into the problem. The magnitude of the problem is that 50 percent of college students will leave their institution before obtaining a degree (Braxton, Hirschy, & McClendon, 2011). In an effort to improve retention rates, colleges and universities have concentrated their attention on first year students. But this concentrated strategy may have simply transferred the retention problem into the second year where retention rates for many schools are as low as first year rates (Amaury, Barlow, & Crisp, 2005). While advising practices have been identified as one of the three top contributors to increasing retention, major gaps exist about the role academic advising might play in the retention of second year students. The present correlational study was undertaken to fill gaps in the mostly conceptual second year literature base which implies second year students differ from first year and upper division students. Advising formed the focus of the study because advising has been identified as one of the most important methods for putting students into a mentoring relationship with college staff and faculty, a practice with strong ties to retention (Habley & McClanahan, 2004; Kuh, 2008). Six research questions were posed in the study which asked whether second year students differed from first year and upper division students and whether retained second year students differed from not retained second year students in their attitudes toward and experiences with advising. Using simultaneous and logistic regression models, and controlling for confounding variables, statistically significant differences were found between second year students and their first year and upper division peers as well as between retained second year students and not retained second year students. The findings of difference between second year and other students provide the growing second year retention literature with an empirical basis to support previously held assumptions about difference between class years which had also formed the basis for presumptions about practice for second year success and retention. Many of the findings in this study also support present retention and second year research and prescriptions for practice provided by that research.

In contemporary American society, the nursing profession is predominantly made up of white women. Currently, males make up only 6.8 percent of the three million nursing professionals in the U.S. and they are considered gender minorities within the nursing profession and within nursing education. As gender minorities, male students are identified as experiencing nursing programs and the practice of nursing differently than their female counterparts. The purpose of this single instrumental, within site case study was to explore the learning environment for male nursing students and to investigate the nature of the interactions between nursing faculty and male undergraduate students in a Pacific Northwest medical university nursing program. Data was collected in the educational setting through observations, participant interviews, and document analysis. In addition, this study used Kanter's theoretical framework of tokenism to uncover if male nursing students were perceived as tokens in the educational environment. The findings showed that the faculty-student interactions were largely positive; they also revealed that having other males in the class was an instrumental factor in their positive perception of their educational experience. However, the male nursing students also identified areas of discomfort in the educational setting, specifically when practicing clinical skills with female peers, feeling pressured to volunteer and to expose skin during in-class demonstrations, and anticipating that they would be excluded from certain clinical situations. This research indicated that gender differences are present within nursing education and contributed to instances of discomfort for male students. Specific barriers occurred most often when men engaged with female peers and were in clinical settings. These findings provide new insight into when and where men begin to experience gender barriers in the educational environment and are pertinent to understanding the educational environment for men in nursing. Recommendations specifically geared towards assisting students in their first term are suggested for nursing faculty and administrators to ensure that the learning environment is welcoming for men. These recommendations include consciously placing males together in cohort groups and in clinical experiences, reducing instances of visibility and pressure on men in the clinical setting, building faculty awareness of perceived and real barriers for men in the educational setting, and providing faculty with tools to assess and address barriers that are present in the classroom environment.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of white principals in understanding their white identity, privilege, and power as they worked to implement socially-just and culturally proficient schools. The findings offer insights into the following questions: 1) How do white school leaders view white identity and the impact, if any, it has on their leadership? 2) How do white school leaders relate to students of color, their parents, and the community? 3) In what ways do white school leaders engage in race talk and address issues of white identity, privilege, and power? 4) What challenges do white school leaders experience as they attempt to end racism in their schools? The study was set in a mostly white suburban school district in the Pacific Northwest. It involved three male and two female white principals who were previously engaged in equity training. Primary data sources included two individual interviews and two focus group sessions which were audiotaped and transcribed. Data analysis involved several coding cycles to identify themes related to the research questions. The analyses indicated the white principals engaged in a number of actions which demonstrated leadership focused on becoming culturally proficient. The knowledge and understanding principals gained in the equity training contributed to their understanding of white privilege and white identity. Their ability to name this understanding while interacting with parents and students of color helped to build relationships and created allies in their work. Due to their perceived lack of skill and knowledge related to implementing equity efforts around cultural competence, principals shared a hesitancy to lead staff into meaningful race talk and other work around white identity, privilege, and power. Challenges also arose as principals worked to manage competing district initiatives, limited staff training time, and the need for support. / Graduation date: 2013