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This dissertation argues for an expansive understanding of academic fiction in the postwar period--specifically as associated with the rise and fall of the "Golden Age of the American University"--beyond the conventional forms of the campus and academic novel. Rather than restricting academic fiction solely to types of novels that are explicit about their campus influences, via their incorporation of actively present and legible university characteristics such as college students, staff, faculty, and campus settings, this dissertation proposes alternate but adjacent sites to look for the influence of American higher education. To that end, it argues for the unique nature of these alternate academic fictions it names "campus peripheries" as they address the education issues of human capital, economic mobility, "minority" status, inclusion/ exclusion, individual achievement, and community service. These "campus peripheries" are brief and thus peripheral moments in novels that allude and gesture towards the university's significance despite their seemingly small contribution to the totality of the text they appear within. Additionally, this dissertation consolidates a review of conventional academic fiction and its accompanying criticism to show how this work has often failed to distinguish between two versions of this genre: student-centered campus novels and faculty-centered academic novels. I then turn to highlighting the alternate ones, "campus peripheries," which largely borrow from campus novels, through several close readings of select novels that I argue are representative of these peripheral moments. Overall, through readings of these campus periphery moments in some key novels, this dissertation argues for a novel way of understanding academic fiction and the indebtedness these novels and their authors have to American higher education in the postwar period when its centrality in American life was becoming more pronounced. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative, intrinsic case study was to gain an understanding of how middle school teachers' professional learning and development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced their existing professional capital. Even though middle school teachers led much of their professional learning and development during the COVID-19 pandemic March 2020-March 2021, their knowledge and assessment of professional development experiences have not been leveraged in planning and designing ongoing teacher professional learning. These stories of teachers' professional learning experiences during a sudden global health emergency that shifted in-person classroom settings to virtual ones are essential in developing continual teacher professional learning experiences that influence teacher professional capital. After experiencing choice in professional learning to meet instructional needs during virtual teaching, teachers have returned to district- or school-mandated professional development experiences. Leveraging stories of teacher professional learning during remote teaching to inform the design of professional learning will add to research on middle school teachers and their professional capital. Three research questions guided this study: 1) What stories do middle school teachers share about their professional learning and development experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? 2) How do middle school teachers describe the influence that their professional development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have had on their professional capital? 3) How do middle school teachers describe the utilization of their professional development experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop ongoing professional learning opportunities in their schools? Data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews and 2 respective focus groups with 7 middle school teachers at Maximillian Middle School along with a document collection and researcher's journal. This research study sought to address a gap in research studies regarding teacher professional learning experiences during the brick-and-mortar closings during the COVID-19 pandemic specific to March 2020-March 2021 and how teachers' assessment of their learning during this time is important input for designing ongoing professional learning experiences that inform teacher professional capital. The findings of this study indicated that that the COVID-19 Global Pandemic was an unexpected professional learning period for middle school teachers; shared teacher collegial learning is an investment for teachers; and teacher professional learning through the COVID-19 pandemic informed elements of teacher of professional capital which can as an outcome of their post COVID-19 reflection inform ongoing teacher professional learning design and execution. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation is a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) higher education professionals who hold a position in the President's Cabinet of a public university in the Western United States. The study utilized human capital theory, social capital theory, and social cognitive career development theory (SCCT) to explore four research questions: (a) What paths do BIPOC higher education professionals take to the President's Cabinet? (b) What personal, social, and cultural considerations should professionals be mindful of when seeking a position in the President's Cabinet, and how might this differ by race, gender, or age? Are there particular workplace dynamics that BIPOC professionals should be mindful of? (c) What barriers surface for BIPOC professionals as they seek positions in the President's Cabinet and how are they approached and mitigated? (d) What role do political leadership and social capital play in one's trajectory to the President's Cabinet? This study found that mentorship plays a significant role in the career success of a BIPOC professional on their path to the President's Cabinet. Mentorship increases the social capital and human capital and enhances the career development of a BIPOC professional. While most BIPOC professionals do not seem to take a traditional path (faculty, chair, dean, provost, president), a newer stream of nuances seems to be emerging for BIPOC professionals through the benefits of mentorship and sponsorship. Ultimately, this study found that BIPOC professionals have the most successful experiences on their paths to the President's Cabinet when they are S.P.O.N.S.O.R.ed (Support, Protect, Organize, Notice, Speak-Up, Offer, Recognize). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation consists of three papers. In each, I use applied econometric methods and economic theory to study the American teacher workforce. The first paper evaluates a novel policy to address teacher shortages by promoting experienced school staff to be teachers of record. Controlling for demographics and baseline scores, I find that students assigned to these teachers perform just as well as those assigned to traditionally licensed teachers on average and outperform their peers in math. My results point to an untapped resource of potential teachers and underscore the value of principals' local knowledge to identify capable candidates for teaching positions. The second paper, co-authored with Shirin Hashim, documents historical trends in the teaching labor market in context by incorporating the nursing workforce as a relevant comparison group. We document historical trends in skill level, average and relative wages, wage dispersion, unionization rates, and quantity, and find important divergences in the teaching and nursing professions that cannot be explained by previous theories. We posit two new theories that align with our documented trends: technological innovation and occupational differentiation in nursing. We argue that trends in the nursing profession indicate that declines in teaching quality were (and are) not inevitable. The third paper analyzes school principals' human capital strategies and how they relate to school-level changes in teacher effectiveness and principals' own conceptualization of their strengths. I identify three distinct human capital strategies: hiring, developing, and selectively retaining teachers. I find that about 2% of the variation in changes in overall teacher quality can be tied to principal-specific effects and that hiring has the largest amount of principal-level variation among the strategies. I also find suggestive evidence that principals specialize in different strategies, but they generally conceptualize themselves as strong in all strategies and often cannot accurately identify their own human capital strengths or weaknesses. This work contributes new evidence on the role of principals in ensuring teacher quality, providing a framework for understanding different principal strategies and principals' conceptualization of their own personnel practices. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation investigates the intersection of economics of innovation and human capital development to understand how to empower individuals and marginalized communities to be directed to innovation and STEM disciplines. The research focuses on three main chapters: Chapter 1 examines the effectiveness of an education program in teaching and measuring innovation skills among 8th-grade students in rural India. Using a randomized evaluation, the program's impact on students' innovative ability is assessed through a novel scale and experimental economics game. Results indicate significant improvements in innovative ability, unrelated to academic achievement or IQ, but potentially affecting math performance and interest. Chapter 2 evaluates a STEM training initiative for women engineers in India, designed to overcome barriers to women's success in STEM fields. By fostering a women-only environment and emphasizing self-directed learning, the program aims to enhance participants' technical and higher-order skills, ultimately influencing their labor market outcomes. Chapter 3 focuses on technology-driven assessment methods in education, particularly in developing countries like India. Through phone-based assessments, governments can efficiently monitor learning outcomes, identify areas needing support, and bypass administrative layers prone to conflicts of interest. These assessments offer a cost-effective means to monitor educational programs and ensure grade-appropriate learning levels, contributing to ambitious educational goals and the teaching of foundational and higher-order skills at scale. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Many postsecondary students in the United States exist at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, such as race, socioeconomic status, (dis)ability, and legal status. Amidst a tumultuous sociopolitical context, a number of higher education institutions in the United States established Undocumented Student Resource Centers (USRCs), identity-centered student services that provide specialized support for students who hold marginalized legal identities (Ballerini & Feldblum, 2021; Castrellon, 2021; Cisneros & Valdivia, 2018; Cisneros et al., 2021; Gomez & Perez Huber, 2021; Tapia-Fuselier, 2021). This study, which focuses on the professional employees at USRCs, is ultimately in service of students who are united by their marginalized legal statuses--those who are undocumented, those who are DACA recipients, and those who belong to mixed-status families. This issue is addressed through the following primary research questions: 1) What are the lived experiences of the professional employees who work at USRCs?; 1a) What personal factors inform their experiences in their role?; 2) What are the experiences of USRC professionals when they encounter systemic factors, ranging from the centered to the marginalized? While there is existing literature that recognizes the ways in which USRCs benefit their students, less is known about the experiences of the professional employees who work in USRCs (Cisneros et al., 2021; Tapia-Fuselier, 2021). This hermeneutic phenomenological (van Manen, 1990) study sought to address this gap by examining the experiences of the professional employees of USRCs. Three intersecting frameworks were used to conduct this research: Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), Tierney's (1988) framework of Organization, and Critical Systems Thinking (Cordoba & Midgley, 2008; Jackson, 2001; Midgley, 1992; Midgley et al., 1998; Rajagopalan & Midgley, 2015; Raza, 2021; Ulrich, 1983, 1988). The sample consisted of 6 professional employees from 2- and 4-year higher education institutions across the United States. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle (Dibley et al., 2020; van Manen, 1990). The findings indicate that the professional employees of USRCs bring untold assets and forms of wealth to their work, including their commitment to joy and their employment of aspirational, familial, and navigational capital. Systemic factors within their organization and beyond create barriers to their work, resulting in mentally and emotionally exhausting experiences, overburdened work environments, and instances where their identities and offices are marginalized by their tumultuous sociopolitical context. Implications for higher education practice, research, and theory are offered. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Teacher retention in rural Title I schools has declined drastically over the past several years. As more teachers leave the profession and turnover is climbs to astounding rates in these schools, the quality of education in the United States continues to decline. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perspectives of early career teachers to understand better what factors cause them to stay in the profession, with the hopes of adding these teachers' voices to the conversation on what can be done to increase teacher retention and decrease teacher turnover in rural Title I schools. A group of early career teachers from rural Title I schools were interviewed to understand their experiences better. The aim was to understand the factors that influence their decision to remain in or leave the teaching profession, as told in their own words from their unique perspectives. This study was guided by the Four-Capital model theoretical framework which looks at the following four capitals: (a) human capital, (b) social capital, (c) structural capital, and (d) positive psychological capital. This framework also guided the formation of the North Carolina Working Conditions Survey, which served as a baseline to build the interview protocol for this study. The findings included seven themes that participants identified as shaping their decisions to stay in education. The study had several implications for theory, research, and practice for early career teachers in rural Title I schools. It also filled the gap in the research by exploring the lived experiences and perspectives of early career teachers in rural Title I schools currently serving in these positions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The landscape of workforce management has undergone a significant transformation, marked by a notable shift from the traditional framework of Human Resources (HR) to the contemporary concept of people operations. This shift represents a fundamental reimagining of the role of HR, emphasizing a more comprehensive and personalized approach to managing an organization's most valuable asset -- its people. A key catalyst driving this evolution has been the integration of Human Capital Management (HCM) systems, which play a pivotal role in supporting and empowering HR teams. This research study sought to examine the decision-making framework and strategic imperatives driving the integration of HCM systems and the pivotal role of end-users during the implementation process to ensure that the chosen HCM tools adequately support HR teams. The research study was performed throughout two cycles. The first cycle of this comprehensive study centers around dissecting the intricate fabric of leadership decision-making processes during the transition from traditional human resource processes and systems to the contemporary realm of people operations and HCM systems. The second research cycle focuses on comprehending end-user engagement within the context of integrating HCM systems. Evaluation of this study included an assessment of post-implementation issues that may occur when new HR tools are implemented in the workplace. Participants and collaborators shared a comprehensive set of insights that are valuable to stimulating key factors for organizational leaders planning to integrate HCM tools within their organizations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The problem addressed in this study was the high attrition rates of teachers in elementary school districts and the unknown role of human, social, structural, and psychological capital determinants needed to retain teachers. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to describe the experiences of veteran K-6 teachers in the South Cook Region of suburban Chicago, Illinois, regarding the role of these capitals as they relate to teacher retention. This study was conducted using a descriptive case study. To qualify, teachers must have taught for 11 years or more in their school district in the South Cook region in a K-6 setting. Potential participants were screened using a Qualtrics survey, and eight were chosen using purposeful sampling. Data was collected through a questionnaire and Zoom interview. Otter.ai was used to transcribe interviews. Findings were provided narratively after being coded inductively and deductively. The study elicited several findings. Teachers do not feel as though they have a choice in what professional development they are given. Teachers feel overworked and that they do not have enough time to do the work required of them by their district. Teachers feel that they have little to no autonomy to choose their own curriculum. It is unclear whether teachers feel job satisfaction in the field. The implications for practice indicate teachers want choice in their professional development and in their classroom. Teachers also need support for student behaviors. Teachers feel overworked and would like their workload to be revisited and tasks that are no longer relevant or beneficial to the school to be reduced. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation consists of three chapters that contribute to the fields of macroeconomics, economic development, and entrepreneurship. In the first chapter, "Entrepreneurship Selection and Performance in the U.S. and Across Countries: The Role of Human Capital," I seek to establish a set of stylized facts related to entrepreneurship and human capital, the latter being proxied by years of formal education. Analyzing individual-level survey data from nearly 100 countries unveils new empirical facts: there is a strong positive link between the mean-adjusted rate of entrepreneurship for higher educated individuals and output per worker or estimated total factor productivity (TFP). Further focus on the U.S. economy, again at the micro level, reveals a non-linear and time-varying relationship between the rate of entrepreneurship and educational attainment exhibiting an asymmetric U-shape with its left branch declining over time. At the same time, higher education is strongly positively associated--not U-shaped--with numerous measures of business outcomes among active firm owners/managers. Conditioning on a rich set of socioeconomic and demographic observables, the robustness of these results is confirmed under proper repeated imputation inference. The second chapter, "Entrepreneurship, Human Capital, and the Allocation of Talent," raises new points of inquiry and attempts to enrich the discussion in the relevant literature. Is the allocation of human capital between entrepreneurs and workers a key determinant of aggregate productivity and income? How pervasive are its implications for macro-development? To organize the discourse on addressing these questions, I propose a versatile heterogeneous-agent model with occupational and educational choices, which is able to rationalize the empirical findings of Chapter 1 while remaining broadly consistent with aggregate and survey data. Under the hypothesis that entrepreneurial human capital may enhance productive capacities via costly technology adoption, the entrepreneurship-education nexus has first-order aggregate and distributional consequences. As new generations build skills through schooling and form expectations about their future labor market prospects, this mechanism also affects the accumulation of human capital economy-wide. Calibrating the model to the U.S. economy is successful in replicating a wide spectrum of targeted and non-targeted moments, thereby capturing salient features of micro and macro data. Quantitative explorations suggest sizeable and persistent losses in output and total factor productivity (TFP) across nations due to inadequate complementarity between idiosyncratic talent and human capital. This novel channel can often account for a major share of cross-country income differences vis-a-vis the U.S., as it drastically affects both factor accumulation and endogenous TFP formation. In the third chapter, "Sometimes Less is More: Growth, Risk Aversion, and the Suboptimality of Entrepreneurial Insurance" (joint work with Neville N. Jiang, Ping Wang, and Haibin Wu), we aim to address two major research questions. Is promoting entrepreneurship always conducive to long-run economic growth? To what extent should policymakers strive to insure entrepreneurial risk away? We study these questions by developing a tractable endogenous growth model with occupational choice, where individuals are heterogeneous in their risk attitude and entrepreneurial ability. Less risk-averse and sufficiently productive agents become entrepreneurs and contribute to growth by expanding product variety. More risk-averse and less productive agents become workers and foster growth by enhancing human and physical capital formation. As occupational choice induces an inverse association between risk tolerance and entrepreneurial talent at the margin, encouraging firm creation may hinder aggregate productivity. The interplay of these forces leads to a non-monotone relationship between the rates of entrepreneurship and balanced growth. A competitive equilibrium entails suboptimal allocations with either too few or too many active entrepreneurs, even in the absence of distortions or financial frictions. Insuring some entrepreneurial risk away is almost always growth-enhancing, but it is almost surely never optimal to provide full insurance. Calibrating the model to U.S. data reveals substantial output-side misallocation, with most of income growth and aggregate TFP losses stemming from the intensive margin due to the presence of risk aversion. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe the experience of Millennials with a Bachelor Degree in Business Management or management related disciplines seeking employment in their field of study in NC the first three years after graduation. The theoretical foundation of the study was human capital theory. The research question that guided the study was, How do Millennials with a Bachelors' Degree in Business Management or management related disciplines seeking employment in their field of study in NC describe their experiences the first three years after graduation? The sample consisted of eight Millennials with a business Bachelors' Degree. The researcher used Braun and Clarke's six step process and Saldana's two cycle coding method data analysis approach for the semi-structured interviews. The results of the study revealed four themes. The first theme noted education as essential but not the only factor in finding employment. Next all participants were employed in their field of study the first three years after graduating. Then participants continued their education. Finally, there was opportunity in the field of study. The researcher identified five recommendations for future research. The first recommendation was to replicate the study in another state. The next would be to replicate study with specific ethnic groups. The third recommendation was to replicate study with microgeneration such as Xennials and Zillennial. The fourth recommendation is to replicate the research with different levels of education in business. The final recommendation is to replicate the research with other fields of study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between vocational/ technical education (VTE) and economic growth in Nigerian. This purpose is motivated by the consideration that human capital development through enrolment in vocational and technical education is expected to stimulate economic growth. Quantitative correlational research design was adopted for the study. The data source was secondary in nature, which was retrieved from the archives of the following agencies: World Bank, Nigeria Ministry of Education, Nigerian National Bureau of Statistic and Central bank of Nigeria. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the effects and the perceived relationship that existed between vocational-technical education (VTE), education spending, and economic growth, based on endogenous growth theory. As part of the study findings, the study revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between enrolment in vocation enterprise institutions, polytechnics, college of agriculture, and health sciences (i.e. vocational & technical education) and economic growth in Nigeria. Therefore, the study rejected the null hypothesis (H[subscript 0]), and accepted the alternative hypothesis (H[subscript 1]). It was further revealed that about 93% variations in the economic growth in Nigeria from the period between 1991 and 2022, could be attributed to the variations in the following variables: Population Growth Rate, Inflation Rate, Education Expenditure as a share of GDP, Enrollment in Colleges of Health Science, Enrollment in Colleges of Agriculture, and Enrollment in Polytechnic. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Economic development theory focuses on a country's human capital development which is its greatest resource. Human capital development is the empowerment of citizens which comes through education and training. A major player in this process is Community colleges which its mandate is to bridge the skills gap and attend to the academic needs of its immediate environments. Is there a reason why these students do not graduate? Is there anything community colleges can do to prevent students from leaving early? These are important questions that require stakeholders to give their perceptions on this matter. For there to be economic development the government must be integral to this process, not only through legislation of policy but funding as well. When the government invests in human capital through free tuition policy initiatives this is one of the variables that contribute to economic development. However, there are institutional and external factors that can determine how efficacious the policy initiative will be. The objective of any funding tuition policy initiative is to increase enrollment and graduation rates by making education more accessible and equitable. Consequently, two indicators of funding policy initiative success are the increase in enrollments and graduation rates over a period. If the reduction in cost or price of tuition does not give a comparative increase in enrollment then there is an inelastic demand, which means that price or cost of tuition is not the major determinant for enrollment. It is with this in mind that the stakeholders' perceptions will provide clarity to these issues. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Although the Every Student Succeeds Act sets the parameters for parents and families to be involved in their children's education, there are no specified guidelines on how that involvement should be designed to best impact student achievement. The purpose of this study was to compare Grade 3-5 students' mean Milestones test scores in English Language Arts, mathematics, and science (dependent variables) at two Southeastern United States elementary schools which offered parental involvement/parental engagement programs--a nonmandatory or mandatory program (independent variable), represented by School A and B, respectively. The theoretical foundations of the study were the social and human capital theory and the school, family, and community partnership framework. The seven research questions compared student achievement scores for Grades 3-5 English Language Arts and mathematics and for Grade 5 science between schools. A quantitative design, using ex post facto data from the 2018-2019 school year (n = 1076), included seven independent samples t tests to determine statistically significant differences in mean Milestones test scores among students at School A and B. The results indicated a significant difference in all three grades, across all three subject areas. Students from School B with the mandatory parental engagement program experienced higher achievement in all subjects than students at School A with nonmandatory engagement. These results support the need for mandatory parent involvement programs that guide parents in how to support their children's achievement. This study may contribute to positive social change by encouraging educators to promote new strategies and partnerships with parents and families specifically designed to improve student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative, modified exploratory case study was to explore how and the extent to which (i) Big Law partners describe their experience of their careers with respect to the PsyCap capacities of Hope, self-Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism (HERO) and the informal learning opportunities for developing PsyCap in Big Law; and (ii) Big Law firms support and/or inhibit learning pathways for their attorneys to build professional competencies and PsyCap. Data was collected from in-depth interviews with 14 Big Law partners who completed demographic and PCQ12 questionnaires, and publicly available information about participants law firms. Three key findings emerged: 1. Participants experience high levels of PsyCap that are related to, emerge from, and are supported by learning from varied and numerous experiences in the context of law practice over the course of their legal careers. 2. As reported by participants, their experience of PsyCap has internally- and externally-oriented dimensions that align with the core competencies they identify as contributing to successful law practice and HERO. 3. Structural and economic changes in Big Law over time have both inhibited and supported the development, and impacted the availability, of meaningful opportunities for, junior lawyers to learn from experience and build PsyCap.Two analytic categories framed the analysis, synthesis, and interpretation of the data: 1. The internally- and externally-oriented dimensions of learning from experience and building PsyCap and how they are interconnected and mutually reinforcing (based on Findings 1 and 2). 2. The conditions and opportunities that support lawyer professional development and the extent to which Big Law today provides a robust learning environment for lawyers (based on Finding 3). Three key conclusions were drawn from the findings and analysis: 1. As lawyer competencies expand through a cumulation and processing of experiences, so too does the potential to build PsyCap to navigate a career toward SWB. 2. Big Law firms have capacity to provide excellent learning opportunities for lawyers, replete with autonomy and support, to cultivate and harness their competencies. 3. In the wake of the Pandemic, which has caused Big Law to accommodate flexible work options, there is a unique opportunity to recalibrate to prioritize a learning culture and environment that produces excellent lawyers in a more holistic workplace that values excellence and people. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how community college women's basketball coaches use their leadership abilities to develop different types of capital in their Black women college athletes on the West Coast of the United States. This study used the Community Cultural Wealth model and Psychological Capital framework as the theoretical foundations. This study used two research questions that guided the data collection on how coaches describe their leadership ability to enhance community cultural wealth and how coaches describe how they use their leadership abilities to develop psychological capital in Black women college athletes. Using a convenience sampling strategy, 17 women's community college basketball coaches participated in the study. Twelve coaches participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews, and 10 coaches participated in two five-person focus groups. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach to create categories, codes, and themes. Ten themes surfaced around the coach-athlete relationship, cultural awareness, the psychological well-being of Black women college athletes, and coaches' leadership styles. The researcher concluded that coaches' leadership style, self-awareness, and attention to athletes' overall well-being influence their ability to enhance and develop capital in their Black women college athletes through their behaviors, communication, and team culture. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Economists have long recognized the importance of human capital in economic growth. In this series of papers, I study how various institutions of human capital formation affected economic development in a variety of contexts prior to 1900. These include both formal institutions of human capital formation such as universities and informal institutions such as apprenticeships. The first chapter examines the role of European universities during the late Middle Ages and early modern eras, starting with the creation of the University of Bologna in the late 12th century. These "formal" institutions of human capital focused on the teaching of law and supplied the civil service and justice systems of their home cities with trained legists. I find that cities which hosted universities had faster population growth than similar cities without universities, suggesting that universities were associated with higher levels of economic development. The second chapter contrasts the formal university with an informal human capital institution - the English apprenticeship. Though England was the cradle of Europe's industrialization, it had far fewer universities per capita than peer nations on the continent. However, it had a well-developed system of apprenticeship which some scholars have theorized was the main means of human capital incubation and transmission during the Industrial Revolution. English cities with more apprenticeships during the 18th century tended to have a greater degree of labor force specialization in the mid-19th century. The final chapter examines the role of the land-grant college system, which was established in the mid-19th century in the United States. In addition to their primary role of providing postsecondary education to students, these institutions added a second channel for the creation of human capital: research to boost the productivity of the nation's farms. American counties more firmly embedded within the land-grant college network tended to have a better-educated populace and a more specialized labor force; however, counties more exposed to land-grant colleges saw no improvements in agricultural productivity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative case study utilizes the human capital theory to examine the influence of high impact career exploration and career-focused practices in a public, regional four-year institution. Literature shows that graduates who enter well-matched careers earn approximately 30 percent more than graduates who are not closely matched. In addition, well-matched employees lower recruitment and training costs for employers. The guiding notion of the paper is that students should not only be well-rounded but also be prepared to enter a career that is related to their field of study. Most students attend college to advance their career and economic outlook. This paper found that some participants did not know that most entry-level marketing positions are typically sales positions. This study found that a variety of high impact practices were being utilized in the marketing program. In addition, this study found that participants prefer assignments and projects that have real-life connections to industry. Horizontal mismatch is the main focus; however, vertical mismatch was examined, as the two types of mismatch correlate with one another. The use of high impact practices such as internships and externships, first-year seminars, as well as linking students to careers related to their fields of study will be examined. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Principals are the change agents within their buildings when it comes to improving student achievement (Grissom et al., 2021). However, the role of the principal is increasingly complex and continues to become more complicated as new demands are placed on the role. These complexities, alongside a lack of resources, contribute to principal turnover: "Each year, about 20 percent of the nation's 90,000 public school principals leave their jobs, leaving over 18,000 schools with a new principal each fall" (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011, p. 7). This turnover has consequences for student achievement, staff morale, and teacher turnover (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). The job demands of the school principal need to be addressed, but even with intentional support added, principal turnover will continue to be a problem due to the propensity for burnout. District-level personnel can mitigate the negative impacts of principal turnover through a comprehensive succession plan. Currently, most districts utilize more reactive approaches to principal replacements, but using a comprehensive succession plan creates more prepared leaders (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Succession planning is a systematic and purposeful effort to anticipate leadership vacancies and has qualified individuals prepared to fill the role. This comprehensive approach includes identifying potential individuals from within the organization and providing intentional training, enabling them to be prepared to lead from day one (Parfitt, 2017). The goal of succession planning is to align human capital with the strategic goals of the company (Cieminski, 2018). Succession planning includes the elements of talent identification, talent development, selection and placement, and onboarding. Additionally, certain organizational and cultural systems must be in place before these elements are implemented with success. Finally, quality succession planning requires objective and consistent program evaluation to determine if the institution's needs are being met. Very few states have instituted public education policies or requirements for comprehensive succession planning (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Using a product development methodology, the team created a web-based portal to store documents that assist districts in creating a comprehensive principal succession plan. The aim of this product is to aid districts in supporting succession planning as a comprehensive talent development process and as an alternative to mere replacement planning. Using the web-based portal tool will help districts identify the steps in the succession planning process and also where the district has strengths and weaknesses. The team used the Delphi methodology to refine the product using input from current district superintendents and human resource managers. This product will aid district leaders in managing a comprehensive succession planning process to identify and prepare aspiring leaders, place them successfully, and support their resiliency to make the transition successful for teacher and student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in China in hourly wages from 1995 to 2018. Using data from the China Household Income Survey (CHIP) 1995-2013 and the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2014 and 2018. This chapter computes wage earners' working hours and hourly wages based on the available information to account for the labor supply's intensive margin. This chapter shows a pattern of increase in the gender wage gap in terms of hourly wages in the survey years of 1995-2007 and a pattern of decrease in 2007-2013. By extending the study period to 2018, this paper provides additional evidence that the observed wage-earners gender wage differentials have continued to decrease from 2013-2018 in urban China. This chapter finds that educational achievement and the returns to education favor female workers on average; however, the returns to potential experience are the main contributors to the "unexplained" component of the gender wage gap. This chapter also finds that the changes in the gender wage gap are heterogeneous across groups. Individuals without a college degree and working in foreign-owned firms are more likely to experience gender wage differential changes in hourly wages compared with those with at least a college degree and working in State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The second chapter explores the gender wage gap dynamics by accounting for employment composition. This chapter examines changes in the gender gap of the wage distribution in China from 1995 to 2018. To effectively account for changes in employment composition, we employ nonparametric bounds. Our methodology adopts a weak quartile dominance assumption, a monotone instrumental variable, and a stochastic dominance assumption to tighten the bounds. The results show statistically significant evidence that, over the years from 1995 to 2018, the median gender wage gap for the young workers (age 25-45) who are non-college-educated has increased by 0.17-0.62 log points. To estimate potential changes in the evolution of the gender wage gap suggested in the literature, we split up our analysis into two periods from 1995-2007 and 2007-2018. The results show larger changes in the gender wage gap compared to estimates in existing studies. In the earlier period, we find a significant increase by 0.19-0.63 log points in the median gender wage gap among the young workers who are college-educated. In the second period, the bounds estimates are less conclusive and suggest a decrease in the median gender wage gap among the college-educated young workers by 0.12-0.59 log points, but their 95% CI does not exclude a zero change. The estimates of the gender wage gap at the 75th wage percentile show a similar pattern as the changes at the median wage, while the statistical implications at the 25th percentile are inconclusive. Chapter three examines the returns to higher education in the United States with particular attention to individuals induced by the recession to attend a Master's Program. Unlucky college undergraduates entering the labor market in a recession suffer a persistent loss in their earnings in the medium- to long-term. Due to this "scarring effect," the opportunity cost for graduate school attendance decreases when an individual is exposed to a recession. This paper examines whether staying in school can help the unlucky cohort in terms of future labor market outcomes. There are two channels: delaying the time to enter the labor force and human capital accumulation. I find that graduating during a recession increases the probability of pursuing a graduate degree by 3 percentage points, and the return for the induced graduate degree is about 23% in future annual salary. At the same time, there is no statistically significant effect on the employment probability for those graduate degree holders induced by the recession. These findings provide evidence that the main benefit those induced graduate degree holders gain is from the additional accumulated human capital; the effect of delayed labor force entrance is negligible. I also find younger non-white females in non-STEM majors from non-research universities are more sensitive to the recession when making the graduate school decision. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The problem addressed in this critical autoethnographic study concerns the lack of higher education opportunities for musicians in the state of Sonora, Mexico and the ways in which that impacts music educators from the region. In particular, I look at the different paths music teachers take to follow their vocation by critically examining my privileged music education story. I base this critical lens on a framework of capital to understand the types of resources and forms of capital that are needed to study music professionally in Sonora. This study is presented through stories and poems that reflect the realities of my music education journey as well as the stories of this study's participants. The primary research question was: What factors, including social class, impact the availability and accessibility of resources and professional development opportunities for music educators in Sonora, Mexico? To collect my data, I employed individual/personal and what I call "collective" forms of data collection through journaling/creative writing and interactive focus groups. The creative writing I engaged with included letter-writing, poems, and vignettes. I did some of my personal writing before and after conducting the interactive interviews to constantly reflect and embody the practice of meaning-making. This study included 19 participants who are active music educators in Sonora and who were assigned to three focus groups. Upon completion of the nine interview sessions (three per group), I began to engage with the collected data by relistening to interviews, reading Spanish transcriptions and thinking about the possibilities for selecting and translating such stories. After identifying important moments in participants' narratives, I reread my selections to identify different forms of capital that were represented. The four forms of capital with which I framed my analyses are economic, social, cultural, and human capital, which I based on literature by Becker (1964), Bourdieu (1986), Coleman (1988), Lin (2001), Portes (1998), and Schultz (1971). Based on this study's data and my personal reflections, I concluded that the factors that positively impact the accessibility of resources to study music in the state of Sonora are mostly tied to social and cultural capital. Those who studied music at the college level had some kind of support system that influenced when and how they started learning music, as well as providing them with information about where they could continue studying music. When it comes to professionalization, however, social and economic capital seem the most impactful based on our reflections. I consider my family's economic capital as an ultimate differentiator between the schools I had access to at the elementary and college level, informal education settings like private lessons, and those schools and opportunities accessed by participants. Furthermore, I share how it was evident in participants' interactions that western music education practices are what they consider as legitimate, regardless of their education attainment or the musical genres that they engage with. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Career and technical education (CTE) incorporates occupational skills, workforce readiness skills, and credentials that make high school graduates better prepared for the workforce. Students who complete CTE programs of study have higher employment rates after high school graduation and often go on to postsecondary education. For those who do not go on to postsecondary education, CTE programs can provide opportunities for increased earnings and more access to the labor market.This quantitative study used binary logistic regression, using data collected by the Center for Survey Research of the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center to examine if satisfaction with CTE programs of study, earned credentials, and gender could predict if graduates used their CTE programs of study in their employment outcomes. The results showed that as satisfaction with their CTE programs increased, so did the likelihood they would choose to work full time in that same field of study. The results also showed that earning a credential in their CTE program increased the probability a student would choose full-time employment in their chosen CTE field within one year following high school. Gender was a nonsignificant factor in the study. The implications of this research are noteworthy for secondary school leadership, CTE advocates, and policymakers to help them understand how student satisfaction with CTE programs and providing human capital gains through earned industry credentials can help improve student outcomes and provide a return on investment to industry partners who can bring valuable support and financial resources to CTE programs of study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the ability for a child to manage their emotions and interactions in a way that benefits development (Jones & Doolittle, 2017). The purpose of this research was to explore teachers' knowledge of SEL and gain an understanding of any barriers they may have faced regarding SEL in the classroom. Additionally, this qualitative study was designed to gain insight on how school leaders could support teacher's understanding of SEL and address any perceived barriers to implementation. Concurrently, this investigation provided school districts fiscally responsible insight as to how to use funding to support SEL endeavors. The research questions for this study were as follows: 1.What are the perceptions of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) held by teachers who work in schools that prioritize SEL? 2.What perceived barriers do the same teachers identify regarding implementing SEL in their classrooms? 3.How do the same teachers perceive that school leaders can address barriers to support teachers' understanding and implementation of SEL in their classrooms? This dissertation used a qualitative case study approach to answer the three research questions listed. With a purposeful sampling strategy defined by (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Participants included twelve educators who had elementary classroom teaching experience in both general and special education within organizations that prioritized SEL. Data was collected via individual interviews and document analyzation. Distinctive findings showed that perceptions of the feasibility of SEL implementation were not related to the number of years teaching or subject area taught, rather shaped by the relationships teachers had with their administrators. Positive relationships led to less identified barriers. The prioritization plans set forth by districts often did not align with actual classroom practices. Teachers welcomed the emphasis on SEL, but expressed districts lacked sufficient follow-through with human capital, professional development, and accessible curriculum. Further, a lack of autonomy for teachers suppressed buy-in for SEL. Productive professional development should occur in an ongoing and coaching manner with initial training from a program expert. Further findings indicated there were inconsistencies of knowledge of how SEL was prioritized. Lastly, a unique finding was the distinction between SEL and equity. Participants perceived that lack of topics addressing needs of marginalized groups within the SEL curriculum was hypocritical. This theme further emerged as participants believed that the prioritization plans would support teachers' personal SEL needs and development. Failure to do so resulted in friction between teachers and administrators, perceived as a lack of respect. Teachers defined SEL in different terms based on perceptions which were most valuable to them. Their insights of implementation varied based on how their district prioritized SEL as did how they incorporated SEL into their teaching practices. It is valuable for any district to understand what knowledge and biases teachers hold regarding SEL before investing in SEL resources. Findings from this study indicated the need to balance curriculum demands to include SEL in the instructional day. Although there is a need to keep pace with curriculum, participants delivered their own form of SEL to students based on immediate needs. Findings showed that teachers want a curriculum that fits their population, representing equity among student subgroups, and a component that supported teachers' personal SEL. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Chapter 1 investigates asks the question how do financial frictions affect the type of human capital investments that students make in college? To study this question, I build a novel dataset covering more than 700,000 U.S. students, merging commencement records with address histories, credit bureau records, and professional resumes. I document that students trade off initial earnings against lifetime earnings when choosing college majors and that students from low-income families are more likely to choose majors associated with higher initial earnings but lower lifetime earnings. I provide causal estimates of how student debt affects this trade-off using the staggered implementation of universal no-loan policies across 22 universities from2001 to 2019. I find that students who are required to take on more student loans to finance their education choose majors with higher initial earnings but lower lifetime earnings. Furthermore, student debt affects students differentially depending on their family backgrounds: Students from low-income families display greater sensitivity to changes in student debt. Finally, I show that differences in student debt amounts lead to different job profiles and earnings later in life. Combined, these findings highlight the role of financial frictions in human capital investments and subsequent labor market trajectories. Chapter 2 asks what role do social connections play in women's career advancement. Women continue to be underrepresented in corporate leadership positions. We investigate whether access to a larger share of female peers in business school affects the gender gap in senior managerial positions. Merging administrative data from a top-10 US business school with public LinkedIn profiles, we first document that female MBAs are 24 percent less likely than male MBAs to enter senior management within 15 years of graduation. Next, we use the exogenous assignment of students into sections to show that a larger proportion of female MBA section peers increases the likelihood of entering senior management for women but not for men. This effect is driven by female-friendly firms, such as those with more generous maternity leave policies and greater work schedule flexibility. A larger proportion of female MBA peers induces women to transition to these firms where they attain senior management roles. We find suggestive evidence that some of the mechanisms behind these results include job referrals and gender-specific information transmission. These findings highlight the role of social connections in reducing the gender gap in senior management positions. Chapter 3 asks how should regulators evaluate the costs and benefits when firms require consumers to provide additional data? Using a model of asymmetric information in non-Walrasian markets, we show that consumer surplus can increase, even when more data leads to higher average prices. We test the model's predictions in mortgage markets using the staggered implementation of Automated Underwriting Systems in the 1990s, where new credit risk models increased the use of and interaction between additional financial variables. We find that average interest rates went up in line with the model's predictions. However, the effects are driven by increased credit supply on the extensive margin, benefiting marginal borrowers from groups historically excluded from credit markets. Our results challenge the standard regulatory approach of relying on prices as a sufficient statistic for consumer surplus. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation addresses three separate questions in human capital and development economics. In the first chapter, I study how college admission concerns drive students' field choices in a field-specific college admission system. To study this question, I leverage a college admission policy reform in Ethiopia that sharply increased the proportion of college seats in public universities allocated to college STEM fields. The reform significantly decreased the admission selectivity of STEM fields in the short run. Using cohort analysis and a regression discontinuity design, I show that students are significantly more likely to choose the STEM fields after the reform. More importantly, I find significant heterogeneity in the field choice response, with the marginal students responding more strongly compared to the infra-marginal students. In addition, using a complier characteristics analysis, I show that the reform led to a significant sorting on field-specific skills. In particular, those induced to choose the STEM fields have a comparative advantage in skills valued more in the STEM fields. These overall and field-specific sorting significantly changed the peer quality in STEM and non-STEM fields. These findings imply that admission concerns play a significant role in students' field choices. However, students do not naively sort into less selective college fields. Instead, their choices are consistent with their relative position in the distribution of multi-dimensional skills. The latter suggests that students make more informed and rational choices than the existing literature suggests. In the second chapter, I investigate the effect of the fast expansion of the Second Generation (2G) and Third Generation (3G) mobile technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) on health literacy in the region. Using Demographic and Health Surveys data from 25 countries in SSA and a historical mobile network coverage map, I estimate an Instrumental Variable (IV) specification. I show that the widespread use of these technologies has significantly improved health literacy in the region. Specifically, access to either technology significantly decreases misconceptions and wrong beliefs about diseases and health. The benefits are substantial in regions where the technologies have been available longer. Consistent with the range of services its provides, 3G technology results in a larger gain in health literacy. These findings imply that mobile technologies have considerable potential to improve health and quality of life in many developing countries. In the final chapter, I study the relationship between birth spacing and children's outcomes, focusing on the mechanisms that underlie the relationship. Using linked mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), I explore two mechanisms: the maternal health and physiology channel and the material and parental time input channel. The result shows that a short pre-birth inter-pregnancy interval negatively affects the birth endowments of children, highlighting the importance of the birth spacing effect that works through the maternal health and physiology channel. The study also provides evidence in support of the material and parental time input channel. In particular, I show that closely spaced siblings score significantly lower on the standardized Peabody International Achievement Test (PIAT), a wide-range measure of academic achievement for children aged five and above. On the other hand, I find limited evidence of the birth spacing effect on long-term outcomes such as schooling and labor market outcomes. These findings have implications for parental leave and other labor market policies affecting the birth spacing choices of parents. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Principals are the change agents within their buildings when it comes to improving student achievement (Grissom et al., 2021). However, the role of the principal is increasingly complex and continues to become more complicated as new demands are placed on the role. These complexities, alongside a lack of resources, contribute to principal turnover: "Each year, about 20 percent of the nation's 90,000 public school principals leave their jobs, leaving over 18,000 schools with a new principal each fall" (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011, p7). This turnover has consequences for student achievement, staff morale, and teacher turnover (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). The job demands of the school principal need to be addressed, but even with intentional support added, principal turnover will continue to be a problem due to the propensity for burnout. District-level personnel can mitigate the negative impacts of principal turnover through a comprehensive succession plan. Currently, most districts utilize more reactive approaches to principal replacements, but using a comprehensive succession plan creates more prepared leaders (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Succession planning is a systematic and purposeful effort to anticipate leadership vacancies and has qualified individuals prepared to fill the role. This comprehensive approach includes identifying potential individuals from within the organization and providing intentional training, enabling them to be prepared to lead from day one (Parfitt, 2017). The goal of succession planning is to align human capital with the strategic goals of the company (Cieminski, 2018). Succession planning includes the elements of talent identification, talent development, selection and placement, and onboarding. Additionally, certain organizational and cultural systems must be in place before these elements are implemented with success. Finally, quality succession planning requires objective and consistent program evaluation to determine if the institution's needs are being met. Very few states have instituted public education policies or requirements for comprehensive succession planning (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Using a product development methodology, the team created a web-based portal to store documents that assist districts in creating a comprehensive principal succession plan. The aim of this product is to aid districts in supporting succession planning as a comprehensive talent development process and as an alternative to mere replacement planning. Using the web-based portal tool will help districts identify the steps in the succession planning process and also where the district has strengths and weaknesses. The team used the Delphi methodology to refine the product using input from current district superintendents and human resource managers. This product will aid district leaders in managing a comprehensive succession planning process to identify and prepare aspiring leaders, place them successfully, and support their resiliency to make the transition successful for teacher and student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Principals are the change agents within their buildings when it comes to improving student achievement (Grissom et al., 2021). However, the role of the principal is increasingly complex and continues to become more complicated as new demands are placed on the role. These complexities, alongside a lack of resources, contribute to principal turnover: "Each year, about 20 percent of the nation's 90,000 public school principals leave their jobs, leaving over 18,000 schools with a new principal each fall" (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011, p7). This turnover has consequences for student achievement, staff morale, and teacher turnover (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). The job demands of the school principal need to be addressed, but even with intentional support added, principal turnover will continue to be a problem due to the propensity for burnout. District-level personnel can mitigate the negative impacts of principal turnover through a comprehensive succession plan. Currently, most districts utilize more reactive approaches to principal replacements, but using a comprehensive succession plan creates more prepared leaders (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Succession planning is a systematic and purposeful effort to anticipate leadership vacancies and has qualified individuals prepared to fill the role. This comprehensive approach includes identifying potential individuals from within the organization and providing intentional training, enabling them to be prepared to lead from day one (Parfitt, 2017). The goal of succession planning is to align human capital with the strategic goals of the company (Cieminski, 2018). Succession planning includes the elements of talent identification, talent development, selection and placement, and onboarding. Additionally, certain organizational and cultural systems must be in place before these elements are implemented with success. Finally, quality succession planning requires objective and consistent program evaluation to determine if the institution's needs are being met. Very few states have instituted public education policies or requirements for comprehensive succession planning (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Using a product development methodology, the team created a web-based portal to store documents that assist districts in creating a comprehensive principal succession plan. The aim of this product is to aid districts in supporting succession planning as a comprehensive talent development process and as an alternative to mere replacement planning. Using the web-based portal tool will help districts identify the steps in the succession planning process and also where the district has strengths and weaknesses. The team used the Delphi methodology to refine the product using input from current district superintendents and human resource managers. This product will aid district leaders in managing a comprehensive succession planning process to identify and prepare aspiring leaders, place them successfully, and support their resiliency to make the transition successful for teacher and student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Principals are the change agents within their buildings when it comes to improving student achievement (Grissom et al., 2021). However, the role of the principal is increasingly complex and continues to become more complicated as new demands are placed on the role. These complexities, alongside a lack of resources, contribute to principal turnover: "Each year, about 20 percent of the nation's 90,000 public school principals leave their jobs, leaving over 18,000 schools with a new principal each fall" (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011, p7). This turnover has consequences for student achievement, staff morale, and teacher turnover (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). The job demands of the school principal need to be addressed, but even with intentional support added, principal turnover will continue to be a problem due to the propensity for burnout. District-level personnel can mitigate the negative impacts of principal turnover through a comprehensive succession plan. Currently, most districts utilize more reactive approaches to principal replacements, but using a comprehensive succession plan creates more prepared leaders (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Succession planning is a systematic and purposeful effort to anticipate leadership vacancies and has qualified individuals prepared to fill the role. This comprehensive approach includes identifying potential individuals from within the organization and providing intentional training, enabling them to be prepared to lead from day one (Parfitt, 2017). The goal of succession planning is to align human capital with the strategic goals of the company (Cieminski, 2018). Succession planning includes the elements of talent identification, talent development, selection and placement, and onboarding. Additionally, certain organizational and cultural systems must be in place before these elements are implemented with success. Finally, quality succession planning requires objective and consistent program evaluation to determine if the institution's needs are being met. Very few states have instituted public education policies or requirements for comprehensive succession planning (Schmidt-Davis & Bottoms, 2011). Using a product development methodology, the team created a web-based portal to store documents that assist districts in creating a comprehensive principal succession plan. The aim of this product is to aid districts in supporting succession planning as a comprehensive talent development process and as an alternative to mere replacement planning. Using the web-based portal tool will help districts identify the steps in the succession planning process and also where the district has strengths and weaknesses. The team used the Delphi methodology to refine the product using input from current district superintendents and human resource managers. This product will aid district leaders in managing a comprehensive succession planning process to identify and prepare aspiring leaders, place them successfully, and support their resiliency to make the transition successful for teacher and student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The convergence of a digital transformation and a growing youth population in Africa represents an opportunity to harness digital and demographic dividends to boost human capital development. Higher education institutions play a central role in this process as the demographic dividend is accrued from the rise in the proportion of educated individuals rather than simply from an increase in population. Moreover, digital transformation has significant implications for education and the workplace, presenting higher education institutions with the challenge of increasing enrollment and integrating digital training while contending with infrastructure and personnel constraints. Leveraging online learning offers a mechanism for overcoming physical limitations and staffing shortages to meet the challenge of providing educational opportunities to a growing pool of eligible applicants. However, whether online learning can deliver higher or equivalent learning outcomes than face-to-face instruction is a factor in determining its practicality as a supplement to campus-based instruction. Therefore, evaluating the suitability of online learning requires an empirical assessment of its efficacy and a study of the factors that influence its deployment in established higher education institutions. The sequential mixed-method study examined the efficacy of online learning at the University of Ghana (UG) and Addis Ababa University (AAU). The quantitative method examined whether online instruction had a causal effect on learning outcomes as measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). A propensity score matching analysis shows online learning had outperformed face-to-face instruction in UG by 9.28% (p=0.045) and AAU by 20.7% (p=0.001). The qualitative case study of AAU and UG documented the evolution, location, and implementation of online learning and the institutional and individual challenges in its deployment. UG and AAU have developed complementary strengths in the deployment of online learning. AAU's strength lies in providing sophisticated technical infrastructure and support for effective technical deployment, whereas UG has developed a process and mechanism to monitor the quality of online courses. The study found UG and AAU demonstrate an asset-based strategy for deploying online learning by leveraging strengths and developing solutions unique to their context, illustrating the importance of adaptation and indigenization in the deployment of online learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Problem: In Colombia, higher education plays a relevant role in developing human capital and equity, giving everyone the opportunity to access higher education. In particular, the government has been supporting public and private universities to open campuses in rural areas where guerrillas, the mafia, and paramilitary groups were fighting the government to dominate the territories. In 1995, the government of the State of Antioquia officially established the regionalization of higher education as a strategy to promote higher education in disadvantaged regions. The Universidad de Antioquia (Universidad de Antioquia) adopted that strategy as part of its development plans during the last 28 years. The region of Uraba is one of the areas where the war left thousands of deaths, people displaced by the violence, farmers' loss of land, and poverty across the region. It was in the University's best interest to measure the results of the regionalization of higher education in the regions, particularly in the region of Uraba. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to find whether the regionalization of higher education contributed to human capital development and improvement of equity in the region of Uraba. Method: A multiple correspondence analysis and a VAR model were conducted to support the possible relationships between the variables to answer the research question: Is there a relationship between the regionalization strategy of the Universidad de Antioquia and the development of human capital and the improvement of equity of the region of Uraba? In addition, structural equations modeling was used to analyze the correlation of the variables. The data analyzed was secondary data obtained from the Universidad de Antioquia alumni database with information from 1996 to 2016. Results: The findings of this study supported the assumption that the model of the regionalization of Universidad de Antioquia has contributed to human capital development and the improvement of equity in the region. The model shows a direct relationship between the regionalization of higher education and equity and an indirect relationship with salary increases for alumni. Enrollment and access to higher education for men and women did not show a significant difference. The regionalization project of the University has contributed to equity through the increase in access to higher education in the regions. Students from low social income families still struggled to find a place in public or private universities. This is evidence that there is a need to continue with this strategy and also that the national and local government must invest additional resources to expand the coverage of tertiary education in the regions. Conclusion: In conclusion, based on the results of this study, the Universidad de Antioquia and its project of regionalization of higher education has been a factor of development for the region of Uraba. The relationships between human capital development and equity improvement with regionalization are evidence of the contribution of the project to a region that requested help after decades of war. I propose the implementation of the regionalization model of the Universidad de Antioquia in other states and regions of the country in order to minimize differences in human capital development and equity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Quantitative research on education and training attainment involving wage data using "Human Capital" theoretical constructs provides insights based on monetary returns. However, similarly determining quantifiable values for the education and training attainment of individual governmental organization employees relative to their respective work performance has proven an elusive prospect. Given that individual employee performance at governmental organizations is not directly tied to marketplace success, this research endeavor explored establishing a non-monetary value linking an individual's education and training attainment to their work performance as service providers. This undertaking used service user survey comment card response data in an attempt to compare governmental organization employee higher education and training attainment levels. Herein, it was hypothesized that archival survey data could be used to determine the effect higher education and training have on the service user survey satisfaction scores applicable to individual government workers. It was further hypothesized that the higher a governmental organization employee's educational and training attainment, the greater the level of user satisfaction will be recorded for the service provided. Based on the results of this study, no significance was associated with the subject governmental employees' higher education and training attainment attributes to applicable service user satisfaction scores. However, these results do not preclude future research endeavors in this area of study. Moreover, it is acknowledged that future statistical research in this area may be better served by the evolution of technological advancements in government queuing processes, including the latest implementation of advanced survey research designs. Finally, it is recognized the information gleaned from this research venture serves to benefit governmental organizations, their employees, higher educational institutions, other entities, and the public about the potential predicated by this line of inquiry. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In the spring of 2022, Learning Forward released an updated version of their professional learning standards. The concepts and research highlighted in the 2022 version of the standards are not necessarily new to the field of education. However, orchestrating the standards to create conditions for success and enact transformational processes for teacher learning and student achievement can be challenging. Combine that challenge with the stress of a global pandemic and rapid changes in public education, and the impact on teachers is significant. This interview study explored the results of applying the concepts underscored in the 2022 Standards for Professional Learning on the professional capital and collective efficacy of mid-career teachers. This study engaged four mid-career teachers, two administrators, and two professional learning trainers in interviews and focus groups. Each participant was instrumental in a Midwestern elementary school's professional learning and development process for becoming the first Quantum Learning Distinguished School in the United States. The participants shared their perspectives on their professional learning experiences guided by leadership. The interviews and focus groups were coded for intersecting themes. The mid-career teachers and leaders involved in the study confirmed the concepts included in the 2022 Standards for Professional Learning. The emerging themes were ongoing, connected professional learning with consistent positive feedback and collaboration, as well as showcasing the need for leaders to maintain quality communication, a shared vision, and a focus on change. It was evident that mid-career teachers need to feel a strong sense of belonging in the school culture to continue to blossom in professional capital. This study highlights what mid-career teachers value when undergoing high levels of stress, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic while thriving in professional learning settings. Leaders can reference this study to better understand how to create a culture to support the growth of mid-career teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

A high school diploma is no longer the path to financial stability; a person needs at least a postsecondary degree or credential to earn a median income (Carnavale, et al. 2019). Community colleges need to work to create opportunities for all students, including those that may enter school as an adult, and not straight from high school, to attain a certificate or degree. This study examines two public community colleges in the United States that have both noncredit and credit programs that are in different stages of advancement of clear, articulable pathways. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the process that stakeholders in two community colleges describe to design and implement clearly articulated pathways for students to move from noncredit to credit programs that will allow them to attain a certificate or degree. The findings will contribute to the field of higher education and policy by assisting institutions with a tool to create a framework to design and implement noncredit to credit pathways. If community colleges create opportunities for students to bridge between noncredit to credit programs by articulating credit for the time invested and competencies learned, more adult students will be able to attain certificates and degrees, thus increasing their human capital and their ability to seek higher-paying jobs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Many Black educators and principals led the nation's schools in the early-to-mid-1900's, when American public education was racially segregated. Black male principals leading predominantly Black schools was commonplace before the United States Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" that ruled that the practice of separate was no longer equal. The number of Black male principals serving in North Carolina schools today is disproportionately low. Research on rural schools is scant and there is even less research about Black male principals leading these schools. This study focused on the motivational factors affecting Black male principals working in rural North Carolina school districts. The purpose of this basic, interpretive qualitative case-study was to explore the lived experiences of these principals. As part of this exploration, the researcher examined factors that motivated Black male principals to work in rural North Carolina counties. All five participants in the study expressed that they embraced their profession and work as a major component of their identity; four were native to their rural communities. They believed they had a moral obligation to serve as a mirror, a window, and an advocate for rural North Carolina students and prove that Black male principals were educational leaders and more than disciplinarians. Job dissatisfaction factors included the low expectations and deficit perceptions of schools and students from rural counties in North Carolina, as well as the inequitable distribution and access to human capital and resources. The researcher's hope is that insight gained from this investigation would positively impact recruiting, mentoring, coaching of Black male principals, and aid in their retention not only in rural districts, but potentially all districts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Teaching science involves designing learning experiences that attend to a complex set of relationships between students, the discipline of science, and the places where science experiences are carried out. Unfortunately, with traditional approaches to K-12 science instruction, contributions to learning from students and places are often overlooked as educators seek to create disciplinary experiences that increase science learning outcomes that are measurable, repeatable, and standardized. Place-based science education seeks to push back on traditional science education approaches, and create opportunities for children, places, and disciplines to equitably take up their agency and influence the learning experiences. However, the way these agents interact in place-based science education experiences in K-12 settings is still largely unknown. Therefore, to gain a greater understanding of how these agents interact, this work explores the design, implementation, and outcomes of a Place-Based Science Education (PBSE) learning experience that equitably positions children, a place, and the discipline of science. To do this, I completed a design-based research project where I developed two science investigations that engaged 6th grade science students in the exploration of "variation" in their schoolyard ecosystem. I analyzed a variety of data from these two investigations to characterize children's knowledge, experiences during the instructional design, and subsequent learning outcomes. I also characterized the nature of interactions amongst children, the material world, and the discipline of science. In Chapter One, this dissertation sets out the case for reconceptualizing PBSE as a Dance of Agency (DoA) that more equitably positions human, material, and disciplinary agency. This position paper sets up the rationale for Chapter Two. This dissertation is in an alternative format structure, where Chapters Two through Four are independent manuscripts prepared for publication. Chapter Two is a theoretical paper that describes the DoA framework in detail. The goal of this paper is to map out tensions inherent in place-based education (PBE) and PBSE as they are currently conceptualized, and to address these tensions in the DoA framework. This paper dives deep into the theoretical and conceptual work that undergirds the development of the DoA framework, and presents early implications used in the instructional design presented in Chapters Three and Four. Chapter Three presents the first empirical exploration into the DoA framework's application in an educational setting. This paper characterizes (1) the baseline knowledge participating children have of a place (place knowledge) when they come into a PBSE experience and (2) the nature of children's relationship with the place where they take part in a future science investigation. Findings showcase how children's place knowledge is functional, and that this functional knowledge is associated with supportive and submissive dances with agency with the schoolyard setting. In Chapter Four, I present episodes where the DoA manifested throughout the two investigations, and connect the development of children's place knowledge throughout the investigation to these episodes. This study found that the introduction of disciplinary agency, in the form of specific phenomena and activities, focused children as they accessed their place knowledge and took up their agency to make decisions in the investigation. Disciplinary agency also exposed material agency from the schoolyard. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In this dissertation, I argue that the entrepreneurship education literature might be undersocialized in its understanding of how entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) impact entrepreneurial outcomes. I contend that this organizational context and the pedagogical approaches undertaken can arguably facilitate not only the development of founders' human capital--as research has emphasized--but also their social capital. I introduce into the entrepreneurship education literature, a social capital perspective to answer the questions (1) how do EEPs facilitate the development of founders' social capital and (2) how do founders' initial social capital influence their firm founding activities in the EEP? To address these questions, I conducted a mixed method, embedded case study of three EEPs. I drew upon interviews, observations, social network surveys, and documentation to test preliminary propositions and induct theory on potential mechanisms that facilitate founders' social capital development. The findings show that the chosen pedagogical models utilized in the training sessions may play a role in the structural social capital founders generate within the programs. Furthermore, I propose and offer description of three additional mechanisms by which EEPs facilitate founders' networking--namely: facilitating the acquisition of relational knowledge, brokering access to players, and social cost reduction. Moreover, I find that founders leverage their existing network while engaging in the program's directed activities. I explain that this may in part explain some of the reasons for mixed findings in research that examine the impact of entrepreneurship education. Taken together, I contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship education an embedded perspective on EEPs. I also offer to the literature on social networks and entrepreneurship insight into how organizations can facilitate the development of founders' social capital. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Research indicated that the workforce would require significant upskilling and reskilling over the next several years for organizations and their people to remain competitive in changing markets. This qualitative case study explored how human resources development (HRD), a mechanism leveraged to develop an organization's human capital through training, education, coaching, or mentoring, has transitioned from HRD practitioners to placing first-line leaders at the forefront of employee development. This study gathered first-line leader insight from leaders with one year or less of leadership experience through surveys, interviews, and observation. Relationship building was a prominent theme and motivational source for employee development throughout participants' perspectives. Future research may assess the effects of COVID-19 on the dynamics of building relationships. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Higher education culture is steeped in institutional identity and ties to history. But what happens when that history is challenged, and an institution must change its name? While a merger was not initially intended for Kearney State College, merging into the University of Nebraska system was the only way to reflect the change and growth that emulated the type of institution it had become. By interviewing sixteen participants that lived the experience of the merge, a concise and collective history of the events that lead to the creation of the University of Nebraska at Kearney was obtained and studied. Through phenomenological methodology, the important story of the institution gave way to the institution's identity before, during and after the merge, solidifying not only who Kearney State was, but also who UNK is. Future research implicates the importance of studying the increasing commonality of higher education institutions merging, be it strategic or for survival, and opens higher education to be researched further not only into the importance of documented histories but also for studying the effect of change in identity, particularly on the human capital component. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study was to determine if implementing student response technology (SRT) and case studies into a largely populated university undergraduate course would influence student engagement. When student engagement is influenced the potential for positive learning outcomes occurs leading to a higher likelihood of student success (Swap & Walter, 2015). Four research questions guided this study: How and to what extent does incorporating SRT and case studies in a largely populated undergraduate course at MSU influence: (1) student motivation; (2) cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement; (3) feedback; and (4) What are the effects of SRT and case studies on student learning with applications of leadership, strategic planning, partnership, and the importance of human capital?Participants (n = 56) were students enrolled in a course at Michigan State University. The data for this study were collected from a pre-and-post quantitative survey and learning assessment, participant interviews, and a written reflective artifact. An SRT digital tool called Acadly was utilized to influence discussion during a four-week innovation. Participants were surveyed, interviewed (n = 8), and required to provide awritten reflection regarding their perceptions of Acadly and its influence on their motivation, engagement, feedback, and learning. Results from paired-samples t-tests showed no significant difference statistically from presurvey to postsurvey on engagement. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were performed on constructs of the learning assessment, and again, no statistical significance was found. However, participant interviews and artifacts identified perceptions of influence on motivation, engagement, and feedback. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Registered apprenticeship (RA) programs have emerged in recent years in response to the nation's critical workforce needs. Since 2015, there has been a resurgence of federal and state investments to modernize and diversify the RA system to attract new entrants and new high-demand industries. This study uses human capital theory (HCT) as a lens for exploring the lived experiences and training investment decisions of seven Black women who participated in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) RAs. The study participants experienced a combination of on-the-job learning and classroom instruction in a range of STEM RA programs. These programs ranged from being highly structured and competency based, with degree-level credentials, to being less structured; all provided industry-recognized credentials from a community college, university, or training program. The study yielded five primary findings: apprentices needed certain characteristics to enter, participate, and succeed in STEM RAs; apprentices capitalized on rotational opportunities and mentors to adapt to the demands of STEM RAs; the dual structure of STEM RAs helped apprentices feel prepared for success in the workplace; STEM RAs provided financial and nonfinancial benefits, including improvements to interpersonal skills and professional networks; and feelings of recognition and inclusion resulted in a sense of belonging in participants. This study confirmed, in part, that Black women's completion of STEM RA programs should result in increased competencies, wages, employment opportunities, and productivity. In addition, this research confirmed the limitations of HCT by revealing the emotional turmoil that comes from being underrepresented. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This research evaluates the role of urban universities in economic growth. The study employed inherently rich data from IPEDS to create a panel dataset aggregated at the county level for 1065 colleges and universities in the Middle Atlantic region of the US. Using linear regression analysis, this study found that increases in expenditure per student in full-time enrollment are positively associated with increases in income per capita in the local area. Estimates from this study indicate that, on average, a one percent increase in spending per full-time enrollment increases the local income per capita by about 0.06 percent overall and by 0.10 percent in urban area universities between 2003 and 2020. In addition, this research finds that when education attainment is considered, the impact of university expenditure on income is significantly reduced but not diminished. Besides, the effect of urban university expenditure on income remains positive and significant when county and year fixed effects are considered. Furthermore, this research observes that reduction in federal funds often results in a shift in the burden of university finance to enhanced endowment activities and tuition increases, as evident during the post-recession of 2008-2009. Overall, this research observes that universities in general have a consistently positive impact on income from expenditure and human capital perspectives. The positive outcomes from university expenditure on incomes suggest that universities have a potential link to local economic outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Parent and community involvement has always been a part of the public education system; from its inception in the early American colonies, local community control was a hallmark of schools. Today, with mandates present in the No Child Left Behind Act, the Race to the Top legislation, and amidst more pressing international comparisons, educators feel more pressure to involve parents in the education of their children. Involving parents in their children's education has become a job unto itself. With the increasing accountability placed on teachers, teaching as a profession is under attack, and many students who enroll in education courses either leave the profession or never enter the profession at all. The current study investigated the prevalent shared views of teachers regarding parent involvement and sought to understand how they viewed the effects of various types of parent involvement on their professional capital. Using the qualitative method of phenomenology, the participants were asked to respond to semi-structured interview questions that were representative of the six different types of parent involvement identified by Joyce L. Epstein. Examination of the participants' perspectives by the researcher led to shared perspectives emerging. The findings of this study have implications for future research as well as for professional development activities for both pre- and in-service teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this explanatory sequential study was to identify factors associated with Pell grant recipients' persistence in a community college setting and to understand the influence of institutional actors on the formation of academic capital. Students completed a survey designed to measure the formation of students' academic capital (St. John et al., 2011; Winkler & Sriram, 2015). Then, survey participants participated in interviews to examine the influence of institutional actors and the role they play in the development of academic capital (Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Stanton-Salazar, 2011). Three meta-inferences emerged from the data that provided an overall explanation of the factors relevant to the persistence of Pell recipients. First, it was clear that financial aid processes generated enduring and existential barriers to the participants, creating feelings of powerlessness and a lack of agency over the process. Second, there was evidence of emotional distress caused by challenging situations during the participants' college experience. Through the encouragement and support of institutional agents, the participants overcame their difficulties; they developed confidence which grounded them in the academic community. Lastly, the third meta-inference revealed how the participants relied on their academic capital to develop their self-advocacy in a college setting. By using the information and resources mobilized by institutional agents, the participants employed more control over their college experience. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This project study focused on the writing and implementation of the transition plan that gives students with disabilities the proper guidelines and tools to help them in life after high school. Guided by the human capital theory in education, the purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how high school special education teachers understand and implement the transition plan. The research questions comprised of how teachers write and utilize the transition plan for each of their students. The project study design follows the basic qualitative design and includes purposeful sampling of 12 high school special education teachers in a public school district in the Southeast United States. The data sources included in-depth interviews with high school special education teachers. Descriptive coding was used to analyze the data. Findings include that high school special education teachers in a public school district in the Southeast United States are not well equipped with the proper tools and information to help them write and carry out effective transition plans; therefore, transition plans have been found incomplete or not individualized for each student. High school special education teachers must have the proper tools and support when writing, individualizing, understanding, and implementing the transition plan. When high school special education teachers understand and individualize the transition plan, it impacts high school students with disabilities who make the transition from high school to life after high school. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study was to better understand the extent to which a Public Charter High School and a Two-Year Community College leveraged their partnership and committed resources towards expanding access to concurrent credit career and technical education programs. The goal of this partnership was to invest in the human capital of high school students to better prepare them for high-demand occupations within their local economy. The researcher examined how institutional agents from the Public Charter High School and Two-Year Community College leveraged their respective social capital to develop a financially sustainable and academically efficient model of delivering concurrent credit career and technical education. Institutional agents from both institutions provided their perception and understanding of monetary investments, roles, responsibilities, organization of educational activity, and various student academic support services offered to concurrent students and their families authorized through a formal memorandum of understanding. Through qualitative analysis, the researcher discovered interconnected social relationships that enabled transparent communication and cooperative altruistic decision-making, which facilitated progressive development and expansion of accessible postsecondary educational opportunities for high school students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As graduates have transitioned into the workforce, employers have complained that these younger employees lack the soft skills that are needed to be successful in the workforce. Soft skills are personal traits and skills that employers seek in employees. Internship programs can be used to develop soft skills. Few qualitative studies have looked at how the internship experience contributes to the development of soft skills that are considered critical for graduates to possess. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand how Tanzanian graduates describe their individual internship experience in supporting the learning of critical soft skills (specifically, communication, teamwork, problem solving, and interpersonal skills). The conceptual framework used to ground this study included the experiential learning theory, the situated learning theory, mentorship and self-efficacy. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 participants. The following six themes emerged from this study: (a) the internship experience developed critical soft skills among graduates; (b) graduates understood the importance of soft skills in the workplace; (c) the social work environment supported the learning of critical soft skills; (d) graduates faced several challenges during their internship experience; (e) lack of formal mentorship during internships; (f) graduates would like to see more structure and a focus on learning during internships. This study contributes to the literature exploring internship experiences and soft skills development by uniquely focusing on critical soft skills. Additionally, this study contributes to the limited literature exploring human capital development in the African context. The results of this study could be used by organizations to further their understanding on how to develop better internship programs that enhance soft skills development. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In this dissertation, I explore how international migration and environmental pollution shape human capital accumulation and labor market outcomes.The first chapter examines how college enrollment and major choice decisions of young adults in migrant-sending countries are affected by the removal of international migration barriers. My identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in migration costs during the 2004 European Union (EU) enlargement to compare enrollment in newly admitted sending countries and incumbent destination countries. I use microlevel data from the EU Labor Force Survey and an event study framework to show that college enrollment in new states increased 15-25% in anticipation of better migration opportunities, and up to 30% once borders opened. College students in new states were more likely to enroll in college majors related to occupations with labor shortages in destination countries. To disentangle the effects of migration costs and wages on enrollment, I develop a model of college major choice with a migration option. Counterfactual policy experiments indicate that sending country enrollment is highly sensitive to migration penalties, but less sensitive to domestic college wage increases. The second chapter explores the effect of large migration outflows on local wages and the gender wage gap. I estimate the short-run net effect of emigration on real gross monthly earnings in 10 Central and Eastern European countries using a simple structural factor demand model. The model assumes that workers across education, workers within education and across age, and workers within education--age groups and across gender are imperfect substitutes. I find that the large emigration occurring due to EU accession increases average wages as much as 3.5%. In most countries, these gains are concentrated among young and highly educated female and male workers, while workers with an intermediate level of education see negligible wage gains or even losses. Finally, female workers exhibit higher wage gains than men, which indicates a possible decrease in the gender wage gap as a result of emigration. The third chapter is co-authored with Ludovica Gazze and Claudia Persico and explores the long-run spillover effects of lead. Children exposed to pollutants like lead have lower achievement in school and are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Because children interact daily in the classroom, lead-exposed children might affect the long-run outcomes of their non-lead exposed peers. We estimate these spillover effects using unique data on preschool blood lead levels (BLLs)matched to education data for all students in North Carolina public schools. We compare siblings whose school-grade cohorts differ in the proportion of children with elevated BLLs, holding constant school and peers' demographics. Having more lead-exposed peers is associated with lower high-school graduation and SAT-taking rates and increased suspensions and absences. Peer effects are larger for black students. Based on the lower likelihood of graduating high school alone, we estimate that the spillover effect of lead exposure is $9.2 billion per birth-year cohort. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid for first-time, full-time Hispanic economically disadvantaged students selected from a South Texas Hispanic-serving institution. The dependent variable, college persistence, was measured by completed college credit hours per academic year. Predictor variables included family income, collected from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and parental education level, collected from the FAFSA for Parent 1 and Parent 2, as provided, indicating level of schooling received. Type of financial aid was the category of aid received, such as grants, loans, scholarships, work-study, or other. A quantitative design was useful to examine the impact of family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid on college persistence for first-time, full-time college students attending a Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas. A multiple linear regression analysis was the statistic used to determine if there was a relationship between the dependent variable, college persistence, and the predictor variables: family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid. Testing for the null hypothesis occurred using a level of significance, or alpha level, of 0.05.The literature review includes a historical Hispanic population growth background, how researchers have historically measured persistence, Hispanic student persistence, understanding the college price, and loan debt impact. The theoretical framework comprised Tinto's (1975) theory of student departure and Becker's (1975) human capital theory. This study focused on the persistence section of the theory of student departure and the relationship between persistence and financial aid variables, with human capital theory used to tie the economic aspect of financial aid, particularly student loans, to student persistence. The results showed a relationship between persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid. The multiple linear regression, conducted independently for enrolled students for 4 academic years, showed grants and scholarships consistently among the top three contributing variables of the total variance in predicting persistence. All seven predictor variables were significant in the first year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence. Six of the seven predictor variables were significant in the second year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence and family income next; parental education level was not significant. In the third year, six of the seven predictor variables were significant, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence and family income next; parental education level was not significant. Seven predictor variables were significant in the fourth year, with grants and scholarships the top two contributing variables to predict persistence followed by scholarships. Work-study was not significant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

I study the effect of higher education on lifecycle earnings and focus on three ways in which education may help drive earnings: the effect of higher education on one's skills, the effect on one's ability to accumulate new skills in the future, and the relationship between education and one's likelihood of unemployment. In the first chapter, I examine whether a rising college earnings premium has contributed to increased earnings inequality over the past 50 years. I answer this with a model of college linked to a Ben-Porath human capital problem. The model is estimated from data on college attainment rates and lifecycle income profiles, which I document by education level. I find that lifetime earnings inequality within cohorts has risen significantly since the 1970s but little of this is directly attributable to the college premium. Higher tuition is also not particularly important. Increasing earnings risk seems to be the main driver, with higher college return dispersion a contributing factor.In the second chapter, I look at how unemployment risk affects the earnings distribution and the trajectory of lifetime earnings. I use a lifecycle human capital model where workers accrue both general and career-specific skills and face unpredictable transitory unemployment shocks. Through unemployment's effect on career-specific human capital, I find that unemployment risk explains a seeming contradiction where college graduates' earnings are characterized by high lifecycle dispersion but low year-to-year variation relative to those with less education. As in prior work, I find that variation in total lifetime earnings is mostly driven by differences among people before they enter adulthood, but unemployment risk significantly affects the mean. Moreover, my framework also explains recent findings on the distribution of earnings changes, particularly the notable skew and leptokurtosis. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Students, parents, and government leaders continue to question the value of higher education in general and of a liberal arts education in particular (Council of Independent Colleges, 2015; Fischer, 2022; Strauss, 2019). With students enrolling in liberal arts programs in significant numbers, and with the majority of those students now reflecting some characteristic of being nontraditional, how do these students, graduates, and their employers perceive the value of the Liberal Arts degree (Council of Independent Colleges, 2015; Guidry, 2018; Gulley, 2016; National Center for Education Statistics, 2015)? This study seeks to answer that question through case study analysis, the in-depth study of a single case, or multiple cases, illustrating a specific issue (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Stake, 1995). Using the theoretical work of Robert Merton (1949) on functionalism, and Becker and Mincer (1975) and McKernan and Ratcliffe (2002) on human capital theory, as well as the study's setting within an institution of higher education, the researcher selected a case study approach that collected data from study participants to provide explanations of the value of the Liberal Arts degree for adult students, graduates, and employers. The findings of the study suggest that adult students more clearly subscribe to the human capital theory and were more likely to view the Liberal Arts degree as a means to an end. Graduate participants tended to consider aspects of their degree as valuable beyond the ability to progress in a specific career path or gain a monetary or financial benefit. Employer participants cited that while the skills or competencies traditionally associated with liberal arts degrees were indeed valuable, they also indicated that a candidate's specific degree did not represent a major factor in their hiring decisions. The results of the study will inform improved marketing for the Liberal Arts degree, enhance enrollment, and provide a base of research for external, extramural funding. The study will better inform higher education administrators as to the wants and needs of liberal arts students today, the outcomes reported by graduates, and the needs of their employers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]