Date of Award

Fall 2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Foundations & Leadership

Program/Concentration

Community College Leadership

Committee Director

Michael Kosloski

Committee Member

Dana Burnett

Committee Member

Christopher Glass

Abstract

This Delphi study explores barriers and support systems that impact women’s professional advancement in STEM disciplines. There were 20 expert panelists who committed to participate in the study and 15 panelists completed the four rounds of the study after attrition. The panelists were selected based on specific criteria including educational background, diversity within STEM disciplines, experience as a former or current female administrator who served at two-year degree offering institutions, leadership and membership within women’s advocacy organizations in STEM and related workforce education fields, and depth of knowledge and understanding of the research questions. Through the four rounds of the Delphi study, a consensus was reached among 15 panelists including nine factors supporting advancement and three factors inhibiting advancement for a total of 12 factors that were considered relevant to the research questions based on the mean score of 3.50.

The following factors were identified by the panelists as relevant for supporting advancement: Support Systems, Personal Attributes, Willingness to Advance, Leadership Skills, Curiosity about New Experiences, Role Models, Opportunities for Leadership Roles, Experiences in Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, and Awareness of Institutional Environments; and those for inhibiting advancement: Conflicting Family Obligations, Lack of Compensation, and Personal Concerns. The results of the Delphi study can be used as a conceptual framework to inform administrators and researchers in higher education on the relevant factors concerning organizational climate, institutional policies, and departmental conditions that impact women’s advancement or hinder their advancement in STEM fields.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/ahz8-7t62

ISBN

9798617000261

ORCID

0000-0002-3998-4567

Download

Share

COinS