Organizational Leadership

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10323/11896

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
    KINDING: A Theory of Human Growth Through Positive Self-leadership
    (2025-01-01) Kotori, Juna; Strubler, David; Smith, Julia; Golomb, Sara; Stejskal, Taryn Marie
    While trauma research has traditionally focused on pathological outcomes, attention has shifted toward understanding post-traumatic growth or positive psychological changes that can emerge from struggling with highly challenging events. However, existing post-traumatic growth theories provide limited guidance on how individuals can actively facilitate their own growth. This study introduced and empirically validated the KINDING Theory of Human Growth Through Positive Self Leadership, a novel framework that integrates positive self-leadership theory and affective neuroscience to explain how positive emotions, cognitions, and behaviors can facilitate growth following trauma.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
    Joy Stories: A Critical Race, Hip-Hop, Counter Narrative of How Black Men Who Graduated from HWIs Found Belonging and Joy Through Beats and Rhymes
    (2025-01-01) Young, Lawrence Neal; Sule, V. Thandi; Nidiffer, Jana; Brown-El, Omar
    This study is a Critical Race and Hip-Hop counter-narrative examining the experiences of Black men with Hip-Hop identities who graduated from historically White institutions (HWIs). Grounded in a theoretical framework drawing upon Critical Race Theory (CRT), Hip-Hop Pedagogy (HHP), and Black Joy, this research explores the ways in which Hip-Hop cultural aesthetics may inform culturally relevant counter spaces that foster a sense of belonging and joy among Black men. By centering the lived experiences of fifteen Black men who graduated from midwestern HWIs, the study reveals how Hip-Hop culture offers a powerful tool for navigating racialized educational spaces and resisting systemic barriers by challenging deficit-based narratives and centering the cultural capital, creativity, and joy Black men bring to their collegiate experiences. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis, and composite stories told in the form of a Hip-Hop Rap Cypher created in collaboration between the researcher and participants, this study centers the voices and lived experiences of Black men who identify as Hip-Hop practitioners or observers and have successfully persisted to degree completion at HWIs by centering their experiences of joy and resilience, rather than echoing oft repeated deficit based narratives. This study will contribute to the growing body of research on culturally relevant counter spaces and programming informed by Hip-Hop culture and emphasize the urgent need for HWIs to adopt practices that affirm Black men's identities while fostering a sense of belonging and providing opportunities for joy
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item type: Item ,
    You Can’t Tell It, Let Me Tell It: Making Sense of Belonging by Exploring the Lived Experiences of African American Students at a Predominately White Institution
    (2024-01-01) Price, MoNique K.; Smith, Julia B.; Sule, V. Thandi; Martin, Robert
    African American students make up approximately 13.1% of all students enrolled in postsecondary institutions across the United States (Hanson, 2023). African American students overwhelming, approximately 68%, attend public institutions. Further, approximately, 72% of African American students are enrolled at 4-year institutions. African American students enrolled at these institutions face challenges that their peers who are not African American do not, such as feelings of isolation, microaggressions, and less-than-welcoming campus climates. These factors often prevent African American students from fostering a sense of belonging to and on their campuses. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the theory of Double Consciousness as theoretical frameworks, this study sought to evaluate the sense of belonging of third-year undergraduate students enrolled at a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Further, my dissertation sought to uncover the effect, if any, student engagement had on developing sense of belonging for the study participants. This study aimed to examine African American students' engagement in extracurricular activities that may foster their sense of belonging in PWI. Data was collected via a pre-interview survey, followed by seven 1-hour semi-structure interviews with 31 participants. This study identified four themes: Campus Climate, Student Engagement, Belonging, and Why Am I Still Here. The findings showed that race had a significant impact on the participants' sense of belonging and the activities they were able to engage in on campus. Despite the challenges they faced, the participants showed resilience and motivation to persist. The study concludes with implications for higher education professionals and recommendations for future studies