Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-73). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Greater knowledge of specific populations? perception of the capacity for change will assist leadership practitioners in the design and implementation of effective leadership programs. These leadership programs will hopefully prepare students to lead effectively in a rapidly changing society where a strong capacity for change is needed. This study examined three specific populations of undergraduate students who participated in the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership in 2006. The three populations of interest were first generation college students, transfer students and male students. The purpose of the study was to determine the self-perceived capacity to adapt to change for selected college student populations based on the Social Change Model of Leadership (Appendix A). A second purpose was to determine differences in this self-perceived capacity to adapt to change between and among these selected college student populations. Responses to the 10 individual items of the Change Scale (MSL) were measured and analyzed to determine if any significant differences and/or interactions existed in the data. The results of this study inform the design of both Academic and Student Affairs student leadership development programs to enhance the leadership development of these selected student populations. The research design for the study included the use of descriptive statistics, a correlation matrix to examine the relationships of the 10 individual items of the change scale, and a 3X10 MANOVA. These tests and measures were utilized on all three independent variables (generational status, transfer status and gender) and the 10 individual items of the change scale within the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale. This study identified distinct differences between/among the three populations of interest and provided numerous recommendations for practice such as tapping into the unique life experiences of transfer and first generation college students to learn more about their stronger capacity for managing change and specifically recruiting students from the three populations of interest to assist in the delivery of change-related curriculum within leadership programs. Another recommendation was made for leadership practitioners to utilize the Social Change Model of Leadership development to help with the development of leaders who will share a commitment to positive change at the individual, group and community levels.

First generation (FG) students are twice as likely as their non-first generation peers to drop out of college (Chen, 2005), experiencing a host of challenges related to their FG status including poor academic preparation, limited familial support, nonstrategic college learning beliefs and processes, and problematic coping with academic disappointment. FG students who earn low grades often attribute these outcomes to an uncontrollable factor such as low intelligence (Dweck & Leggett, 1998) rather than a more controllable factor such as poor preparation for success or misunderstanding of the path to success. Some FG students matriculate through college successfully despite their risk status and one reason might be FG students who exhibit more self-compassion in the face of perceived or actual low grades are resilient even with their risk status. The study investigated relations between self-compassion for poor academic performance and the learning beliefs and processes (i.e., motivation, goal orientation, fixed theory of intelligence, self-efficacy, anxiety, and fear of failure) of FG students using hierarchical regression. Overall, findings suggested that students with more self-compassion had more strategic learning beliefs and processes on ten out of eleven variables, regardless of their FG status. FG students did have a lower GPA and however only Asian FG students had less strategic learning beliefs in their fixed theory of intelligence. Contrary to hypotheses, however, as a group FG students did not have less self-compassion. Further research is needed on contextual factors surrounding FG status in other FG student populations. / text

“First-generation college student” is a category ubiquitous in higher education literature due to the social mobility this group has the potential of deriving from educational attainment. However, the first category is comprised of a diverse group of students who do not share any other common research construct, such as race/ethnicity, culture, immigrant status, or socioeconomic status. In addition, the literature often conceives of firsts from a deficit standpoint, blaming the students for lack of success attaching low expectations to students’ identity. In addition, although the literature implies that an intersectional approach would be appropriate for understanding this population, no work to date has attempted to apply an explicitly intersectional framework or considered probing the boundaries of the category itself. The goals of this study, therefore, were to understand the narratives of successful firsts at a highly selective institution in order to understand how students’ intersectional identities shaped their educational trajectories, and to understand the impact of utilizing a socially constructed and deficit-oriented category in research and practice. To achieve these aims, this study utilized a visual narrative analytic method. Seventeen successful participants self-identified as firsts and participated in two one-on-one interviews and took or found pictures relating to their pre-college and college experiences. I found that firsts made meaning of their multiple, intersecting identities in diverse ways. Although students had internalized conceptions of first status as a detriment to their educational opportunities, they were able to reframe this deficit as success through the American dream storyline. In addition, students’ multiple identities intersected and informed their educational trajectories in unique and individualized ways. These identities flowed through the constructs of personal characteristics, familial characteristics, and characteristics that were negotiated in personal and familial contexts. Students conceptualized success being intrinsically linked to learning, contributing to future generational success, and saw themselves as making contributions to the academy via the ideas of service and diversity. Students were able to reframe negative societal expectations, focus on learning as a goal in and of itself, and associate success with self in way that suggests that examining firsts through any single identity frame limiting in understand the ways they navigate and make meaning of their experiences. In addition, students saw themselves as making unique contributions to the academy via service and diversity. The present study offers conceptual maps to explain how students talked about their identities as well as the notion of success. I also offer suggestions for research, theory, policy, and practice. / text

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until November 30, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-126)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until November 30, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-126)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2005. / Title from PDF title page screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-179)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-126).

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify and describe the impact of the support system on the career development of first generation college graduates. Research Questions: --What comprises the first generation college graduates' support system for each generation (i.e. social network, friends, family and colleagues and mentors)? --What is the relative importance/influence of each support system component in career development for each generation? Design/Methodology/Approach: There were a total of 21 in-depth interviews with equal number of participants for all three generations (Baby Boomers, X and Y). The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then coded. Further, there are cross case and within case analyses. Research Limitations: No participants were born outside of the range of 1946 to 1990. While women were equally represented during the purposeful sample selection, the research did not delve into gender differences study.