As young women merge into the business world, the business environment structure often asks them to adjust or change their identity to be accepted by their male peers. Such identity changes include adopting masculine forms of professional dress, building relationships in the workplace, and dealing with personal life. Through a qualitative research methodology, the study explores the communication practices that women engage in to succeed in the masculine business/corporate environment. Research indicates various types of limitations in masculine environments in connection with the flexibility of schedule, equal pay, and balance between professional and family life, leading to emotional and psychological impacts. Moreover, findings indicate the use of resistance tools to assist women in the corporate/business environment in leadership mentoring, education, and information found on apps and social media. I highlight practical implications, discuss limitations, and provide recommendations for future directions.

Building on research on family communication and forgiveness, this study seeks to understand how families communicate the value and practice of forgiveness. Through semi-structured interviews, the study asks participants to recall their formative conversations and experiences about forgiveness with their family members and to discuss how those conversations influenced their current perspectives on forgiveness. Interviews from five female undergraduate students yielded seven main themes from where individuals learn how to forgive: 1) Sibling conflicts, 2) Family conversations about friendship conflicts, 3) Conversations with Mom, 4) Living by example, 5) Take the high road, 6) “Life’s too short”, and 7) Messages rooted in faith and morality.

Conversations between immigrant parents and their Americanized children are often difficult conversations to approach. Children are expected to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives from a young age. Sometimes, what the child wants to do does not align with what their parents want them to do. It is hard to approach those conversations about pursuing higher education, especially when the response is an unknown variable. This research study aims to determine how those conversations about higher education were viewed from the standpoint of the young adult child. It investigates young adults whose ages span from 18 to 24 and how those conversations they had when they were younger impacted who they became. Using data collected from twelve interviewees whose gender, age, and ethnicity varied, this study examines specific instances in those conversations about higher education between the young adult and their immigrant parents and the main factors behind some shared experiences. I discuss those factors, as well as limitations within the study, and provide future direction recommendations.