Since the inauguration of the King Abdullah-Aziz Foreign Scholarship Program in 2005, the number of Saudi university students in the United States has increased exponentially, and an unprecedented amount of Saudi women are seeking international degrees. The absence of scholarly research within these women���s home and host countries highlights the need for an ethnographic account of their transnational experiences, which can elucidate ways in which knowledge, values, and customs are in a constant process of contextual negotiation. This in turn influences available sources of social support and psychological well-being. Drawing on data from free-lists, a focus group, and in-depth semi-structured interviews, this ethnographic research aims to uncover and examine the social determinants of psychological well-being as described by the narrative experiences of Saudi Arabian women studying at Oregon State University. After providing a detailed analysis of specific sociocultural structures operating in these women's lives, two sides qualifying Saudi Arabian women's experiences are examined: stakes of their international education projects and challenges in maintaining good mental health. These stakes, formed by sociocultural structures, circumscribe their experiences, decisions, and behavior in the U.S., where they must navigate through new challenges and sources of distress. The challenges they face cause distress, but also delineate possible sources of support and create avenues for agency. Finally, this thesis is concluded by recommending applications for mental health care providers and examining macro-level theoretical underpinnings of social determinants of psychological well-being. / Graduation date: 2012

This thesis seeks to better understand the most pressing cultural barriers to progress in the sustainability movement, and to offer suggestions for overcoming barriers. This research includes a two-year long case study of the sustainability movement at OSU, where the researcher coordinated projects encouraging behavior change. Despite increasing severity and knowledge of environmental problems, behavior on-campus continues largely unchanged. Cultural norms and values of western society underlie reasons why behavior is not changing on-campus. The OSU case study grounds cultural barriers identified in analysis of semi-structured interviews with campus sustainability leaders. Literature for this research looks at cultural norms and values which block progress in the movement and critiques current efforts which rely too heavily on science and technology to solve fundamentally human problems in pursuing sustainability. Some of the more prevalent cultural barriers identified in this research include: a lack of time and/or money to get involved in the movement or make behavior changes, reactionary thinking, a growing sense of entitlement, and a lack of dialogue about the sacrifices needed to create a more sustainable society. In examining ways to overcome cultural barriers to progress, the researcher suggests crafting the sustainability message to be accessible, relatable, valuable and manageable to the average person. The framework for crafting the sustainability message is guided by the notion that progress in the movement will be defined by a focus on creative, personal, and spiritual aspects of human life, in addition to scientific and technological measures. / Graduation date: 2012

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of sexual harassment codes on college and university campuses. The situational model proposed by Lloyd Bitzer is used to examine representative artifacts from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, so as to determine whether they operate as "fitting" rhetorical responses to the situation generally and the exigence of sexual harassment specifically. The body of this analysis develops in eight stages: an introductory discussion of sexual harassment and research conducted thereon; examination of codes as ethical and situational constructs; explication of the rhetorical framework; the nature of the exigence as a historical and campus-specific imperfection; examination of the publics that create the rhetorical audience; the inartistic and artistic constraints operative within the rhetorical situation; an analysis of the two codes; and summary comments and recommendations. Within the last two sections the determinations are made that: 1) the codes do not currently function as a "fitting" response to the situation/exigence, and that 2) revisions can be made so as to promote a more pragmatic and "fitting" response to sexual harassment. / Graduation date: 1997

Since 2005, the United States has experienced a significant influx of international students from Saudi Arabia, particularly women (Bollang, 2006). The American educational structure is something Saudi women have never experienced due to the vast differences between both cultures in all facets. There is very little to no research conducted on Saudi Arabian women pursuing higher education in an academic culture drastically different from what they are accustomed to. A review of current literature illustrates the critical need for a more in- depth analysis of this phenomenon. Although there is much research available regarding the subjugation of Saudi women in the past and present, the surge in Saudi women pursuing education in the United States has not been researched. This thesis study explores how Saudi women are adapting to the differences in educational structural between what they have experienced back home and what they are experiencing here at Oregon State University. This study also looks at how Saudi women are adapting to the differences in teaching methods at OSU in comparison to what they are used to back home. The traditional teacher-centered approach versus that at OSU that heavily incorporates a student-centered approach. This study utilizes qualitative research methods to find common themes that arose from interviews with the sample group. Findings suggest that the Saudi women studying at Oregon State University developed intercultural competence due to their strong personal desire to succeed in their studies abroad. These Saudi women also proved to have strong levels of motivation and desire to succeed academically in hopes that they will return to their country and assist in improving the status of women. / Graduation date: 2012

Graduation date: 1994

Communication cannot be successful without the cooperative listening response of an auditor. Auditors must feel empowered to act as agents of change or their decisions and actions cannot be influenced by the discourse. Their every response depends upon their ability to perceive themselves as potential mediators of change. A review of the literature supports the notion that women auditors are affected by biological, social, historical, and psychological forces which serve to inform their ability to perceive themselves as agents of change. In many instances, their lack of perceived personal power is apparent. The purpose of this study was to construct and analyze an instrument developed for the purpose of measuring perceived personal power. The instrument was designed and validated through a Delphi process. The questionnaire contained thirty-six (36) items, with a four-point Likert type scale used to indicate the respondent's attitude. Questions were completed by 300 randomly selected female students at Oregon State University. The mean age of the respondents was twenty years, 34 percent were married and the mean years of university classwork completed was 2.4 years. The Hoyt-Stunkard method was used to assess reliability. The computed reliability coefficient was 0.948. An R-mode factor analysis was utilized by clustering items--acting as a tool for determining construct validity through the extraction of common factor variances, showing the highly correlated items which share variance. Five factors were extracted through use of a varimax rotation of the factor matrix loadings. Thirty-five (35) of the thirty-six (36) instrument items were clustered on one of the five factors. Based on the results, it is reasonable to believe that the Perceived Personal Power Inventory developed for this study is reliable and valid when used with the population from which the population was drawn. / Graduation date: 1993

There are more Japanese people coming to the United States than ever before. Increasing numbers of problems and conflicts are occurring between the Americans (hosts) and Japanese (guests). Many scholars have stated that there is a distinct difference of communication patterns between Americans and Japanese. The Asia University American Program (AUAP) established between Oregon State University and Asia University in Japan is designed to give the students intensive English study and exposure to American culture. Using AU Japanese students and OSU American students for samples, this project sets out to determine to what extent their cultural and language barriers affect the intercultural and interpersonal communication between Americans and Japanese in their dormitory environment. Including an American-American paired control group, rates of satisfaction with roommates were compared between the Japanese students and experimental American students of the Japanese-American pairs, along with the control group of American pair students. The study also examines factors which affect satisfied and unsatisfied communication between Americans and Japanese, and investigates what efforts the students made to overcome cultural differences and language barriers. Questionnaire surveys and face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted to discover these elements. The results revealed that the rates of satisfaction are similar for the Japanese- American paired roommates, and the American-American control roommates. Therefore, ethnicity did not influence the level of roommate satisfaction for the three groups. Although cultural difference and cultural similarity did not influence the roommate relationship according to quantitative measurements, cultural differences that had qualitative and subjective effects on the relationship were found. The results of the analysis also show that English competence was not a predictor for satisfactory relationships. The key factors for successful relationships were the levels of the Japanese students' eagerness to talk to their American roommates and the American students' willingness to listen to their Japanese roommates. A combination of eagerness and willingness between the roommates reinforced the opportunity for success. Regarding sex, the data shows that the female students were more satisfied than the male students. The research literature also supports the observation that female students achieve more satisfactory relationships. The main traits that contributed to satisfactory relationships on the part of American roommates were the traits of "patience", "open-mindedness" and "willingness to make an effort". The traits of Japanese students which contributed to satisfactory relationships were "trying to talk" with their American roommates and "willingness to make an effort". The main factors for the unsatisfied relationship are just the opposite of those contributing to satisfactory relationships. Roommates who had unsatisfactory relationships typically had little communication with their roommates because they stayed away from their rooms. / Graduation date: 1993

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the attitudes and preferences regarding home/school involvement strategies of 23 mothers of kindergarten students who had been identified as at-risk for failure in school and 18 mothers of kindergarten students who had been designated as peer models. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Chi square and t-tests were used at the .05 level to determine if there were significant differences between the responses of the two groups. Respondents were asked to express their preferences for programs and services designed to support families, potential use of these programs and services, views concerning the importance of different home/school involvement strategies, comfort level with different home/school involvement strategies, preferences for topics for parent education, and preferences for ways of learning about helping their children. A significant difference was found between the two groups regarding potential use of programs and services, views concerning the importance of different home/school involvement strategies, and preferences for ways of learning about their children. Mothers of at-risk students favored one-way communication with schools and strategies that were not social in nature. Mothers of at-risk students showed an interest in parent education topics which discussed general development and family maintenance over discipline. The mean age at the birth of the first child for mothers of at-risk students was 19.4 years while the mean age at the birth of the first child of mothers of peer model students was 24.3 years. / Graduation date: 1991

The initial research question for this study asked whether single women were having their employment needs met by the union in a university setting. Twelve single women who were members of a union at a university participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences with the union. To the surprise of the researcher, the single women interviewed felt they had no needs. Drawing from feminist literature on the social construction of gender, this analysis argues that because of the patriarchal nature of our culture, women were raised to be mindful of other's needs and not their own, which made it difficult for participants to identify their own needs. / Graduation date: 2013

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-89). Also available on the World Wide Web.