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- Creators: Arizona State University
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ABSTRACTThis dissertation addresses two pivotal challenges within the US technology industry: racial equity and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). It investigates whether the integration of AI in human resources (HR) can foster inclusivity and diversity for Black women in the tech workforce. Despite numerous diversity initiatives, Black women account for less than 2% of the US tech workforce, symbolizing a persistent challenge. Furthermore, AI often perpetuates structural biases, magnifying workforce inequities. This dissertation employs intersectionality, responsible innovation, and algorithmic bias theories to amplify the voices of Black women. It poses three critical questions: 1) How have Black women's HR experiences influenced diversity issues in the tech industry? 2) How is AI in HR developed considering the experiences of Black women? 3) What measures can enhance the role of AI in HR to promote diversity without deepening inequalities? Key findings reveal that current HR practices do not adequately serve Black women, driven by competing corporate priorities. Solutions should concentrate on recruiting, developing, promoting, and retaining Black women. Black women acknowledge the potential of AI to either reinforce or mitigate biases, yet they express apprehension about the development and implementation of AI in HR, which often lacks Black women's input. For AI to facilitate positive diversity results, companies must actively involve Black women in its development. This entails understanding the problems Black women face, using insights to design AI that addresses these issues and supports Black women's success, and engaging Black women in the development and assessment of AI implementations in HR, thereby enhancing accountability for diversity outcomes.
ContributorsWhye, Barbara Hickman (Author) / Miller, Clark (Thesis advisor) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / Scott, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Academic tracking has long been a subject of debate due to its potential impact on educational equity, with students who are tracked highly receiving a higher quality
education in comparison to students tracked lowly. These disparities in education quality
may be affecting students’ outcomes, as it has been demonstrated that the short-term
academic outcomes of students, such as their grades, tend to be affected by their
academic track positioning. This dissertation builds upon these previous findings by
utilizing a subsample of 20,584 students from the High School Longitudinal Study (2009)
to examine the relation between academic track positioning and post-secondary education
attendance, program length, college major, and expected future job. Additionally, the
relation between academic tracking and each of these outcomes was also assessed using
mediation, with potential mediators including education aspiration, expectations, and
academic self-efficacy. Findings suggest that academic track positioning in math and
science are influential in students’ post-secondary and career outcomes, with students
who are positioned highly in either subject having greater post-secondary attendance,
program length, higher representation in STEM college majors, and expectations for
future jobs in STEM fields in comparison to students tracked lowly. Additionally,
education aspirations and expectations mediated the relations between math academic
track positioning and each of the outcomes, although the effects were small in size.
Educators should consider exploring avenues for improving education quality in low
academic tracks.
ContributorsWoods, Kenton Bentley (Author) / Hanish, Laura (Thesis advisor) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Groundwater contamination is of environmental and human health concern. Bioremediation is a nature-based method for contaminant treatment. Bioremediation, which relies on the ability of microorganisms to destroy or transform contaminants, must be reliable and cost-competitive in comparison to more traditional treatment methods. Two hurdles must be overcome to enhance bioremediation’s effectiveness and competitiveness: i) being able to degrade recalcitrant compounds, and ii) being able to control the growth rate and location of microorganisms involved in bioremediation in the subsurface. My dissertation adds foundational knowledge and engineering application on how to biodegrade recalcitrant emerging and legacy halogenated compounds. Generating biotransformation knowledge on the recalcitrant emerging contaminants called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may lead to solutions for protecting both people and the planet. In my dissertation, I analyzed PFAS biotransformation and microbial defluorination literature via meta-analytical and bibliometric methods to identify unexplored topics and experimental conditions. The metanalytical work identified trends in PFAS microbial biotransformation science to inform future experimental design.
The second hurdle which must be overcome is being able to control bacterial growth in the subsurface. During bioremediation implementation microbial overgrowth may clog injection wells and the subsurface, leading to reduced porosity and treatment efficacy. Contaminant treatment schemes based on aerobic cometabolism frequently exhibit overgrowth at subsurface injection points for O2 (the electron acceptor) and a labile hydrocarbon (e.g., propane). My dissertation work experimentally evaluated acetylene as a microbial inhibitor for use in controlling microbial overgrowth during trichloroethene (TCE) aerobic cometabolism. I demonstrated that acetylene reduces the likelihood of microbial overgrowth of TCE-degrading microorganisms in soil-free microcosms and aquifer soil columns while retaining TCE degradation capacity. Cumulatively, my dissertation provides foundational knowledge for academics and bioremediation practitioners to develop robust and reliable bioremediation technologies.
ContributorsSkinner, Justin Paul (Author) / Delgado, Anca G. (Thesis advisor) / Rittmann, Bruce E (Committee member) / Chu, Min Ying Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The issue of teacher shortages has been a national crisis in the United States. Teachers have expressed feeling exhausted and burnt out from the profession. The COVID-19 pandemic made these feelings worse, with the rates of teachers leaving the profession being higher than what has occurred in the past. Teachers’ sense of belonging at their schools and their professional identities as educators can have an impact on their decisions to stay in or leave the field of education. Participation in a community of practice has been shown to have a positive impact on teachers’ sense of belonging and identities. This qualitative study cultivated a community of practice composed of teachers who were new to their schools but not necessarily new to teaching. Data collected included interviews, recordings of community of practice meetings, participant reflection documents, and a researcher journal. Results suggested that teachers valued getting to know their colleagues, learning unique classroom practices, and that their participation in the community of practice had a positive impact on their sense of belonging at their new schools. The impacts of the community of practice on teachers’ professional identities were inconclusive. The discussion included an analysis of themes that emerged from the data, limitations of the study, and recommendations for researchers and practitioners.
ContributorsTarbutton, Taylor Lane (Author) / Judson, Eugene (Thesis advisor) / Frias, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Weber, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Visual Question Answering (VQA) is an increasingly important multi-modal task where models must answer textual questions based on visual image inputs. Numerous VQA datasets have been proposed to train and evaluate models. However, existing benchmarks exhibit a unilateral focus on textual distribution shifts rather than joint shifts across modalities. This is suboptimal for properly assessing model robustness and generalization. To address this gap, a novel multi-modal VQA benchmark dataset is introduced for the first time. This dataset combines both visual and textual distribution shifts across training and test sets. Using this challenging benchmark exposes vulnerabilities in existing models relying on spurious correlations and overfitting to dataset biases. The novel dataset advances the field by enabling more robust model training and rigorous evaluation of multi-modal distribution shift generalization. In addition, a new few-shot multi-modal prompt fusion model is proposed to better adapt models for downstream VQA tasks. The model incorporates a prompt encoder module and dual-path design to align and fuse image and text prompts. This represents a novel prompt learning approach tailored for multi-modal learning across vision and language. Together, the introduced benchmark dataset and prompt fusion model address key limitations around evaluating and improving VQA model robustness. The work expands the methodology for training models resilient to multi-modal distribution shifts.
ContributorsJyothi Unni, Suraj (Author) / Liu, Huan (Thesis advisor) / Davalcu, Hasan (Committee member) / Bryan, Chris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This thesis explores the historical development of the criminal justice system across four eras. The system has been utilized to control and exploit Black people for economic gain. After the American Revolution, and the rise of the penitentiary, many argued that imprisoning individuals for labor was reminiscent of the institution of slavery itself, which highlights the criminal justice system's potential to target and control Black people. During the pre-Civil War era, white slave owners established slave patrols to prevent enslaved Black people from leaving their plantation, and to control the movement of Blacks more broadly. These early slave patrols provided an institutional foundation for the later development of the modern police force. During Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan adopted the methods of slave patrols to maintain white supremacy and control over Blacks with lynching becoming everyday occurrences. During the Jim Crow era, Black communities faced widespread discrimination, and the system was used to enforce racial segregation and maintain white dominance. The Civil Rights Movement marked a turning point against Jim Crow. However, the post-Civil Rights era was met with the War on Drugs and the rise of mass incarceration, which disproportionately affected Black communities. To gain equality, Black people have consistently been met with backlash, often supported by the criminal justice system. While reforming the system is necessary, it is unlikely to eliminate racism and white supremacy. A more comprehensive approach is needed to address the root causes of these issues and ensure equality and justice for all.Keywords: white supremacy, racism, color-blind, police violence, slave patrol, slavery, convict leasing system
ContributorsMoore, Antonio Lamont (Author) / Keahey, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Kim, Linda (Committee member) / Hepner, Tricia R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Quantifying ecological relationships by gathering and sifting through large stores of data and applying statistical models to them is a substantial first step in identifying
optimal habitat for the dispersal of threatened species, but the implementation of the
result requires coordination between political, economic, and environmental actors that
are further complicated by the margin of error in modeling a wildlife corridor. That is
why the partnership between Arizona State University (ASU), the Phoenix Zoo: Arizona
Center for Nature Conservation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) DEVELOP, and Osa Conservation needed a framework for identifying and
analyzing the forest patches that constituted the least cost path (LCP) modelled to
connect the Talamanca Mountains of La Amistad International Peace Park and the Osa
Peninsula of Corcovado National Park and allow for the dispersal of jaguars (Panthera
onca). A framework for selection of forest patches of adequate size was established in
ArcMap and data were extracted to further analyze their characteristics and select targets
to be ground-truthed. Forest patches were successfully identified and selected using data
used for the modelling of the LCP. Patches were selected by the desired size of three
hectares or greater, the home range of prey species paca (Cuniculus paca). Patches were
characterized by patch area, resistance value or cost, distance from LCP, and distance
from nearest neighbor across multiple forest density thresholds.
ContributorsSerna, Patrick Karey Samuel (Author) / Schipper, Jan (Thesis advisor) / Watanade-Sailor, Karen (Committee member) / Frazier, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
In an era of educational transformation, teacher leaders play a pivotal role in facilitating systemic change within schools. This dissertation presents a single-case action research study investigating the support structures provided by a Team Lead Communities of Practice (TL CoP) to nurture teacher leaders. The primary aim of this research is to explore the effectiveness of the TL CoP in supporting teacher leaders at one school site. Utilizing qualitative data from interviews, participant journals, researcher memos, and agendas, this study captures the perspectives of team leads of interdisciplinary teams. The findings emphasize the need for flexible support systems tailored to the unique challenges teacher leaders face. Offering teacher leaders agency in their learning is paramount to their success. Additionally, structured time for collaboration and problem-solving within the TL CoP is crucial. One significant revelation is the importance of role clarity. Team leads need a clear understanding of their responsibilities to effectively lead teams and drive systemic change. This research contributes to the literature on educational leadership by highlighting the vital role of teacher leaders and the potential of TL CoPs in supporting their development. It advocates for the creation of such communities as a promising strategy to empower teacher leaders, providing them with essential support, dedicated collaboration time, and role clarity. As schools evolve to meet the demands of the 21st century, the insights from this study offer guidance for educational stakeholders seeking to cultivate a culture of leadership and foster systemic change through teacher leadership.
ContributorsPreston, Lee Allyne Cox (Author) / Markos, Amy (Thesis advisor) / Corner, Kevin (Committee member) / Fourlis, Andi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly transmitted STI and isresponsible for an estimated 5% of cancer cases worldwide. HPV infection is implicated
in 70% of cervical cancer incidence and is also responsible for a variety of oropharyngeal
and anogenital cancers. While vaccination has greatly reduced the cervical cancer
burden in developed countries, HPV infection remains high in developing countries due
to high cost and poor access to healthcare. Several studies have highlighted the
presence of anti-HPV antibodies following infection and their potential use as
biomarkers for developing novel screening methods. Progression from initial infection to
cancer is slow, thus presenting an opportunity for effective screening programs.
Biomarker screening is an important area of cancer detection and Lateral Flow Assays
(LFA) are a low cost, easy to use alternative to other screening methods that require
extensive training and laboratory space. Therefore, this project proposes as a hypothesis
that the development of an LFA screening for HPV specific IgG can provide clinically
relevant data for the early detection of cervical dysplasia. This project adapts an LFA in a
multiplexed format for fluorescence-based serologic detection of HPV specific IgG in
patient plasma.
ContributorsJohns, William (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Lake, Douglas (Committee member) / Hogue, Brenda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Novel means are needed to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) and cancer, given delays in medical diagnosis and rising rates of disease incidence, prevalence, and mortality worldwide. Development of NDDs and cancer has been linked to environmental toxins. Ensuing epigenetic changes may serve as helpful biomarkers to diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as well as various cancers sooner and more accurately. This dissertation tabulates and evaluates a spectrum of diagnostic matrixes (i.e., soil, sewage sludge, blood) and markers of disease to inform disease surveillance. A literature search using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Bradford Hill criteria implicated BMAA, formaldehyde, Mn, Hg, and Zn as environmental factors with strong association to ALS risk. Another PRISMA search identified epigenetic changes (e.g., DNA methylation) in NDD patients associated with environmental toxic exposures to air pollutants, heavy metals, and organic chemicals. Of the 180 environmental toxins hypothesized to be associated with AD, PD, or ALS, four heavy metals (As, Cd, Mn, and Hg) were common to these NDDs. Sources, as well as evidence and proxies of human exposure to these heavy metals and Pb were investigated here, namely the metal industries, and metal concentrations in topsoil, sewage sludge, and blood. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in sewage sludge were found to be significantly correlated with NDD prevalence rates in co-located populations (state-level) with odds ratios of 2.91 and 4.08, respectively. Markers of exposure and disease in urine and feces were also evaluated using PRISMA, finding 73 of 94 epigenetic biomarker panels to be valid for tracking primarily gastric and urinary cancers. In all studies, geospatial analyses indicated a preference in study cohorts located in the U.S., Europe, and the northern hemisphere, leaving underserved many populous regions particularly in the southern hemisphere. This dissertation draws attention to sewage sludge as a currently underutilized proxy matrix for assessing toxic human exposures and further identified a spectrum of particularly attractive, non-invasive biomarkers for future diagnostic use to promote early detection, survivability, and quality of life of individuals at risk of NDDs and cancer.
ContributorsNewell, Melanie Engstrom (Author) / Halden, Rolf U. (Thesis advisor) / Mastroeni, Diego (Committee member) / Lee, Heewook (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023