Socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to reliably predict parenting practices, family well-being, and psychological outcomes throughout the lifespan. The current study employed a cross-sectional, quantitative design in which adult participants (N = 336) completed an online survey measuring demographic variables, financial stress, attachment security, and psychological well-being. The study results suggest that (a) both current and family history of financial stress negatively predicted attachment security, (b) SES positively predicted general psychological well-being, although individual SES factors (e.g., income, subjective SES, financial stress) demonstrated nuanced relationships with well-being, life satisfaction, and resilience, (c) family history of financial stress and attachment security mediated the relationship between calculated social status and psychological well-being, and (d) the mediated relationship between calculated social status and psychological well-being via the pathway of attachment security was significant for racial/ethnic minorities, but not for White participants. The present findings contribute to the current literature by (1) including multidimensional measurements of SES, (2) addressing nuances in the relationship between SES and attachment, (3) emphasizing the role of financial stress on attachment security, and (4) providing initial cross-cultural considerations in the relationships among SES, attachment, and psychological well-being. Future researchers are encouraged to conduct longitudinal analyses, amplify sample recruitment efforts, and expand SES, attachment, and racial/ethnic identity measurement. Lastly, the current study has significant clinical implications regarding multiculturalism and social justice, relational schemas developed in context of financial stress, and cognitive appraisal regarding subjective SES.

This causal comparative study examined the relationship of the school demographic factors of ethnicity, socioeconomic percentages, academic performance, and school location (urban versus rural) on principal leadership with data analyzed when schools were placed into groups ex-post-facto. One-Hundred and sixty-nine teachers representing six public high schools located in Virginia were surveyed using Powell's (2004) survey. Five areas, or domains of leadership were analyzed, (I) Vision, Mission, and Culture; (II) Curriculum and Classroom Instruction; (III) Collaboration and Shared Leadership; (IV) Family and Community Involvement; (V) Effective Management. Quantitative data were analyzed (means, frequency, ANOVA, Tukey-Kramer HSD) with school results placed into demographic groups and locations to examine group differences in perceptions of principal leadership. Significant differences were found when schools were grouped according to location and demographic factors. A model of the contextual elements on the role of principal leadership was developed, and implications for research and future studies were presented. / Ed. D.

Post-secondary academic achievement in the United States has shifted dramatically over the past 30 years in terms of gender; men are underrepresented within the ivory tower (Postsecondary participation rates by sex and race/ethnicity: 1974 - 2003 , 2005). When the intersection of race and gender is examined, enrollment gaps widen even further. Sixty-five percent of Black college enrollment is comprised of female students while Black men make up only 35%. In comparison, Asian college women outnumber Asian college men 54% to 46%, White women outnumber White men 56% to 44%, and Hispanic/Latina women outnumber Hispanic/Latino men 59% to 41% (Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac, 2009). College enrollment patterns are inextricably linked to academic success (i.e., GPA, degree attainment). Currently, more opportunities are available for African Americans and Hispanics to attend college than ever before; however, GPA and the rate of attainment of a Bachelor of Arts degree are significantly lower for African American and Hispanic men when compared to other ethnic/gender combinations (Carter, 2001; Perna, 2000; Porter, 2006; Strayhorn, 2006). The purpose of this study was to determine what factors predict post-secondary education academic success of male students. Academic success was defined as college GPA and degree attainment. I employed a modified version of the Bandura, et al. (1996) theoretical model that identified four factors that influence self efficacy, hence academic success: SES, familial, peer, and self. In my study, I used SES as a control variable and also controlled for high school preparation, two factors that prior research has revealed influence college GPA and degree attainment (Clark, Lee, Goodman, & Yacco, 2008; Perna, 2000). The findings suggest that race and select parental and peer factors can have both negative and positive effects on the academic achievement and persistence of male students in college. One parental and one peer factor were significantly positively associated with success. The remaining factors were significantly, but negatively associated with academic success. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine personal, family, and curriculum variables among high school dropouts with mild disabilities. The review of research literature on dropouts from general and special education assisted in the selection of the variables. The outcome variable (high school dropouts with mild disabilities) and the relationship to the following variables: personal (age, attendance, gender, and ethnicity); family (parents' economic level, parents' educational level, and one vs. two-parent households) and curriculum (academic credits, vocational credits, support credits, and work experience credits) were examined. The research examined the relationship of selected variables to dropouts. Dropout status among students with mild disabilities was found to be 29 percent. When age was examined, increased age was weakly associated with a higher likelihood of becoming a dropout. Increased absenteeism was moderately associated with a higher likelihood of dropping out. However, the strength of the relationship between gender and the drop out status was not significant across any of the three categories of mild disabilities. The analysis of ethnicity found that African-Americans with learning disabilities were more likely to drop out. In addition, the drop out rates for Caucasian youth were statistically significantly lower than drop out rates for other groups. Higher economic level was associated with a lower likelihood of dropping out. Increased educational level and households with two parents were also associated with a lower likelihood of dropping out among students with learning disabilities or mental retardation. The higher the number of credits, the lower the likelihood of dropping out. Dropouts took fewer credits which is not surprising since dropouts by nature have fewer credits. / Ph. D.

Det politiska deltagandet är viktigt för de moderna demokratierna. Förstagångsväljares valdeltagande 2022 visade på en minskning, det här kan betraktas som en utmaning som riskerar att urholka demokratin. De unga förstagångsväljarna har fler riksdagsval framför sig, det är i slutändan nödvändigt att individen känner sig motiverad till att rösta.   Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka i vilken utsträckning socioekonomiska faktorer påverkar politiskt deltagande bland unga förstagångsväljare i Västerås. Detta kommer att undersökas utifrån förklaringsfaktorerna, motivation, resurser och socialt nätverk, som studiens teoretiska ramverk Civic Voluntarism model (CVM) bygger på. Tidigare forskning har diskuterat ungas politiska deltagande och resultaten visar att individens socioekonomiska bakgrund påverkar det politiska deltagandet. Det finns även tidigare forskning som visar på att unga avstår från de traditionella demokratiska värderingar och institutioner vilket kan leda till urholkning i demokratin. Genom en enkätundersökning som tillvägagångssätt i den här studien analyserades svaren från 80 respondenter för att förstå sambanden mellan ungas socioekonomiska bakgrund och attityd samt synsätt på politisk deltagande. Resultatet från undersökningen visar blygsamma skillnader och oväntade effekter. Det verkar inte finnas starka samband mellan klass och politiskt deltagande hos unga förstagångsväljare i Västerås. För framtidens forskning bör forskare fokusera på att undersöka unga förstagångsväljares tillit till politiska partier för att försäkra att demokratin inte urholkas.

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Value-at-Risk (VaR) model fails to predict financial risk accurately especially during financial crises. This is mainly due to the model’s inability to calibrate new market information and the fact that the risk measure is characterised by poor tail risk quantification. An alternative approach which comprises of the Expected Shortfall measure and the Lognormal Jump-Diffusion (LJD) model has been developed to address the aforementioned shortcomings of VaR. This model is called the Simulated-Expected-Shortfall (SES) model. The Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) approach is used in determining the parameters of the LJD model since it’s more reliable and authenticable when compared to other nonconventional parameters estimation approaches mentioned in other literature studies. These parameters are then plugged into the LJD model, which is simulated multiple times in generating the new loss dataset used in the developed model. This SES model is statistically conservative when compared to peers which means it’s more reliable in predicting financial risk especially during a financial crisis. / Statistics / M.Sc. (Statistics)

This research investigates opportunities for Service Design in Education. The focus is on a particular type of change happening within education that of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) where Service Design has little presence and limited knowledge. This research has been carried out through grounded theory and contextualised in English institutions of primary education. As a result it identified Service Design as an approach to enable transformational change within educational institutions that seek to move towards ESD. To establish the basis for the research, a literature review has been carried out on Service Design, the vision of ESD and its application in the context of English schools. As a result, Service Design capability to re-design services at organisational level was linked to the gap in normative re-educative change processes towards ESD in English schools. The rest of the research sought to build on these findings. In-depth case studies with five primary schools and a cross-case analysis have been carried out to establish an understanding of ESD change at organisational level. It focused on elements relevant to normative re-educative change processes, which included social and personal norms and values residing within organisational systems. From the case studies, principles, concepts and processes were identified that enabled schools to engage with ESD at the deepest level. The knowledge derived from the case studies was further developed in order to relate the ESD phenomenon to Service Design. Service thinking and organisational change theory were applied to develop a Sustainable Education as a Service Model (SES MODEL) to understand ESD as a phenomenon in a service system. A SES Model was presented back to Service Design community. The sense-making of ESD was undertaken with seven service design practitioners by conducting semi-structured interviews during which they explored the SES Model. The outcome of the interviews showed the model to build service designer s capacity to engage with ESD, while the use of the model showed that designers could envision using it at a normative re-educative change level. The research shows that ESD is a new concept, which is relevant to Service Design. It therefore offers opportunities for further service design research and practical applications.

This study examines the feminist ideas in Calixthe Beyala's fictional novel Les Honneurs perdus (1996) and her essay Lettre d'une Africaine à ses sœurs occidentales (1995). The description of women's situation and their possible liberation in these two texts are analyzed, notably based on the feminist theories articulated by Simone de Beauvoir and by Judith Butler. The analysis demonstrates that the women in these texts live in a patriarchal society where they are oppressed and dominated by men. Religion and tradition serve as a way of internalizing this oppression. Early on, the women learn that their sexuality is owned by men, and that the main purpose of their existence is to get married and have children. However, Beyala also demonstrates a possiblity for women to reclaim their subjectivity and to liberate themselves from men's oppression, mainly through gaining awareness of the oppression, getting access to education and finding solidarity between women. In the last chapter of the analysis, Beyala's vision of the woman as the savior of the world is questioned, and the importance of the postcolonial context is considered. The study concludes that Beyala's feminist ideas consist of a fusion of, on one hand, Western feminist theories such as those based on the works of Beauvoir and, on the other hand, ideas of solidarity characteristic for the African continent. This creates a feminism which, just like Beyala herself, straddles two continents.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.