Theses (Ed. D.)--Marshall University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains ix, 134 pages. Includes vitae. Bibliography: p. 106-134.

The test scores of spatial ability for women lag behind those of men in many spatial tests. On the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), a significant gender gap has existed for over 20 years and continues to exist. High spatial ability has been linked to efficiencies in typical computing tasks including Web and database searching, text editing, and computer programming. The relationships between the components of visuospatial ability and performance are complex. However, research strongly indicates that a connection exists, and further research is necessary to determine the interactions between the variables of environment, genetics, and spatial training. Spatial experience can enhance spatial skills. However, to what extent spatial skills can be enhanced in female adolescents through a spatial curriculum to reduce the gap in scores has not been fully researched, nor has the impact of spatial skill on information seeking. This research project investigated spatial skill in adolescent females by examining (1) the extent to which the intervention of teaching a spatial curriculum in a single-sex setting could improve mental rotation test scores, and (2) the impact of spatial skills on an information seeking task in a single-sex setting. The extent to which a spatial visualization curriculum can improve MRT scores from a pretest to a posttest for girls was the first factor examined using a spatial visualization curriculum. The information seeking task used 4 tasks from a doctoral study and utilized the scholarly journal database JSTOR® (JSTOR, Ann Arbor, MI, www.jstor.org).

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Analyzing data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), this study compares the conformity of student gender roles attending single-sex and co-educational schools and examines the relationship between gender role conformity and bullying victimization in each educational context. This study is the first to investigate bullying in single sex schools and to use a large scale national dataset to examine student gender role conformity in schooling. Analyses of the base year 10th grade cohort of ELS:2002 reveal that both single sex and coeducational schooling are distinct contexts for student gender roles. Female students in both single sex and coeducational schools were significantly more likely to have higher average gender role conformity than male students in both single sex and coeducational schools. Gender role conforming students were significantly less likely to be bullied than gender role nonconforming students, even when controlling for whether the school is single sex or coeducational. Results also indicate that schools have dominant gender role norms, as students who differ from the average gender role conformity in their school are significantly more likely to experience bullying. Variation from a school-based gender role norm leads to a greater experience of bullying for students, and it is gender nonconforming students that are most likely to experience this increased likelihood of bullying. Despite the fact that female single sex schools are the most gender role conforming educational contexts among all four investigated in this study, gender role nonconforming girls who attend them are significantly less likely to experience bullying. Addressing the conflation of sex and gender underlying the sex-based educational policy of single sex schooling, this study argues that single sex public educational policy can be more carefully crafted with an attention to its theoretical underpinnings by taking into account the dynamics of students' gender roles. Implications for educational policy are discussed with particular emphasis on policy decisions at the district and state levels in addition to federal level policies, laws, and mandates such as Title IX and No Child Left Behind. / Urban Education

Since 2013, over half of all gender-selective women's colleges in the United States have adopted admission policies that outline varying biological, social, and legal criteria for who may apply to their institution. In effect, these policies opened the gates to admission, driven by the goal to be more inclusive to transgender applicants, especially trans* women. This dissertation examines if and how these policies enact missions of social justice, diversity, and inclusion through the informal practices, production, and regulation of gender on campus. How do gender-selective women's colleges go from trans* admitting to trans* serving? Through a nine-month ethnography of trans* admission policies at two gender-selective women's colleges, including 126 interviews with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators; archival document analysis regarding trans* and queer history on campus; and participant observation of events and spaces on campus with trans* students, my objective is to describe the world that takes shape when gender and feminism become institutionalized, routine, and used as descriptions to both include and exclude. I contend that the impact of these admission policies is not limited to the application process, but rather the experiences of matriculated students are shaped by the gendered norms and discourses structured within the policies themselves. Findings suggest that despite the fact that these policies, formally, allow for transgender students to apply and enroll to gender-selective women's colleges, institutionalized commitments to inclusion obscure and even intensify existing gender inequality, particularly for students who do not fit within normative ideals of the "right way to be trans*" including those who are low-income, non-white, and trans* men. Because the feminist missions of these colleges continue to reaffirm an ideal of cisgender womanhood on campus, the extent to which these inclusion policies were able to make fundamental structural changes in how gendered power, resources, and opportunities are distributed was limited at best. As such, this dissertation is a call to think about gender as an institutional product; not simply in terms of the politics that are attached to the experiences, bodies, and identities, but in the very constitution of gender as a social category. As an ethnography of how these categories become comprehensible, admissible, and livable, this dissertation complicates our understanding of how policies work, how gender is reinforced in the women's college setting, and how to transform institutional practices through a trans* justice framework. / Doctor of Philosophy / Since my graduation from Smith College in 2013, over half of all gender-selective women's colleges in the United States have publicly adopted admission policies outlining up to fourteen different combinations of biomedical, social, and legal criteria for who may apply to their institutions. In effect, these policies define fourteen different ways to be a "woman" that honor both the experiences and identities of students as well as the histories, traditions, and missions of gender-selective women's colleges. While I am proud of my alma mater for adopting such a policy, I have been struck by the ensuing tensions and debates that occurred among students and my fellow alumni about who belonged within our community. My time at Smith equipped me with new concepts, identities, and possibilities of what community means by being with people of other sexes, genders, races, sexualities, abilities, socio-economic statuses, and mindsets. Gender in this feminist space, in other words, was about so much more than a singular common experience of biology. Hence, the trans* policy raised more questions than answers for me: How do my trans* peers experience the woman-centered atmosphere of gender-selective women's colleges? In what ways do these policies and other institutional practices support these students? Through this dissertation, I sought to understand the experiences of trans* students enrolled in two gender-selective women's colleges by mapping the implementation and impact of trans* inclusion on campus. I wanted to know how these policies—and gender-selective women's colleges more broadly—shape institutionalized feminist missions of social justice. Over the span of nine-months, I spent time at two gender-selective women's colleges, one with a policy that admits trans* women, men, and non-binary students and another that limits trans* admission to trans* women, and conducted 126 interviews with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators; archival document analysis regarding trans* and queer history on campus; and participant observation of events and spaces on campus with trans* students. I found that despite the fact that these policies, formally, allow for transgender students to apply and enroll to gender-selective colleges, the institutional commitments to inclusion obscured and even intensified existing gender inequality particularly for students who do not fit within normative ideals of the "right way to be trans*" including those who are low-income, non-white, and trans* men. Because the feminist missions of these colleges continue to reaffirm an ideal of cisgender womanhood on campus, the extent to which these inclusion policies were able to make fundamental changes to support transgender students was limited at best, and violent at worst. This does not suggest that there was no hope. Rather, students found ways to navigate these formal policies, resources, and spaces to create safer environments for their community, surviving and thriving in environments that were antithetic-to-hostile to their inclusion. As a result, I conclude that the implementation of a singular policy is not an adequate solution to full inclusion. Rather, we must consider how policy and practice may limit inclusion through intersections of race, class, sexuality, ability, and other axes of identity. As such, this dissertation is a call to think about how gender-selective women's colleges can go from trans* admitting to trans* serving.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine Latinas’ access to Advanced Placement/ Honors courses in a Catholic female single-sex high school and to examine their experiences and perspectives when they are granted or denied access into an AP/Honors course. This study also aimed to explore how the Catholic single-sex high school is aligned with the Catholic, single-sex, and Advanced Placement advantage for Latina students who have been granted or denied access to an Advanced Placement/Honors course. The case study focused on one Catholic all-female high school in the Western United States and participants included Latina current students and alumnae (n=11), the high school principal (n=1), and teachers (n=2) from the school. Data was collected via document review, the gathering of descriptive data, as well as participant interviews. The theoretical framework used to analyze this data was a blend of Critical biculturalism, Chicana feminist theory, as well as the principles of Catholic social teaching. Findings highlight a fairly exclusive AP/Honors placement process with unclear guidelines to be followed in order to appeal a decision. Latinas’ experiences range from feeling like outsiders and being made to feel not good enough, to feeling competitive and being resilient. Their perspectives on why they decided to appeal the decision of their placement had to do with their feeling that they had the capacity for advanced work, their driven nature, and their desire to be exposed to more learning. Further, perspectives also emerged concerning the school’s sisterhood and its influence on issues of race and class. In regards to alignment with the Catholic, single-sex, and AP advantage the data illustrates that while participants seemingly agree that there are advantages, they are also cognizant of other factors that overshadow these advantages.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether or not the single-sex environment has an effect on the gender role perceptions and life paths of young women. Students were selected from two urban high schools, one all-girls and one coeducational. The schools themselves are located a short distance from each other to ensure consistency in regards to socioeconomic status. This study used a mixed methods analysis. Female students in their senior year of high school were surveyed using a gender role perception inventory (Prasad & Baron, 2009). Ten students from the original sample, five from each site, were then selected for in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Results indicate that there is little difference in gender role perception and life path between the two samples. The only exception is in the area of gender role reversal, which favors the single-sex school. As such, students from the single-sex school are more likely to indicate comfort with the inversion of conventional gender roles. In terms of life path, no significant difference between the two groups was found in terms of traditional, non-traditional, and gender-neutral career plans. Interviews with students from both sites reveal two major differences thematically. Students in the single-sex school reported that the decision to attend an all-girls school was mostly made by their parents, while students in the coeducational school reported making the decision themselves. The second difference between the two environments is that students in the single-sex school reported that they and their peers in the school feel quite comfortable acting “themselves” because of the lack of males in the environment. The students in the coeducational school corroborated that sentiment by expressing the tendency of their female peers to act differently in the presence of male peers. The results of this study do not conclusively prove that the single-sex environment is beneficial for the formation of non-traditional gender role perception and life path, with the exception of the reversal finding. The interviews, however, may indicate that the students in the single-sex environment have an advantage in terms of comfort because of the absence of their opposite sex peers. Indisputably, this study confirms that more research is needed in the area of single-sex education for females. / Educational Leadership

Ho Wing Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [166]-[175]). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgement --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘腰 --- p.iii / Table of Content --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1 --- "Literature Review, Research Concern and Conceptual Framework" --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Methodology --- p.40 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Cross-sectional Analysis of the Educational Claims of Single-sex and --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Cross-time Analysis of the Educational Claims of Single-Sex and Co-educational Schools --- p.70 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Curriculum Study: Gender Presentation of Home Economics in Hong Kong --- p.119 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.159 / References / Appendix I: Coding Scheme / Appendix II: Findings of Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Educational Claims of Single-sex and Co-educational Schools / Appendix III: Syllabus of Home Economics

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GIVING VOICE TO STUDENT AND ALUMNAE OPPOSITION DURING THE TRANSITION TO COEDUCTION BY A COLLEGE FOR WOMEN By Rebecca Jean Grandstaff Clarke, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011. Co-Director: Mary Hermann, J.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Counselor Education School of Education Co-Director: Teresa J. Carter, Ed.D. Assistant Professor and Adult Learning Program Coordinator, Teaching and Learning Department School of Education This dissertation provides insight into students‘ and alumnae‘s experiences during the transition and legal proceedings as their former college for women transitioned to coeducation. Previous research on the transition of single-sex colleges to coeducation has primarily examined the process from an organizational perspective. This study focuses on the participants‘ personal and intimate involvement in these events. A phenomenological approach was utilized (Creswell, 1998; Moustakas, 1994). Data collection was through in-depth interviews with three students who recently graduated from the college and acted as the plaintiffs during the legal challenge and four alumnae who served as leaders of the opposition group funding the legal challenge. Data analyses lead to the development of textural and structural themes which described the essence of the experience. The results of the study indicated that the admission of men changed the campus and classroom environment at this former women‘s college. Classroom dynamics changed; campus crime increased; and the students engaged in acts of physical confrontation and intimidation. Aspects of the students‘ and alumnae‘s experiences left an indelible impression on their lives. For the students, participating in the student protests over the coeducation decision was a transformative experience, resulting in a stronger sense of social activism. The experience of supporting and funding the legal challenge ultimately caused the alumnae to lose faith in the educational and legal systems. The study has implications for college boards and administrators considering coeducation, for alumnae considering a legal challenge to a decision by their alma mater to transition to coeducation, and for women interested in enrolling in a college for women.