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Theories of resistance have been investigated by various researchers as an explanation for student empowerment, achievement, and activism. Similar research on youth empowerment has been conducted with Critical Race Theory and the development of culturally relevant curriculums in classrooms. Culturally relevant pedagogy has been studied by many due to its ability to foster student empowerment and transform students into agents of social change within their communities, allowing them to pursue opportunities they hadn't considered otherwise. However, there is not much research that studies how culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally relevant school programs foster student activism. This study focuses on assessing how the culturally relevant curriculum fosters student activism within the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, Arizona. Following the changes made after HB2281, which temporarily banned the program. It was reinstated and renamed Ethnic Studies following the court ruling, Arce v Douglas. Using theories of resistance and activism, data gathered from the Ethnic Studies course through student surveys and interviews was analyzed, in addition to a brief content analysis of the course reading lists. Though focusing on community engagement, political/social justice awareness, and concepts of identity, interview and survey data demonstrated significant levels of student resistance. Further research will confirm if this program fosters student activism.
ContributorsRodriguez, Felina Milagros (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This paper explores factors to study why the number of students in STEM are not as high as they could be. Based on both Veda and Soumya's personal experiences, factors were chosen to understand their impact on whether a high school student would choose a STEM major in their college of choice, which could lead them to having a career in STEM. The factors explored will be location, grade level, school, parent/guardian involvement, teacher involvement, media influences, and personal interest. Data was collected through surveys sent to both high school and college students. The high school data came solely from schools in the Phoenix area, whereas college students' data came from across the world. These surveys contained questions regarding all of the above factors and were crafted so that we could gain further insight into each factor without producing bias. Each factor had at least one personal experience by either Veda or Soumya. Many of the survey responses gave insight to how and why a student would decide to pursue STEM or why they did pursue STEM. The main implications derived from the study are the following: the importance of a good support network, active parent/guardian and teacher involvement, and specifically active science teacher involvement. Data from both college and high school students showed that students highly valued a science teacher. One recommendation from this thesis is to provide a training for teachers to learn about how to connect concepts they teach to real-world applications. This can be administered through the district so that they may bring in anyone they feel is qualified to teach such topics such as industry professionals or teachers who specialize in teaching STEM. The last recommendation is for parents to participate in a workshop that will inform them of how to be more involved/engaged with their student.
ContributorsPushpraj, Soumya (Co-author) / Inamdar, Veda (Co-author) / Scott, Kimberly (Thesis director) / EscontrÃÂas, Gabriel (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Technology is everywhere. It touches every industry and nearly every aspect of our lives. It is paving the way to exciting innovations, solving long-standing problems, and helping us as humans learn at a faster rate than ever before. The Tech Industry is booming, generating an ever-increasing amount of jobs within the workforce. The number of women filling these new jobs, however, has remained static – if not declined. As a female student studying Computer Information Systems, this fact has concerned me for some time and propelled me to dig deeper and get to the root of the problem. It has been no secret that there is a lack of gender equality within the technology industry. Silicon Valley – the tech hub of the United States – has time and again been accused of creating an overwhelming sense of “bro culture”. The numbers are staggeringly obvious – women are entering into the industry at a lower rate than men, women are leaving the industry at a higher rate than men, and women are not being advanced within technology-based careers at the same rate as men. My objective with this creative project was to go beyond the numbers and to understand why this gender gap is still prevalent within the industry and, more importantly, what can be done to shrink the gap. As such, I decided to put faces to the numbers by creating a documentary in which I interviewed eight diverse female professionals with varying backgrounds that are in different stages within their careers in the technology industry. I was able to get real and raw opinions, ideas, and advice from these knowledgeable women to construct my responses to these complex issues. This paper has been structured to outline and analyze the ideas and concepts generated from my interviews of these women.
ContributorsFarias, Isabella Maria (Author) / Moser, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In both historic and contemporary culture, society has created a distinct narrative surrounding solo female travel. The creation of this narrative has prevented many women from pursuing travel and outdoor recreation, despite their various benefits. Both outdoor recreation and travel in the context of female involvement carry parallels in regards to the development of a counter space. Travel cannot be properly understood without understanding outdoor recreation, since the two are so inherently intertwined. Therefore, this thesis will analyze the benefits and counter space that travel and outdoor recreation provide. It will analyze the current media narrative, why the presence of cisgender and narrow-minded stereotypes prevent women from traveling and recreating outdoors, and analyze personal anecdotes from various women to further understand counter space in travel.
ContributorsHarris, Kathryn (Author) / Bruhn, Karen (Thesis director) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This study aims to critically analyze how the undergraduate computing world has become highly androcentric in the past decades. This thesis seeks to take a post-structuralist stance to improving the gender disparity that deconstructs many of the logics that emphasize gender differences in computational thinking. Ethnographic, qualitative data will be used and coalesced with critical feminist theory to create a robust solution to closing the gender gap in the undergraduate computing world.
ContributorsRahman, Risa Fayeza (Author) / Navabi, Farideh (Thesis director) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05