Roughly 60% of first-year community college students attending a community college in Idaho need to take remedial courses. Such a high percentage of first-year community college students in remedial courses indicates that students are not being properly prepared for collegiate studies. The purpose of this study was to understand college readiness through the perception of first-year community college students who were taking remedial courses. The framework for this study builds on Conley's multidimensional model of college readiness. Data from 10 semi structured interviews conducted with community college students taking remedial courses provided information about the opinions and ideas about college readiness, in addition to evaluations regarding what was missing in their K-12 education to prepare them for collegiate studies. Through open-ended data coding, interrelated themes were analyzed, and the interpreted meaning was shared through a qualitative narrative. The findings from this study suggest that college readiness is more than academic knowledge and understanding. The K-12 education system shall help students to focus on specific skills such as time management and note taking and to seek out their passions and goals. The findings also suggest that the K-12 education system within the United States needs to be restructured to incorporate a system that encourages and supports student success through more individualized learning that places focus on student passions. When students are given the opportunity to seek after their passions, they gain more interest and motivation to learn and build a strong sense of self-efficacy.

Research studies have indicated that Black male collegians have the lowest retention rates in the higher education setting in predominately White institutional (PWI) settings. Several factors, such as spirituality, involvement on campus, and other positive experiences are cited as contributing to a lower retention rate for Black males in the PWI higher education setting; however, research in the PWI religiously affiliated setting has been limited. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the campus engagement experiences of religiously involved Black males who attended religiously affiliated PWIs. Astin's student involvement theory and Astin, Astin, and Lindholm's findings on spiritual development in the higher education setting are used as a conceptual framework. The research questions explored how religiously involved Black males who were at religiously affiliated PWIs during college described their campus engagement experiences, how their religious belief influenced their campus engagement, and how other factors influenced their campus engagement and contributed to their graduation. Interviews with 8 Black male participants were analyzed for codes and themes using Merriam and Tisdell's coding method. The themes that emerged suggested that although participants perceived initial negative experiences, overall, they had positive campus experiences due to involvement experiences. The participants recalled that their religious engagement fostered more participation in religious involvement, developed their spiritual identity, and that family and community fostered engagement. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing administrators of religiously affiliated PWIs with approaches to increase the engagement and retention of Black male students.

As a result of zero tolerance policies, a significant percentage of students who experience exclusions from schools also experience negative outcomes such as high dropout rates, academic failures, and encounters with juvenile justice agencies. While several researchers have found a relationship between unintended consequences of exclusions and juvenile delinquency, few have examined this phenomenon from the perspectives of juveniles who experienced exclusions. Guided by the framework of operant conditioning, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how students experienced exclusions from school. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants who experienced both exclusions from schools and involvement with juvenile delinquency. Of the 30 potential participants who initially agreed to participate in the study, 26 actually participated. Data collection and analysis included capturing and grouping emerging themes and patterns from face-to-face interviews and observations that revealed the essence of how juveniles experienced exclusions from schools. According to participants, failure on the part of administrators to listen to their accounts of events that led to referrals for disciplinary action resulted in avoidable suspensions. Participants' narratives further highlighted the prevalence of disruptive behavior in schools throughout the United States. School administrators and policy makers should not only use data from this qualitative study to inform disciplinary policies and practices, but they should also consider input from students and other community stakeholders who are impacted by those decisions. These findings will promote the understanding that effective disciplinary practices are needed to meet the educational needs of all students. Even participants in this study were concerned about the impact that suspensions had on their education.

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This is a qualitative study, and the purpose is to investigate whether hybrid work is a successful way of working in matters of conflict, leadership, and control. The two questions that form the basis of the analysis are I: What does hybrid work mean and how does this affect employees in practice? And II: What impact does hybrid work have on leadership? The essay was written on behalf of and in collaboration with a Swedish government authority. The purpose of the essay has been developed in collaboration with the authority. Semi-structured interviews have been the main approach to data collection. The interviews took place at the relevant authority with both employees and managers. Thematic analysis based on Braune and Clark’s six steps (2006) has been carried out to analyze the data and to produce the results on which the study is based. The main results that emerged are that hybrid work based on several factors entails both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the results that emerged were that change in leadership is central to hybrid work and that it requires more from managers to adapt to this. There have also been results about loss of control for both managers and employees, as well as both a positive and negative impact on mood due to hybrid work.

This is a qualitative study with the purpose of examining the emotional labor affecting socialworkers, working with children and youths, and whether they get sufficient support to manage their work tasks. The study aims to answer the two following questions: “Do socialworkers, working with children and youths, feel that they are emotionally affected by their work and if so, how do they manage this?” and “In what ways is support from the workplace crucial to manage the emotional labor?”. The theories that this study is based on are Hochschild's theory about emotional labor, Goffman’s dramaturgical theory and organizational theory. Four qualitative interviews with social workers, working with children and youths, were conducted and the data was analyzed in accordance with Braun and Clarke’s (2008) thematic analysis.The findings indicate that social workers, working with children and youths, are emotionallyaffected by their work, both in positive and negative ways. To manage this they account fordifferent ways to work with their emotions, for instance they enter a professional role, convey certain feelings and hide some feelings. The findings also indicate that support from the workplace is essential to manage the emotional aspects of the work and avoid negative workrelated consequences for the social workers. This entails support from colleagues andstability within the organization, but some also indicate that support from family and a stablehome is a necessity to be able to manage the emotional aspect of work.

Enactment of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 expanded and clarified the rights of students with disabilities in higher education (Connor, 2011; Pena, 2014; Troiano, 2003). In the past three decades, the enrollment rate of students with learning disabilities (LD) in higher education has tripled. However, the magnitude and quality of scholarship addressing the experiences of students with disabilities (including LD) does not reflect this exponential shift. While existing literature addresses dancers with physical and developmental disabilities (Kuppers, 2004; Sandahl & Auslander, 2005; Whatley, 2007, 2008) and children with learning disabilities (Cone & Cone, 2011), research on dancers with learning disabilities in postsecondary settings is nil. Research that includes the voices of identifying dancers with learning disabilities in higher education is necessary in order to discover more effective pathways and approaches to interventions and learning strategies. This qualitative study examines the perceptions of six dance majors and minors with learning disabilities (LD) in higher education dance programs from five universities located in the New York/New Jersey/Eastern Pennsylvania and Midwest regions of the United States. The purpose of the study is to privilege the voices and perspectives of an underrepresented population in dance in order to illuminate challenges, learning strategies, and experienced meanings within creating, learning, and performing dance in higher education. Qualitative sources of data include in-person interviews, non-participant observations, and participant reflective journals. Several rounds of coding and data analysis generated a multifaceted and nuanced portrait of six dancers with LDs’ challenges, strategies, and experienced meanings, both individual and composite, in higher education dance. Several described self-determined approaches through agentic acts of learning individualized to their unique LDs. For all dancers, emotional states undergirded challenges, strategies, and relationality in higher education dance. Further, descriptions of visibility, acceptance, and affirmation by peers and instructors in technique and composition classrooms illuminated the value of relational authenticity for these dancers. Research findings suggest areas in need of reformed practices while also illuminating extant teaching practices that effectively meet the needs of students, including the transparent integration of ameliorative strategies into higher education dance. Findings related to emotional challenges point to the importance of emotional support as a priority in higher education dance programs, a need that I suggest has become increasingly critical for all university dance students during this period of global pandemic. The study offers insight into the ways dance in higher education can be more accessible and inclusive by privileging the authority of the individual student and enabling authentic engagement with self and a broader relationality to different others. / Dance

This bachelor's thesis is a qualitative exploratory study. The goal of this research is to learn more about the social integration of Nigerian immigrants in Malmo, Sweden. The study focuses on language because many prior studies have found it to be an important factor in social integration. Although there is a considerable body of studies on how language influences immigrant integration, most studies focus on the host society's perspective. There is less research on how immigrants themselves evaluate the function of language in their social integration. The four dimensions of the social integration theoretical framework proposed by Bosswick and Heckmann (2006) were used to explore how Nigerian immigrants in Malmo, Sweden, perceive language as shaping their social integration in their host country. Their perceptions of these social integration dimensions will aid in understanding how language affects their integration into Swedish society in Malmo. The information was gathered from fifteen Nigerian immigrants in semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that participants value language in varying ways across the many theoretical dimensions of social integration.

Primary informal caregivers are mainly responsible for the care of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research has shown that the quality-of-life (QoL) experienced by unpaid caregivers of persons with AD is generally lower than the QoL of caregivers of persons who do not have AD. The literature does not report on any studies undertaken to examine whether caregivers' QoL is related to the level or quality of care that they provide to persons with AD. This thesis investigated the association between caregiver QoL and the level or quality of care provided. I conducted a systematic review and found no study designed specifically to examine this association. I included only one study in the systematic review because it contained variables that were relevant to caregiver QoL and the level or quality of care. However, this single included study did not specifically examine the association between QoL and level or quality of care. In addition, I could not find an instrument designed specifically to measure level or quality of care in AD. To answer this question, I contacted the authors of the single study included in the systematic review and obtained their dataset. Quantitative analysis of these data did not show a statistically significant association between caregiver well-being (surrogate for QoL) and level or quality of care. Further, I conducted a qualitative study of AD caregivers to obtain data on the components of a useful questionnaire for measuring level or quality of care. Caregivers suggested the development of a questionnaire that addresses the following areas: case management approach, increasing care demands due to declining status of the care recipient, social support, and the role of hired help. The thesis concludes with an integrative discussion of the aforementioned studies. I discuss important areas for future research, including the need for a longitudinal study. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach. The main purpose with this study is to examine the view of prostitution and sex trade among Social worker students at Malmö Högskola.Our research questions are; To which extension and consideration is the view of male and female prostitutes divided? Is the view of the male and female sex buyer different among the students? How do the students explain and understand male and female prostitution? How do the students explain and understand the male and female sex buyer? To collect data and to be able to find out the students views and thoughts about the phenomenon we used focus groups with four to six students in each group. To categorize the material we used four topics; explanation/understanding models, the individuals behind the phenomenon, love/sex and intimacy, and the society’s responsibility. We analysed the discussions and the result of the focus groups with two main perspectives. The first perspective used in this study is structuralism and the second focuses on the individual. The conclusion of this study is that prostitution is always considered as something negative and self destructive despite of the gender. The students divide both female and male sex buyers into two groups, the rich and successful and the social outcast, but there are different explanation models for female and male sex buyers.