Engineering careers are in high demand due to the increasingly technology-based society. However, the rates at which individuals pursue and obtain engineering careers is not keeping up with societal demands. Research has recently aimed at understanding how engineering-related motivational beliefs are developed in children and how important socializers, such as parents, play a role in the development of these beliefs. The parent socialization model of situated expectancy-task value theory (SEVT) suggests that parents hold expectancies and task-value beliefs about their children and that these beliefs are communicated through the messages they use and the behaviors they engage in with their children. Although the influence of parents has been examined for STEM broadly, studies have not explored these motivational beliefs in the engineering domain with elementary school students. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the role of parents’ engineering beliefs about their child and parents’ engineering socialization behaviors on elementary school children’s engineering expectancy/task-value beliefs and their engineering-related career aspirations. Parents (N = 193; 75% mothers) completed questionnaires on engineering-related expectancy and task-value beliefs about their child and on their engineering socialization behaviors. First through sixth grade students (N = 255; 55% female) completed questionnaires on their engineering-related expectancy/task value beliefs and career aspirations. Findings revealed that parents’ beliefs about their child were associated with changes in children’s engineering-related competency beliefs. In addition, parental provision of engineering opportunities was associated with changes in children’s engineering-related importance beliefs. Results also revealed that parental engineering career support was higher for the low socioeconomic status (SES)/less parental education group compared to the high SES/more parental education group. Lastly, there were no associations found between parents’ beliefs with parents’ engineering socialization behaviors and there were no indirect associations between parents’ beliefs and children’s beliefs as mediated by parent socialization behaviors. These findings highlight the role of parents in children’s engineering motivational belief development and provide important implications for future engineering intervention efforts with parents and children.

The worldwide involvement and the detrimental impact of viral online challenges are distinct features that create a growing societal concern for young people. This study used an exploratory approach to investigate factors that predict young adult’s participation in viral online challenges. Specifically, the study analyzed the extent to which age, personality, social media use, and psychological motives (i.e., social connectedness and online self-concept) predicted participation in viral online challenges in a sample of 18- to 25-year-old college students. In a correlational, cross-sectional online survey, participants completed measures of the Big Five personality traits, degree of social media use, social media engagement, and motives, as well as attitudes and behaviors related to internet challenges. I tested two multiple regression models to investigate key predictors of attitudes and participation in viral online challenges. I found that age, degree of social media use, and social media engagement predicted differences in participants’ familiarity with and likelihood of having taken part in specific online challenges. In addition, social media use and engagement and social connectedness were significant positive predictors of participants’ scores on a measure of attitudes surrounding viral online challenges. Whereas the Big Five personality trait of conscientiousness was a significant negative predictor of attitudes about viral online challenges, there was little evidence overall of a link between the Big Five personality traits and participation in viral online challenges. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are discussed.

Intercultural competency is becoming more crucial for effective communication as the world becomes more global and interconnected. This issue is particularly true in health care settings, where effective communication is essential for providing the best care possible. There is very little research about intercultural competence training for Child Life Specialists whose primary role is to communicate with the patients and parents. The purposes of this study was to investigate 1) the levels of cultural competency training Child Life Specialists (CLSs) report having received, as well as their interest in more training, 2) assessing the extent to which CLSs are providing culturally competent care (self-reported), 3) understanding the extent to which barriers to providing culturally competent care are present, 4) identifying relations between culturally competent practice, barriers, and perceived feelings of success, and 5) determining whether there are group differences on culturally competent practice, barriers, and perceived feelings of success between those who reported having received training and those who reported no training. A total of 42 Child Life Specialists completed an online survey. Results indicated a variety of training experiences, with those reporting more training perceiving fewer barriers to culturally competent care. A strong interest in more training was also revealed.

College students are motivated, passionate, and knowledgeable individuals who lack opportunities and the appropriate first-hand experience to get involved in their local community. I used an Academic Community Engaged Learning (ACEL) approach to build student self- efficacy to engage with their community. I created a formal curriculum that teaches students the basics of community development and encourages students to consider their role and impact in the community. I organized a community project with a local elementary school to create a kindness mural that would give students an opportunity to experience community engagement, thereby facilitating deeper comprehension of the material. I find that ACEL can be a valuable tool in harnessing college students by using their motivation and passion to facilitate a collaborative process.

The goal of this thesis was to create a theory of change for an annual Multicultural Arts Camp (MAC) that offers youth with trauma histories opportunities to cultivate protective factors associated with resilience. MAC is designed to promote four primary protective outcomes among its participants: (1) safety, (2) self-expression, (3) skill-building and (4) self-efficacy through exploration of various multicultural art forms and connecting with caring adults. The theory of change was informed by my observations during my experience as a MAC volunteer and my review of academic literature to better define and understand how various factors involved in the MAC program are linked to resilience processes. Arts programming can provide opportunities for youth who have experienced trauma to feel safe enough to engage in self-expression and build corresponding skills that promote feelings of self-efficacy. Building these protective factors thereby strengthens children’s capacity for resilience. Accordingly, the theory of change articulates program activities and processes that promote these outcomes among participating youth. Program directors may draw on the theory of change for strategic planning and evaluation efforts assessing the program’s processes and corresponding impact.

We know that growth and failure-enhancing mindsets and their benefits have been well defined in prior research. However, correlates and mechanisms to developing these mindsets have been understudied. A possible predictor of growth and failure enhancing mindsets is religiosity. We surveyed 353 students at Arizona State University on religiosity, growth mindset, and failure-enhancing mindset to see if religiosity holds any significant relation to growth and failure enhancing mindsets. We also included locus of control as a possible interaction in the model. Results suggest that there is a difference between religious and non-religious participants in their levels of growth mindset beliefs, with religious participants reporting higher growth mindset beliefs. Additionally, religiosity for Christ-based participants positively predicted growth mindset, but not failure-enhancing mindset. Future research should continue to probe the interaction between religiosity and locus of control, as well as compare different faiths and religious subgroups.

Utilizing a participatory action research methodology, adolescent participants from two unique populations were challenged to identify salient social justice issues and explore the community impacts of these topics through collaborative artistic expression. The study’s population consisted of 32 adolescents (Phoenix sample n=8; Belfast sample n=24). This research investigates underserved adolescent attitudes and beliefs about civic engagement and how they view their roles in their communities. Youth from both groups reported an increased interest in pro-social behaviors after participation in this service-learning experience (Phoenix sample: 66%, Belfast sample: 75%). Though the youth were from different backgrounds, both groups identified with feelings of inequality stemming from various social forces. They both also expressed desires for spaces to talk about social justice issues they believe in and want to impact. Implications of this research are discussed.

Researchers suggests that college students' involvement and use of resources on campus are important for success, in the form of satisfaction and GPA, in the first year. College officials invest substantial resources in activities to encourage freshmen students to become involved in campus activities and utilize resources that promote successful outcomes, yet we do not know which activities best relate to success. Using a self-report survey, we sought to corroborate previous research that has shown that overall levels of involvement and use of resources relate to satisfaction/GPA. Furthermore, we disentangled which individual types of involvement and use of resources are most highly correlated with satisfaction and GPA. And finally, we identified the barriers and benefits to involvement and resource use, according to the students themselves. We found evidence that higher levels of involvement were related to satisfaction and attending faculty office hours appears to be particularly important, given a significant relation to both satisfaction and GPA. Implications for program promotion and resource allocation are discussed.