Thesis advisor: Lisa (Leigh) Patel / With the increasing racial diversity of the United States and the growing economic and health disparities among racial groups, there is a growing need for health professionals of color (Montoya, 2006). However, people of color are significantly underrepresented in the health professions and make up only 14% of those admitted to medical schools and only 6% of the physician workforce (US Department of Health and Human Services 2009). Much of this disparity can be linked to very high attrition rates for students of color in their first two years of undergraduate science programs (Cohen & Steinecke 2006; Smith 1993; Tobias 1990; US HHS 2009). To better understand the complexity of the disparity, this ethnographic case study used Critical Race Theory to examine the experiences of eight students of color during their first year in a pre-medical program at a predominantly white research university. Critical Race Theory as a framework facilitates the examination of the various iterations of systemic racism including the intersecting forms of oppression and the dominant narratives used to explain and justify the relative educational success or failure of one group over another (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Solorzano & Yosso, 2001). The major areas of analytic focus included: Assumptions and dominant narratives about students of color in science, pedagogical approaches employed by instructors in college science classes; the role and impact on students of the academic science language in course textbooks and exams; the ways that race, class, language, and immigration status impact students in the science classes and the larger university; the impact on students of various university structures and practices such as financial aid policies, science course structures, and grading practices. This analysis shows how these multiple factors function as interlocking systems of institutionalized oppression that disadvantage students of color in the science courses. In addition, the counterstories of these students show the valuable knowledge and experience these students can bring to the medical profession. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The master's thesis focuses on the accounting concept of profit or loss. In the first part, the contemporary approach to the issue from both theoretical and practical point of view is described with the main focus on the determination of the distributable profit. The capital maintenance and value measurement are also dealt with for this purpose. Following the theoretical basics laid down in the previous part, the main approaches of classical balance theories are explained and their advantages and disadvantages pointed out in relation to their possible use in practice. The thesis contains illustrative examples and ends with a draft of a usable methodology based on the various concepts described in the text.

L'objectif de notre thèse est d'étudier les différences qui existent entre les banques islamiques et les banques conventionnelles en termes de structure de capital, de profitabilité et de profil de risque. Les principes qui régissent un système financier islamique sont différents de l'esprit de la finance conventionnelle. Si en finance conventionnelle, la norme qui préside les décisions d'un agent économique est l'optimisation du couple rendement-risque, cette norme n'est pas l'unique ni le principal critère de décision dans l'univers de la finance islamique. L'interdiction des taux d'intérêt et l'exigence d'une certaine éthique dans les transactions financières islamiques (exigence de transparence, partage équitable des profits, interdiction de la spéculation et prise de risque excessive, etc.) représentent les principes fondamentaux de la finance islamique. Nous avons fait émerger un cadre conceptuel nous permettant de comprendre la structure de capital et la profitabilité des banques islamique islamiques grâce à une revue de littérature théorique et empirique. Les théories mobilisées sont liées, d'une part aux théories de structure de capital notamment la théorie de tarde off, la théorie de Pecking Order et la théorie d'agence, d'autres part les théories liées à la profitabilité, notamment les théories de marché et de portefeuille. Les modèles économétriques (la régression logistique binaire, l'analyse discriminante et les modèles de régression sur données de panel) montrent l'existence des différences au niveau de structure du capital et de profitabilité entre les banques islamiques et les banques conventionnelles. Ces différences sont expliquées par les déterminants classiques révélés par la littérature financière. En plus, elles sont déterminées par les caractéristiques propres aux banques islamiques. Notre thèse avait pour objectif également d'identifier un nouveau risque propre aux banques islamiques, le risque commercial déplacé. Ce risque résulte de la gestion des comptes de nature unique, les comptes d'investissement participatifs. Il se manifeste lorsqu'une banque islamique n'assure pas une rentabilité suffisante aux détenteurs de ces comptes. Le modèle interne que nous avons proposé pour la quantification de ce risque, est basé sur la mesure VaR. Il repose sur les pratiques de la banque islamique en termes de rétention de réserves et de partage de profits avec les titulaires des comptes d'investissement. Notre modèle représente une alternatif à la mesure du risque commercial déplacé, à caractère arbitraire et forfaitaire proposé par l'IFSB (2005). / The objective of this thesis is to study differences between Islamic and conventional banks. The principles governing an islamic financial system are different from the spirit of conventional finance. If in conventional finance, the standard that preside decisions is the optimization of the risk-return couple, this standard is neither the only nor the main decision criterion in the world of Islamic finance. The fundamental principles of Islamic finance are the prohibition of interest and the requirement of a certain ethic (transparency, fair distribution of profits, prohibition of speculation and excessive risk taking, etc.) in financial transactions. These features impact significantly the capital structure, profitability and risk profile of Islamic banks. We made the emergence of a conceptual framework that allows us to understand the capital structure and profitability of Islamic banks, with a review of theoretical and empirical literature. Theories mobilized are related, first to the theories of capital structure including the theory of trade off, the Pecking Order theory and agency theory, and second on the other theories related to profitability, including the theories of market portofolio. Econometric models (binary logistic regression, discriminant analysis and multiple linear regression) show that there are differences in capital structure and profitability between Islamic banks and conventional. These differences are explained by traditional determinants of capital structure and profitability. In addition, they are explained by the specific characteristics of Islamic banks such as the new agency relationships that are created in an Islamic bank. Islamic banks are exposed to displaced commercial risk, a specific risk in these institutions. This risk results from the Profit sharing investment accounts PSIA and occurs when Islamic bank does not provide sufficient returns to PSIA holders. The internal model proposed to quantify this risk is based on the VaR measure. The proposed measure of risk depends on the practices of Islamic banking in terms of retention of reserves and profit sharing with PSIA holders.