Thèses sur le sujet « Social sciences -> social sciences -> black studies (global) »

Global consciousness is an important trait for high-school students to exhibit. One way that global consciousness can be incorporated into the curriculum is via an elective International Studies class. The purpose of this study was to determine what effect, if any, taking an International Studies class would have on students’ global awareness. The questions that guided this study were: 1. What aspects of an international studies course resonated most with students? 2. What impact did participation in this course have on student global competence?

In order to research this topic, I conducted a case study in which an International Studies class was studied. The teacher who developed and taught the course was interviewed, in addition to three of her former students. Twenty-three students whom were students currently taking the class also participated in a survey.

The methodology for this study was consistent with the case-study approach. A school was selected that offered International Studies, former students and their teacher was interviewed, and current students volunteered to participate in a survey. The data were recorded and analyzed for possible themes. Three key themes emerged that spoke to the effect the course had upon students. First, the course served as a foundation of information the students were able to draw on and apply later in life. Second, the course served as an opportunity for students to increase their international literacy. Third, the course provided an opportunity for the students to become more globally aware citizens. These results were analyzed and interpreted through two theoretical lenses: John Dewey’s Theory of Experience and James Banks’ Theory of the Cosmopolitan Citizen.

Due to societal factors of institutional racism and implicit biases, the plight of Black males across the United States has been well documented (Fitzgerald, 2015; Howard; 2010; Noguera, 2008; Steele & Aronson, 1995). These factors are often represented in the educational system and result in inequities in various achievement outcomes. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Kena et al., 2016), there are huge gaps between Black males and their counterparts across academic outcomes for reading and mathematics. Typically, Black males experience: (a) lower graduation rates, (b) higher suspension rates, and (c) over identification in special education. Consequently, these and other factors play a role and impact the livelihoods of Black males (Howard, 2010; Noguera, 2008). Guided by the framework of critical race theory (Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2012; Ladson-Billings, 1998), as well as the work of scholars who identified issues of: (a) stereotype threat, (b) identity development, (c) culturally relevant pedagogy, and (d) the narrative experiences of Black males in education (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Gay, 2002; Steele, 2010; Tatum, 1997), this dissertation study focused on inquiry in these areas. Using a phenomenological approach, data collected from in-depth interviews was used to explore the perceptions of nine Black males in high schools in Colorado regarding their educational experiences. Five themes emerged from the study: 1) relationships matter, 2) access and opportunity, 3) hidden-curriculum, 4) racial ambiguity, and 5) parental involvement. Findings further indicated that tenets of critical race theory were present in students’ experiences, particularly the ‘centrality of race and racism’ and ‘challenge to dominant ideology.’ Findings showed that a culturally relevant pedagogy was essential in supporting the academic success of Black male students. Recommendations, implications, and future research centered upon institutions of education and their responsibility to implement culturally relevant practices. Results from this study provide school administrators and educators with a perspective from the voices of one of the major subgroup of students they want to support.

As African American (AA) breast cancer survivors live longer with the disease, much attention should be directed to quality of life and factors influencing it. An understanding of survivors' belief that God controls their health and their social support needs is necessary as an effort to develop health care services and programs that are culturally sensitive. This study was the first to explore the association between an individual's belief that God controls their health, social support and quality of life among AA breast cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social support, God Locus of Health Control (GLHC) and quality of life (QoL) among the survivors residing in Illinois. This study's alternative hypotheses predicted after controlling for age, location of residence, marital status, and time since diagnosis, social support and GLHC, combined and individually, would positively correlate to QoL for AA breast cancer survivors.

The study used a descriptive, correlational and quantitative design by testing the variables using hierarchical multiple regression and Pearson correlation. A convenience sample of 92 AA women was recruited from a community hospital, a Federally Qualified Health Centers, a beauty shop, two support groups, a member association that advocates for health care disparities, and local newspapers. Quantitative measures included Social Support Questionnaire (Northouse, 1988), GLHC scale (Wallston et al., 1999), Quality of Life Index - Cancer Version III (QLI - CV III) (Ferrans, 1990), and Demographic Characteristics form created by researcher.

Results concluded QoL was not affected by social support and GLHC, combined, and GLHC, individually. However, social support was a predictor of QoL. Statistically significant relationships were found between social support, QoL and its domains: a) health and functioning subscale, b) social and economic subscale, c) psychological/spiritual subscale and d) family subscale. Statistically significant relationships were not found between GLHC and QoL and its domains. The mean score for social support and GLHC scales were low compared to prior study results. The QLI - CV III mean score was moderately high compared to other study results.

Additional findings concluded women residing in the suburb had statistically significant higher mean QoL than those living in the rural or urban areas of Illinois. Also, married women in this sample had a higher mean QoL than unmarried women. Although AA breast cancer survivors' QoL was not increased by their belief that God controlled their health and the mean social support score was low, the study results provided valuable information for future research and the development of social support programs that are culturally sensitive.

Too often, the truth behind a phenomenon is not sought through the perspectives of the people who lived that phenomenon—“the masters of inquiry” into their own realities, as Paulo Freire (1982, p. 29) has explained. Voice is the most powerful, reliable medium for collecting data based on lived experiences, if we are to gain genuine insight into the phenomenon (Freire, 1982). Focusing on the lived experiences of four formerly incarcerated young men of color, this study gave each participant the space to not only recall specific events and times, but to critically reflect on their lives—becoming more critically aware of their individual journeys and constructing new knowledge of the injustices that relate to the school-to-prison pipeline, including recommendations for change. This study sought to answer the following research questions through the voices of the participants: (a) Based on their collective and individual journeys through the juvenile justice system, how do formerly incarcerated youth describe their experiences? (b) What recommendations do formerly incarcerated young men have for reducing youth incarceration and recidivism rates? The participants provided rich narratives that answered each research question with the expert knowledge that can only be derived from firsthand experience. Through careful analysis of the data, several major themes emerged, tying together the experiences of each participant with the findings from the literature. Each participant spoke passionately on not only the need for change, but also specific recommendations for change. It is the power of their poignant insights that ground conclusions offered in this study.

This study examined sociocultural predictors of mental health treatment utilization among a combined clinical and community sample of Black older adults experiencing depression, anxiety and/ or traumatic events. A secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study that investigated the prevalence of depression and the factors associated with it among African Americans, and Caribbean Blacks over the age of 55 living in New York City using binominal logistic regression analyses. The current study investigated how the sociocultural factors of ethnicity, mental health beliefs, ethnic identity, spirituality, and religiosity predicted utilization of formal and informal mental health treatment services. The findings highlight the significance of ethnicity, depression, mental health beliefs and spirituality as predictors of utilization of mental health services. Caribbean Black older adults underutilized mental health treatment services of any type. The current study suggests that attitudes and beliefs about mental illness and health practices is a factor that should been taken into account by clinicians when assessing, diagnosing, treating and trying to maintain adherence to services of older Black adults.

This study examines the development of first-generation African American and Latino college students' sociopolitical consciousness in the context of their learning of sociology as a component of their liberal education studies. Given the paucity of research on how college students develop sociopolitical consciousness, this study addresses: (1) the nature of first-generation undergraduate African American and Latino students' sociopolitical consciousness at point of entry to college-level study of introductory sociology, (2) college students' sociopolitical consciousness prior to (or early in) their interaction with sociological ideas, (3) changes that may occur in these students' sociopolitical consciousness as they interact with sociological ideas, (4) classroom activities that may be related to changes experienced by the students, and (5) acts, reflective of sociopolitical consciousness, in which the students engage.

Conducted at an urban university with high racial and ethnic diversity, the study featured documentation and analysis of 18 focal students' learning in two sections of a sociology class. The study relies on interviews with the focal students about their learning and thinking in and out of class, interviews with instructors and administrators, class observations, analysis of students' written work and other class materials including textbooks, and review of institutional and curricular documents.

Study findings portray undergraduates' sociopolitical consciousness as comprised of awareness and understanding of sociopolitical forces. Students' awareness and understanding may vary by degree (amount of) and topic. College students enter the classroom already in possession of some sociopolitical consciousness which may be viewed as part of their prior knowledge. Study findings indicate that students' sociopolitical consciousness intensifies and at times is transformed as students encounter sociological subject matter. Two aspects of the classroom may contribute to developing undergraduates' sociopolitical consciousness: (1) in-class discussions and (2) professors offering examples during their teaching relevant to students' interests. The study suggests that students' acts of analysis and/or critique, and their acts of involvement, can contribute to their sociopolitical capacity—an amalgamation of consciousness and acts. Implications and ideas for future research follow.

Given economic and societal shifts towards globalization, the need to develop effective global leaders is well documented. This thesis explored the development of a prototype instrument for use in global leadership classes or training to assess and/or develop the competencies and decision-making abilities associated with effective global leadership. The format of the instrument was a hybrid of situational judgment tests (SJTs) and culture assimilators and its content was drawn from a real life critical incident as recounted by an expert global leader during an interview using cognitive task analysis techniques. The interview was part of qualitative research that investigated expert cognition displayed by exceptional global leaders.

The thesis included a literature review of global leadership research to identify the general competencies, intercultural competencies, and cognitive proficiency of effective global leaders that would serve as a foundation for the domains to be assessed and developed. SJTs and culture assimilators were discussed as format examples for constructing the instrument. The process of creating and refining the tool was then reviewed, which included developing the questions and answers, conducting pre-tests, gathering feedback from subject matter experts, and conducting a content analysis to ensure global leadership and intercultural competencies were addressed. Data collected during the course of development were presented and discussed.

Step-by-step instructions (that included potential improvements to the process experimented with to date) were included to guide others in future development. An abridged sample of the instrument was provided.

Resande, globalt engagemang och arbete utomlands av olika former är företeelser som förändrar människors syn på världen. Dessa tillhör samtiden och de blir därmed aktuella och relevanta att diskutera. Att vi lever i en global värld påverkar våra livsvillkor och innebär i sin tur nya möjligheter och förutsättningar för individen. Begrepp som är centrala att diskutera blir därmed livsstil, engagemang, svenskhet och världsmedborgarskap.

Becoming global – the troublesome integration process.

The thesis is based on research in Kongsberg Automotive and its foreign subsidiaries in Mexico, U.S.A, Poland and South Korea. It is a study of how these foreign units were established and how the head office in Norway was able to integrate these units in the organization.

The purpose of the study is to improve understanding of the challenges involved in internationalization processes. To what extent are cultural, political and social differences factors to consider when creating the international organization? In what way do actors and structures influence the process and the practices that emerge?

In an international organization cultural, political and social differences may create barriers towards understanding the other. This may be further complicated by different languages, time and geographical distances. The local manager abroad is central to the development of relations between the head office and the local unit and his perception of what is appropriate and his ability to make others agree is central to understanding the various practices and solutions that emerge in the local organization.

The main motivation and challenge of the central management is to control and coordinate the international organization. The study emphasizes the usefulness of different control mechanisms and how these attempts for control were perceived locally. Through time there was a stronger reliance on mechanisms for socialization and enculturation, and while these are directed towards creating a larger consensus in the organization, these should also be seen as means for decentralized control and self-monitoring.

The various organizational entities in Kongsberg Automotive represent different communities-of-practice and to understand the interaction between these communities as learning processes is central to the study. This perspective also confers an understanding of power as a productive element in the interaction.

The implications of this study for theory and future research are in embracing the complex nature of internationalization process. Relevant for understanding internationalization processes are both actors and structures intertwined. Institutional environments are central to an understanding of how different actors perceive practices and structures, and what they see as viable solutions. Neither the international organization nor the learning processes these undertake can be torn loose from the local cultural, political and social context.