<p> Previous research indicated that women&rsquo;s advancement into the leadership and administrative ranks in higher education has stalled over the past twenty years. Studies highlighted the socio-cultural and structural barriers that create challenges for women&rsquo;s advancement in the academy. This study focused on the use of women-only leadership development programs (WLDPs) as a potential resource for women in the pursuit of advancing their careers. Few research studies to date assess the outcome for women who have attended WLDPs.</p><p> This study was an in-depth case study of the Women in Higher Education Leadership Summit (WHELS) held at the University of San Diego, School of Leadership and Education Studies. Using a sequential transformative mixed methods design, 95 WHELS alumnae were contacted to answer the research question &ldquo;How do women from various social locations understand the influence of WHELS on their career plan/trajectory?&rdquo; Using a quantitative survey (37% response rate), followed by qualitative interviews, five main hypotheses were tested to determine if WHELS alumnae reported improved leadership identity, improved leadership ability, improved understanding of effective leadership styles, whether they had advanced in their career, and if alumnae attributed WHELS to their advancement.</p><p> Based upon the findings all five hypotheses were supported by the quantitative data. Qualitative data also supported the quantitative findings, but it provided clarification into how women experienced WHELS. The qualitative findings revealed that women reported benefitting from attending WHELS, it confirmed the leadership ability and style the women already possessed. WHELS built women&rsquo;s self-awareness and self-confidence, allowing women to adopt a leadership identity. Women benefited from this leadership identity as it built their self-efficacy and agency.</p><p> This study confirmed that women do face socio-cultural and structural barriers in institutions of higher education, which create barriers to their advancement into leadership roles. However, through the completion of WHELS, the participants of this study built self-confidence in their leadership abilities, adopting a leadership identity. Through this process the women in this study returned to their institutions with self-efficacy and agency. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings, limitations, recommended future research, and implications for action.</p>

<p> Despite more than thirty years of the underrepresentation of women in engineering being a persistent concern, research on the cause of the problem has not been successful in reversing the trend. A plethora of theories as to why females are not entering engineering exist, yet they only address issues on the surface and do not attend to a deep-rooted culture in the field; a climate that has been traditionally male-normed and identified as &ldquo;chilly&rdquo; for women. My study calls into question traditional representations of the discipline by revealing an established culture of power, privilege and exclusion. In the tradition of ethnography, my study examined the environment of engineering education from the perspective of a 30-year insider, viewing the culture from the outside for the first time. Data were collected from class observations and interviews with engineering students and engineering professors at two state-funded and one private college of engineering. I found teaching methods and deeply entrenched beliefs that transmit inherent messages of a hierarchical discourse community, a community that is not friendly to women. Through my data I depict a hegemonic culture that has changed very little in the last 30 years in light of the many calls to diversify the discipline. Convinced that traditional teaching methods must be effective, since they themselves have been successful, professors I interviewed failed to identify contexts of persistence, challenge and success, socialization and preparation tasks, and engineering communications as contributing to an inequitable learning environment. Through this research journey, not only did I come to realize how the time-honored norms in engineering education have maintained a white, male dominance, I was confronted with my own domestication (Rodr&iacute;guez, 2006) into the discipline and the regrettable role I have played in upholding inequitable practices in the face of my efforts to recruit and retain more women students.</p><p>

<p> An increasing number of women are returning to school as nontraditional students to complete their bachelor&rsquo;s degrees. These women may have specific needs related to life transitions and re-entry into postsecondary education that traditional students do not. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of women who are nontraditional students, including their everyday supports and challenges. The guiding research question for this study was: Upon identifying the challenges for women at a branch campus, what changes can the university make to better serve the women? Study participants included 12 students currently enrolled in a bachelor&rsquo;s program in social work. Participants also included four university social work faculty and five campus administrators from the study site. A participatory action research methodology was used to collect data from multiple stakeholders. Interviews with social work faculty and university center and branch campus administrators were conducted. Data were coded using open and axial coding. NVivo 11 was employed to help facilitate the coding of the data for the study in order to assure accuracy in identifying common themes. The two main themes to emerge from this study were Experiences and Challenges. Participants&rsquo; experiences included personal and academic. Personal challenges that the women described included abuse, childcare, and health. The two forms of abuse described were substance abuse and domestic abuse, and the health subthemes included personal and family issues. Women&rsquo;s academic challenges included finances, academic writing, and class schedules. Study results may be used to raise stakeholders&rsquo; awareness of students&rsquo; needs, explore and change university processes, and develop workshops to assist nontraditional female students with career development and financial literacy.</p>

<p> The increased diversity of students at community colleges makes support and retention of Black women instructional faculty critical. Black women instructional faculty&nbsp;may&nbsp;feel like imposters, receiving messages of inadequacy, despite their achievements.&nbsp;If so, such feelings may impede their ability to serve students and to thrive more generally in their roles.&nbsp;Until now, the question of whether or how Black women faculty working in community colleges experience the imposter phenomenon had not been asked. </p><p> Through 23 in-depth, one-on-one interviews, this qualitative study explored and assessed the presence of and success strategies utilized to counter the imposter phenomenon or other challenges experienced by tenured and tenure-track Black women instructional faculty members employed at California community colleges. Findings revealed contentment and job satisfaction. While participants were familiar with and had experienced the imposter phenomenon, there was a general absence of the phenomenon in their current roles due to positive on-campus relationships with colleagues and students. Microaggressions from colleagues and students related to appearance were reported, but these challenges were mitigated through established mentors and allies and a strong sense of cultural and personal identity. Established expertise and participation in professional development were also strategies that helped participants to navigate, persist, and thrive in their work environments. </p><p> Recommendations for policy include increased state funding for community college faculty members to participate in off-campus professional development training. Practice recommendations include interpersonal skills training for new department chairs and best-practice discussions among continuing department chairs throughout the year. Recommendations for future research include replicating the study in other states and among adjunct faculty in California.</p><p>

<p> This research study was intended to understand how the Post 9/11 enlisted female veteran population understands their gender in the context of their active duty military experience and transition into a post-military life while engaging in higher education. Propelled into higher education via their military service and improved educational benefits via the Post 9/11 GI Bill, female veterans are accessing their education benefits at the highest rate ever. After decades of a lack of scholarship regarding this student population, there is a growing body of knowledge in the area of Post 9/11 era student veterans, how campuses should be providing support services, and the effect their service has on them during their post-military life and education. Using basic qualitative research methods and a feminist lens, the researcher found that female veterans embodied their military identity and navigated conflict while on active duty and in their post-military lives, they experience disjunction and embody their female veteran identity. Implications listed for Student Affairs and transition services practitioners.</p><p>

<p> Recognizing that the percentage of females in NCAA Division I athletic department leadership positions lag far behind their male counterparts, this study sought to learn about the lived experiences of females who have reached a senior level, defined as associate athletic director and athletic director using narrative inquiry. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to record the lived experiences of senior-level women administrators in intercollegiate athletics. Data was gathered through in-person interviews. Participants were asked to describe the paths their careers have followed, including the factors, issues, and circumstances that they feel have shaped the process by which they made career decisions. </p><p> Four primary themes from the participants&rsquo; backgrounds and life stories emerged that influenced the paths of the participants&rsquo; careers. They were: (1) the willingness and desire to take on challenges and opportunities; (2) the importance of family considerations, (3) influence of support they received from colleagues and people they came in contact within athletics; and (4) the impact of lack of support they received from colleagues and people they came in contact within athletics during their careers. This study revealed the presence of a strong sense of efficacy within the participants, which influenced the persistence of the participants in pursuing this particular career path, even when faced with obstacles. Finally, these participants offered advice, based on their career experiences to other current and future female athletic administrators. Policy implications and recommendations for institutions and athletic departments are provided.</p><p>