Women constitute a minority in most military organizations, and previous research indicates that women face several barriers that affect both their careers and well-being in the organization. In the Swedish Armed Forces women were admitted to all services and branches with the same rights as men in 1989, but despite that there are now only 7 % female officers, and 17 % women in total in the organization. This study aims to examine the reasons for the minority of women at the higher positions and whether this can be understood from the factors identified by previous research, which also constitute the theoretical framework used in this study. The study is conducted on the basis of interviews with 12 female soldiers and officers in the Swedish Armed Forces, where women's thoughts and experiences about their careers and situation in the organization were sought. The results of the study show that there are factors influenced by both the organization and by the individual themselves that affect women's careers. The factors according to the respondents that have the most impact are negative attitudes and treatment from men, the organization's culture and jargon, as well as difficulties in combining a family life with work in the defense sector, and lack of support and role models.

This dissertation examines the concept of underrepresentation as deployed in scholarly and gray literature to describe the paucity of women in elite research and senior administration positions in Canadian universities. I explore the meaning of underrepresentation, drawing from research in organization studies, feminist and gender studies, philosophy, and political studies, to discuss the different ideas and assumptions that converge to define the parameters of women’s underrepresentation. I demonstrate how underrepresentation arises as an unproblematized claim in gender and organization theorizing and holds significant implications for women in its partial and reductive descriptions. This dissertation proposes a conceptual revisioning based on views of representation that allows for a more holistic consideration of women in organizations—in the context of my research, women in elite research and senior administration positions in academe. I adopt a dual-study research design to determine the shape and measure of women’s representation from the field. Using thematic analysis (TA), I review institutional texts pertaining to the Canada Research Chairs program (CRCP) and transcripts from my interviews with women in senior administration roles in Canadian universities. My findings confirm the need to augment the conceptual framework to include views of representation in order to achieve greater alignment between gender and organization theorizing and women’s lived experiences. I conclude that views of representation hold the potential to disrupt the problematic claim of underrepresentation, thus allowing for a more holistic and multifaceted understanding of women in organizations. My dissertation is an interpretivist-feminist project that exposes a conceptual problematic for the purpose of producing and advancing theory that is critically constructive rather than critically reactive, rooted in women’s experiences, self-aware and committed to supporting social action in favour of women’s full participation and gender equity across all facets of academic organizational life.

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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the student composition of accredited physical therapist assistant (PTA) programs located in the United States to determine if there were any significant differences between racial and ethnic minority and non-minority groups. Additionally, this study attempted to address gaps in discovering and understanding which program, and cohort variables may have been related to program graduation and ultimate NPTE(R) pass rates. Previous reports have acknowledged that racism exists and is being sustained in healthcare education and practice (Sullivan, 2004). This study was a quantitative retrospective secondary analysis of de-identified institutional, program, student, and faculty characteristics from all accredited PTA programs in the United States. The data were provided from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) Annual Accreditation Reports (AAR) and National Physical Therapy Examinations (NPTE(R)) data collected by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). There was a total of 309 included PTA programs. Descriptive results indicated that there was an underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority students in PTA educational programs when compared to the general population, public two-year colleges, and the professional association. Factors with a positive influence on NPTE(R) pass rate percentage for all PTA programs included public institutions, longer total length of program, and having previously earned a baccalaureate. Factors with a negative influence on NPTE(R) pass rate percentage included percentage Hispanic, percentage African American, faculty to student ratio, percentage of applicants enrolled, and public in-state tuition. The only factor found to be significant and positive for minority serving programs (MSP) was that of longer total length of program. Additional research is needed to examine other diversity factors in an attempt to account for a greater proportion of variance in students’ success for all PTA students and underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students in particular. / Educational Leadership

<p>This study investigated high-achieving and non-high-achieving students’ persistence in STEM fields using nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 for the years 2009, 2012, 2013, 2013-2014, and 2016. The results indicated that approximately 70% of high-achieving and non-high-achieving students continued their initial STEM degrees within 3 years of college enrollment. The study revealed that the most important predictors of STEM persistence were: math proficiency level, school belonging, school engagement, school motivation, school problems, science self-efficacy, credits earned in computer sciences, GPA in STEM courses, credits earned in STEM courses, and credits earned in Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) courses. Based on the results, math proficiency was the most important variable in the study for both high-achieving and non-high-achieving students. Even though credits earned in AP/IB combined were among the most important variables, they were two times more important for high-achieving students (6.86% vs. 3.37%). Regarding demographic information related variables, socioeconomic status was the most important variable among gender, ethnicity, and urbanicity in models predicting STEM persistence and had higher importance for non-high-achieving students. Furthermore, Hispanic students' proportion of persistence differed from other underrepresented populations’ persistence. Non-high-achieving Hispanic students had the highest persistence rate, similar to well-represented populations (i.e., White, Asian). Machine learning methods used in the study including random forest and artificial neural network provided good accuracy for both achievement groups. Random forest accuracy was over 82% with the Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique (SMOTE) dataset, while artificial neural network accuracy was over 92%.</p>

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Historically, the suppression of the academic development of gifted African American students, even those with a proven high IQ, resulted from the constraints of segregated learning environments and the generalized racist presumption of the inferiority of African Americans. The lack of federal policy regulating Gifted and Talented Education can be seen in the inconsistencies of every aspect of this work from identification to outcomes. Currently, over 3.3 million children are identified as gifted and talented in the United States. Yet the degree to which students are identified as mentally gifted and receive adequate programming varies dramatically from state to state, from one district to another, and based on race and socioeconomic status. Disparities in the availability and quality of Gifted and Talented Education programs along racial, socioeconomic, and geographic lines remain widespread. Though the misperception that Gifted and Talented students of any race need little support prevails, gifted students who do not have early and adequate access to gifted programming experience adverse effects. Within the historical context of the educational system and current landscape of Gifted and Talented Education, this research sought to answer three key questions. First, where and how do racial disparities manifest themselves in Gifted Education programs across the state of Pennsylvania? Second, what factors are contributing to or driving the underrepresentation of African American students in Gifted Education in Pennsylvania? Third, what strategies are being utilized at Pennsylvania state, district, and school levels to address racial disparities in Gifted and Talented Education and meet the needs of high-potential and high-performing African American students? To answer these questions, the researcher conducted a secondary data analysis of national, state, and district-level Gifted Education data; administered a survey and facilitated interviews with Pennsylvania school and district leaders; categorized participating schools based on best practices in the field of Gifted Education; and reviewed public artifacts including school district websites and annual Pennsylvania Gifted Education progress monitoring reports from 2017-2023. The overarching research themes suggested that disparities in Gifted Education exist throughout the state of Pennsylvania when compared with national data on gifted students overall and, to a heightened degree, gifted African American students. Person, place, and policy-based factors were assessed to be potentially driving and/or contributing to the underrepresentation of African American students in Gifted Education. While limited strategies surfaced that have already been used and documented to neutralize racial inequities effectively in Gifted Education, sound instructional and institutional practices were shared and strategies proposed for consideration. Key barriers to meeting students’ needs, the removal of which could potentially result in significant programmatic growth, were also revealed. In addition, the school and district leaders who participated in the study universally espoused a desire to learn more about Gifted Education, gifted students, and the inequities that impact gifted programming. / Educational Leadership

This paper takes an autoethnographic approach in exploring the growth of an African American preservice teacher during internship. This research involved daily self-reflections from the preservice teacher and observations by the supervising teachers and university liaison in order to respond to the guiding questions of how the African American preservice teacher will find a need for her presence in the classroom. As a result of the procedure, the preservice teacher was able to make meaningful connections with all students but especially with African American students who benefit from having at least one African American teacher between grades three and five within public elementary schools (Gershenson, Hart, Lindsay, & Papageorge, 2017). Additionally, findings from the reflections hope to inspire more African Americans to consider the teaching profession.

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