This study explored the ways in which faculty at a Research 1 university defined their identities as faculty members as well as how they describe the relationship between their engagement with students and the development of their identities. The reasons for the study were rooted in the fragmented and incomplete ways faculty identity has been…

There is a persistent and growing global call to examine, challenge, and transform exclusionary structures and systems within mathematics education (Laursen & Austin, 2020; Reinholz et al., 2019; Thomas & Drake, 2016; Wagner et al., 2020). An important component of this call examines students' mathematical identity. While a growing body of…

Writer identity has gradually become a focus in writing scholarship in recent years. From a social constructivist lens, writer identity is not optional; it resides in all texts. And it is a construct that does not exist in a vacuum, but is shaped by the sociocultural and academic context, and simultaneously individual writers agentively select…

This qualitative research examines the construction and negotiation of Japanese language teacher identities (LTIs) both inside and outside classrooms at public universities in the United States. In the past fifteen years, Japanese has become one of the most studied foreign languages at college level (Furman et al., 2010; Goldberg et al., 2015;…

This constructivist grounded theory study conceptualized how White women educated at Jesuit colleges and universities and engaged in racial justice ally behavior developed their identities as White women and racial justice allies. Nine participants from six different Jesuit universities engaged with the researcher through two interviews and a…

A narrative inquiry was conducted to explore the stories of students of Color with low-socioeconomic status perceptions of predominantly White institutions through their college experiences. This narrative inquiry explored if those experiences influenced their identity as college students, and if so, in what ways. Transition theory and the…

Two samples of female student-athletes were surveyed to explore dimensions of athletic and academic identities in Division I female student-athletes. Quantitative methods used a refined version of the 2010 NCAA Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations, Learning of Students in college (GOALS) survey to explore constructs underlying female…

Via two studies, this dissertation examined the way in which ethnic-racial experiences and social class experiences work in tandem to shape academic adjustment among Latinx college students attending an HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institutions) and various PWIs (Predominantly White Institutions). In Study 1, I answered two research questions: 1) What is…

This research used narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of neurodivergent students on the autism spectrum during transition and enrollment into community college. Furthermore, the research examined the development of identity for this population during this time. Students are being diagnosed on the autism spectrum at increasing rates, and…

Identity formation is a pivotal milestone in the age range of emerging adulthood ("EA"; ages 18-29; Arnett, 2000; 2014). Most of the literature in the area emphasizes the role of identity within college student samples, but there is a lack of understanding of identity distress among graduate students. Graduate school is a prolonged…

In counseling education, one learns the unique ability to help people from all walks of life with a never-ending list of human endeavors. This dissertation explored the lived experiences of counselor educators in training and how their privileged and/or marginalized social identities impacted their professional identity. Though this dissertation…

As emerging adults transition into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) workforce, it is essential to understand the factors that predict successful occupational identity achievement, as automation will impact human occupational identity crises. This descriptive cross-sectional study implemented a correlation design to determine the degree to…

The purpose of this study was to examine how college students who identify as queer and Muslim and attend 4-year colleges and universities integrate their religious and sexual identities. The study was conducted through a constructivist paradigm that acknowledged multiple truths and the role of the researcher in co-constructing knowledge. The…

Black women have a unique process in forming their identities, because of the subordinated status of both their racial and gender identity. Black women in America have urged American society at large to understand the complexity and multidimensionality of the Black woman identity, due to issues of inequality being addressed through a single axis…

Teaching practices in early childhood through post-secondary learning settings continue to reproduce inequities in mathematics education despite recognition of math's utility and its necessity for competitiveness in the global economy. For reform efforts to be successful, teachers must change the way mathematics is presented in classrooms where…