This study investigated factors that influence career choice and development for gay male school teachers. Ten gay educators participated in the investigation. Data collection methods involved two semi-structured personal interviews and one structured telephone interview for a total of 30 sampling units. Data analysis procedures included reviewing audiotapes, reading transcriptions, browsing documents, coding text units, consulting with mentors and peers, comparing coding categories with previous literature and research, and reflecting on emerging relationships among the data. Major findings relate to identity development, social and family attitudes, secrecy and disclosure, and career motivation. All of the participants described experiences of (a) forming a vocational identity as a school teacher and a sexual identity as a gay man, and (b) blending or merging these primary self-concepts through occupational expressions of advocacy and activism, gender role flexibility, or both. The data further indicate that (a) social bias against public education has a negative influence on career maintenance and performance, (b) family respect for school teachers has a positive influence on career choice, and (c) special case strategies help gay men circumvent the negative influence of social bias against them to enter the teaching profession. Most of the participating teachers revealed their primary reliance on "implicitly out" identity management strategies (Griffin, 1992) to alleviate fears of discrimination, public accusation, job loss, and impaired credibility. Additional qualitative evidence suggests that the need for gay self-disclosure varies with the potential for vocational self-expression in the teaching profession. In the course of their teaching careers, all of the participants reported either (a) compensating for some developmental lag or deficit experienced during childhood or adolescence, or (b) partially satisfying their developmental need to father children. Hypothetical associations among these major findings form the trilateral foundation of an emerging theory that more specifically explains factors that influence the career choice and development of gay male school teachers. This three-part framework reflects the interacting influences of identity integration, self-expression, and self-actualization and reciprocal effects of and on the teaching profession. The theory emerging from this investigation has practical applications for counselor and teacher education, as well as for career counseling. / Graduation date: 1999

Over the last twenty years women have gradually entered number of occupations that have been considered "traditionally male". Despite recent gains, women continue to be underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering career fields. Based on the application of Bandura's self-efficacy theory as applied to career development, the purpose of this study was to determine whether there was any difference in career choice self-efficacy, career decision-making self-efficacy or career maturity after participating in one of two performance-based research programs, specifically, a community-based mentorship program or a school-based research program. In addition the study investigated gender and personality differences between the groups, the student and mentor/supervisor perceptions of the quality and enjoyment of the experience, the quantitative application, the time involved and ways to improve the programs. The quasi-experimental study used a non-randomized control-group pretest-posttest design with two experimental groups and one control group. To determine the reliability and validity of the student perception instrument and the mentor/supervisor validation assessment, a pilot study was conducted. The groups were pre and post tested using the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale, the Career Development Inventory and the Self-Efficacy for Technical/Scientific Fields Scale. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with PSAT scores and grade point averages serving as covariates. The results of the study found no differences in gain scores between the experiential programs and ordinary maturation. However, students in the mentorship program felt more positive about their mentor, the scientific/technical nature of the experience, and the application and enjoyment of the program than did the school-based group. The groups differed generally on the judging/perceiving characteristic of the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator scale. Gender differences were found in time supervisors spent with students: whereas, mentors spent over twice as much time helping females, school-based teachers spent twice as much time with males. Recommendations include further validation of self-efficacy measures, further investigation of the effectiveness of self-efficacy based interventions, and replication with more diverse and special populations as well as with elementary and junior high school students. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine perspectives of attorneys who have transitioned into community college leadership. The study sought to answer questions concerning why attorneys decided to change careers, how they transition into new careers, and to what extent their legal backgrounds helped them in educational leadership. Interviews were conducted of 20 former attorneys across America on their perspectives about career transition and leadership competencies to determine whether they might serve as a viable source for leadership. Participant perceptions revealed a transition to make a difference, the transition process was smooth, and transition was made for a better work environment. Participants recommended for career changers coming from law to informally learn about community colleges, gain work experience therein, and to earn another degree. Participants reported high abilities in communications and professionalism, which are current AACC leadership competencies. Some participants reported low collaboration competencies. Participants also recommended positive reinforcement, teamwork, and problem-solving as additional AACC leadership competencies. Moreover, participants reported other transferable skills including legal expertise, business sense, and analytical skills. Recommendations from this study include a policy and practice of considering lawyers for educational leadership provided they demonstrate work and commitment toward a transition into community college leadership. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research was conducted to obtain information regarding the feasibility of using non-medical personnel to obtain measurements of radiologic total lung capacity (TLC). Operators from each of four groups (general undergraduates, nursing students, medical students, radiologists) differing in the amount of medical training and/or experience reading x-rays, performed each of two tasks. The first task was the measurement of radiologic TLC for a set of twenty x-rays. The second task consisted of tracing the outline of the anatomical structures that must be identified in the execution of the radiologic TLC measurement task. Data from the radiologic TLC measurement task were used to identify possible group differences in the reliability and validity of the measures. The reliability analyses were performed within the framework of Generalizability Theory. While the results are not conclusive, due to small sample sizes, the analyses suggest that group differences in reliability of the measures, if they exist, are small. The concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by obtaining, for each experience level, the correlation between the group mean radiologic TLC for a film set and the TLC for that patient, obtained from a body plethysmograph. Only small differences in the group correlation coefficients were observed. A liberal test of these differences indicated they were not statistically significant. Additionally, two experience level by film sets ANOVAs were performed to determine possible group differences in how well the actual magnitudes of the radiologic TLC measures approximated those obtained with the body plethysmograph. These analyses indicated that the magnitude of the differences between radiologic and plethysmographic TLC measures were smaller for the undergraduates than for the nursing students and radiologists. Lastly, a number of analyses of the anatomical structure tracings were performed. Few interpretable group differences were found.

Co llege enrollment rates in the U.S. have increased over the last 40 years, yet students from undcrservcd communities remain underrepresented. Families in these communities aspire for their children to go to college, but often lack access to the necessary social capital to transform aspirations for their children into action. Federal 6 initiatives focused on increasing educational attainment for students in underserved comn1tmities emphasize the critically important role of the school counselor. The school counselor is ideally positioned to reduce barriers to family engagement in the college access process. Yet, there is a lack of focused support and professional development resources for school counselors. To gain more in sight into how professional development might improve counselors' abilities to support family engagement in college access, I employed an action-oriented qualitative case study to critically consider how urban school counselors took action to address local educational inequities and engage families as partners in the postsecondary process.

This study was conducted to determine the current state of athletic academic advising in college athletics and to see what changes have occurred since 1981. All NCAA Division I institutions which participate in basketball and/or football were surveyed. With slightly over 68% of surveys returned, it was found that athletic academic advising had improved a great deal since 1981 but still had room for improvement. More universities have programs which offer a greater number of services with better trained counselors. Most programs however, still need additional full time staff and need to offer more services. This can only occur with the moral and financial support of the academic community. The sacrifices athletes make and the benefits they bring, both financially and in terms of publicity, should be compensated through academic support. Ideally, every university should have an athletic academic support program with enough full time staff to adequately support all athletes with a wide range of support programs. This study shows NCAA athletic academic advising programs in Division I are not yet at this. point. They are considerably closer however, than they were in 1981. / Master of Science

Among the social sciences, guidance is relatively young, having evolved out of the American social experience with its concern for the welfare of the individual. As an independent discipline, guidance is about seventy years old. However, the foundations for guidance are imbedded in the nation's historical past. Beginning with seventeenth-century New Englanders, who stressed religious and economic reasoning, a systematic approach to occupational selection began. By the close of the colonial period, the precedent of freedom of choice of vocation and educational opportunity was well established.

From our earliest history, gifted women from Sappho and Harriet Tubman to Eleanor Roosevelt and Nadine Gordimer have enhanced our lives through their gifts and accomplishments. Since many of these gifted women have succeeded in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, it is often assumed that all gifted women will be able to achieve without outside help. However, many gifted women do not realize their potential and end up squandering their gifts in menial tasks, underpaid jobs, and unfulfilled lives. Thus, career development for gifted women is an essential task.For women who possess a variety of talents, one of the best ways to be fulfilled is through the balancing of multiple roles, such as family and work. Consequently, one aspect of career development, which is of great importance to gifted women in particular, is the decision about whether to engage in multiple roles and how to do so successfully. Since juggling multiple roles requires prior planning and serious commitment, one of the best ways to assist gifted young women in these tasks is to gain information about how the decision was made and determine their level of commitment to it. As with many career decisions, knowledge about, and encouragement for, particular choices may depend upon mentors and role models.Mentors and role models can be invaluable but their impact in helping with preparation for a lifestyle involving multiple roles is unknown. To determine who their mentors and role models are and how they affect attitudes toward multiple roles, 101 gifted high school women completed a demographics question and the Attitudes Toward Multiple Role Planning scale (ATMRP). Data were analyzed via frequency counts, chisquare, and MANOVA procedures.Contrary to expectations, study participants did not have significantly more role models than they did mentors nor was any one group mentioned most often as mentors and role models. As anticipated, most gifted young women did plan to combine family and paid employment in their lives. However, no significant group differences on the A'TMRP were found between those with mentors and role models and those without. Conclusions and implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of the following career guidance strategies: career information investigating, job information interviewing, shadowing, panel of positive female role models, parental involvement and group counseling on career maturity and locus of control of high-achieving twelfth-grade females. Participants in this study were thirty-two high-achieving twelfth-grade females currently enrolled in advanced placement English classes, who were currently taking advanced mathematics, advanced science, and advanced foreign language courses; or who had completed three years of advanced mathematics, advanced science, and advanced foreign language courses. The design of this experiment was a pretest-posttest, experimental/control group design. The participants in the treatment group participated in a ten-week career guidance program involving strategies to increase career maturity and improve internal locus of control utilizing the results of the Career Maturity Inventory, Counseling Form B-1 and the Different Situations Inventory. / Ed. D.

This research study addressed a current topic of interest in the environmental education community: How can people of non-European origin be recruited into the field of outdoor and environmental education?