Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Michael Holen / Facing the rapidly increasing globalization of world economies and a steadily diversifying domestic consumer base, U.S. corporations have embraced the benefits of hiring more employees with diverse perspectives and experiences. Particularly in industries dependent upon knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, recognition has grown that the American work force is seriously constrained by the clear underrepresentation of minority participants. In engineering, the most prevalent attempt to address these issues is through the establishment of multicultural engineering programs (MEPs), often designed as partnerships between universities and major corporate entities. These programs strive to identify, recruit, retain, educate and ultimately employ significant numbers of students of color to strengthen industry innovation and competitiveness. This investigation was initiated to expand the limited research literature on MEPs and the nature of their partnerships with industry. Using qualitative methodology, an exploratory viewpoint, and the lens of the Commitment-Trust Key Mediating Variable Model (KMV) of Relationship Marketing, the relationships of five mature and highly regarded university MEPs and one of their self identified primary industry partners were examined. Leaders of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates, the national representative body for MEPs, identified exemplary MEPs in the organization’s five regions; using a selection paradigm, five institutions were chosen for study selected from four of the regions. Each institution then identified a primary industry partner. Participants responded to in-depth interviews (MEPs) and questionnaires (industry) with respect to the nature, benefits, and challenges to both entities in the partnerships. Documents were reviewed for each program and industry. Responses were coded, crosschecked, and analyzed for patterns and themes. In particular, the study explored the issue of how commitment and trust are established in these partnership relationships. Twenty-four patterns and three themes emerged. Clearly, university-industry multicultural engineering partnerships are viewed as engendering important employment opportunities for underrepresented program graduates, promoting a well-developed pipeline of minority employee talent for industry, and increasing funding both for university multicultural programming and minority student support. The study also reports on the broad range of activities these partnerships practice. It suggests avenues for further study to enhance university-industry engagement.

Syftet med den här studien är att bidra med kunskap om fritidshemslärares uppfattningar kring användandet av digitala lärresurser i fritidshemmet och hur de använder digitala lärresurser för att motivera elevernas lärande. För att få svar på våra forskningsfrågor har vi intervjuat sex utbildade fritidshemslärare på två skolor belägna i södra Sverige. De berättade om sina uppfattningar av digitala lärresurser samt hur de används för att motivera elevernas lärande. Vi har använt oss av två fenomenologiskt inriktade begrepp, erfarenhet och riktadhet, samt SAMR-modellen för att analysera resultatet i vår undersökning. I resultatet framkommer det att fritidshemslärarna eftersträvar en vidare digital kompetens. Det framkommer också att majoriteten förespråkar att digitala lärresurser ska användas mer på fritidshemmet. Resultatet visar även att det skiljer sig i både utförande och planering hur digitala lärresurser används för att bidra till elevers motivation att lära vidare. Diskussionen belyser i linje med tidigare forskning att användningen av digitala lärresurser kan begränsas utifrån fritidshemslärarnas digitala kompetenser. Studien visar att digitala lärresurser sällan används i ett pedagogiskt syfte och därför kan ett kritiskt förhållningssätt bli svårt att utveckla hos eleverna. / The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about after-school teachers 'perceptions about the use of digital learning resources in the after-school center and how they use digital learning resources to motivate students' learning. To get answers to our research questions, we interviewed six trained after-school teachers at two schools located in southern Sweden. They talked about their perceptions of digital learning resources and how they are used to motivate students' learning. We have used two phenomenologically oriented concepts, experience and focus, as well as the SAMR model to analyze the results of our study. The results show that after-school center teachers strive for further digital competence. It also appears that the majority advocates that digital learning resources should be used more in the after-school center. The results also show that it differs in both design and planning how digital learning resources are used to contribute to students' motivation to learn further. The discussion highlights in line with previous research that the use of digital learning resources can be limited based on the digital skills of after-school teachers. The study shows that digital learning resources are rarely used for a pedagogical purpose and therefore a critical approach can be difficult to develop in students.

Since the introduction of social media, the corporate communication landscape has changed significantly, and thus organisations need to find new innovative ways to communicate. One emerging strategy is digital employee advocacy, which ultimately means that employees voluntarily endorse their employers on social media platforms. As of now however, research on how organisations should operate in order to encourage such behaviour is rather unexplored and inadequate, and a stronger understanding of the motivation and underlying mechanisms is needed. One concept that is conceptually identified as a driver for employee advocacy is employer branding, both directly and indirectly through organisational commitment. Therefore, this thesis aims at investigating and analysing the relationship between employer branding and digital employee advocacy as well as the dimensions of employer branding. Ultimately, the purpose of this thesis is to generate insights on which industrial organisations can build strategies for digital employee advocacy programs. This was done by collecting quantitative data through a questionnaire distributed among employees in a Swedish industrial organisation. Based on the data, a PLS-SEM analysis was conducted that both evaluated a newly developed employer branding scale and the relationships between employer branding and digital employee advocacy. The results from the analysis show that employer branding consists of five dimensions: training and development, healthy work atmosphere, ethics and CSR, work life balance as well as compensation and benefits. Furthermore, it can be concluded that employer branding does not lead to digital employee advocacy directly. It can however be shown that the relationships from employer branding to organisational commitment and from organisational commitment to digital employee advocacy are significant and that organisational commitment has a full mediating effect on the direct relationship between employer branding and digital employee advocacy. Thus, organisations need to recognise organisational commitment as a necessity, and employer branding as an instrument, for achieving digital employee advocacy. / I takt med tillväxten av sociala medier så har kommunikationslandskapet förändrats drastiskt och organisationer behöver därför hitta nya innovativa kommunikationsstrategier. En allt mer framstående strategi är digital employee advocacy, vilket innebär att få anställda att frivilligt förespråka sina arbetsgivare på sociala medier. Forskning gällande hur organisationer ska verka för att främja sådant beteende är dock bristfällig i nuläget och en större förståelse för incitament och drivande faktorer är därför nödvändig. En faktor som är identifierad som en potentiell drivkraft för digital employee advocacy är employer branding, både direkt och indirekt genom ett koncept känt som organisational commitment (sv. organisationsengagemang). Baserat på detta är målet för denna rapport att undersöka och analysera relationen mellan employer branding och digital employee advocacy samt de potentiella dimensionerna av employer branding. Vidare är rapportens syfte att generera insikter på vilka industriella organisationer kan bygga strategier för digital employee advocacy program. Detta kunde uppfyllas genom att distribuera en enkät till anställda i en svensk industriorganisation. Baserat på kvantitativ data från denna enkät kunde en PLS-SEM analys genomföras vilken både utvärderade en nyutvecklad skala för employer branding samt relationerna mellan employer branding och digital employee advocacy. Resultaten från denna analys indikerar att employer branding består av fem dimensioner: training and development, healthy work atmosphere, ethics and CSR, work life balance samt compensation and benefits. Vidare så visar resultaten att employer branding i dessa förhållanden inte har en direkt påverkan på digital employee advocacy. Dock visar resultaten att employer branding leder till organisational commitment, som i sin tur leder till digital employee advocacy. Dessutom visar resultaten att det direkta förhållandet mellan employer branding och digital employee advocacy till fullo medieras av organisational commitment. Organisationer som vill uppnå digital employee advocacy bör därför se organisational commitment som en nödvändighet och employer branding som ett hjälpmedel.

This thesis asks what conditions elevated the Cambridge Analytica (CA) conflict into a sustained and global political issue? Was this a privacy conflict and if so, how was it framed as such? This work demonstrates that the public outcry to CA formed out of three underlying structural conditions: The rise of the alt-right as an ideology, surveillance capitalism, and a growing and unregulated voter analytics industry. A network of actors seized the momentum of this conflict to drive the message that voter surveillance is a threat to democratic elections. These actors humanized the CA conflict and created a catalyst for a large scale public outrage to these previously ignored structures. Their focus on democratic threat also allowed this conflict to transcend the typical contours of a privacy conflict and demonstrate that the consequences of CA are societal, rather than personal. Despite the democratic threat of voter surveillance, Canada and the United States have yet to address the wider implications of voter surveillance adequately. Thus, how these systems are used will be a question of central importance in upcoming elections. / Graduate