Vietnam currently faces a social skills deficit among college graduates. This lack of sufficient social skills significantly affects Vietnam's economy where it is one of the main factors that drives higher unemployment in Vietnam. Research has shown that although social skills have been increasingly perceived by employers as one of the most important factors for graduate employability and career success, the absence of social skills training in colleges and universities have caused graduates to be ill-prepared for the workplace, which lead to dissatisfactions among employers and complications when seeking for potential hires in Vietnam. Therefore, this study aims to examine and compare perceptions of Vietnamese college graduates and employers on graduates' social skill performance. Given the objectives of this study, an online survey was distributed to potential participants across Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Analysis of the responses not only demonstrated a disconnect of perceptions between employers and newly hired graduates (NHGs) on how these two groups rated graduates' performance of interpersonal skills but also revealed a mismatch in the perceptions of the comparing groups on how they perceive the importance of social skills in graduate employment. As a result, it is recommended that Vietnam need to promote and support …

The purpose of this research was to determine what preferences exist for full- and part-time community college faculty for institutional communication and if institutional communication predicts faculty perception of an academic integrity culture. The sample is nationally representative, consisting of institutional representation from five of the six accreditation regions nationally, a relativity equal distribution of three Carnegie Classifications (higher career & technical, high transfer, and mixed transfer/career & technical) and three Census Bureau defined population areas (urbanized area, urban cluster, and rural area). The survey, completed by 328 faculty from eight community colleges, was a modified version of three widely used instruments: the International Center for Academic Integrity Academic Integrity Faculty Survey, the International Communication Association Audit, and the Organizational Communication Development Audit Questionnaire. Chi-square, independent samples t-test, and hierarchical regression analysis were each used to explore the relationship between the perception of communication, channels of communication, and perceived culture of academic integrity. The results suggest that face-to-face and electronic communication channels are both preferred channels of communication among full- and part-time faculty and that the communication through these two channels is predictive and interactional. In collaboration with a positive perception of communication, both worked to predict a perceived culture …

This study aimed at filling in the gap in the literature by examining the organizational identity (OI) of a group of private not-for-profit liberal arts colleges (LACs) and their change and/or stability over time. The OIs were investigated by employing a qualitative content analysis for the strategic plans of eleven LACs over time. The selected colleges represented the distinctive characteristics of a LAC though they have made a critical organizational change by adding vocational programs to their curriculum. Findings indicated that the colleges have developed more complex dynamic OIs over time where both change and stability were interacting. Internal and external pressures shaped the organizational identities of the colleges. The colleges could remain some of their distinctive features while other markers of distinctiveness were less pronounced. OI, as a means to combine insights from the classic and new versions of institutional theory, could offer a fruitful link between the normative and the intraorganizational elements of this theory.

Undocumented students in the United States continue to face unique barriers to postsecondary success. One way that community colleges and 4-year institutions are providing support for undocumented students is establishing undocumented student resource centers (USRCs). These emerging identity-based centers are dedicated spaces of support and provide customized, comprehensive resources for undocumented college students. A multipronged theoretical framework that included undocu-competence, the institutionalization process, and critical theory, was used as a lens to examine how USRC professionals and affiliates understand the development, role, and function of a USRC on a California community college campus. Qualitative single case study methods, including in-depth semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis, were utilized to meet the purpose of the study. The findings revealed three primary themes. First, the institutionalization process of the USRC at the center of this study was complex, imperfect, and ongoing. Second, there are strengths and limitations respective to the USRC's capacity to operationalize support and safety. Finally, the compounded impact of the current socio-political moment cannot be evaded with respect to the USRC's function. Subsequently, three primary points of discussion are explored, including critiquing the process of USRC institutionalization, complicating the notion of safe spaces on campuses, and calling for inside-outside …

Foster care alumni are a unique subset of college students who enter post-secondary education having faced significant socio-economic challenges and emotional trauma. These students often understand how attending post-secondary education can help create a more stable life. However, the graduation of this population is extremely low. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand formerly fostered youths' perspectives of the needs and stressors students face while attending post-secondary education. Specifically, the researcher wanted to understand what characteristics influence former foster care youth to enroll in college and what characteristics help former foster care youth persist in higher education until graduation. The study utilized both student departure theory and resilience theory to frame each research question conceptually. The results illuminated the resilience of former fostered youth attending post-secondary education and their characteristics for continued enrollment.

Graduating competent healthcare providers to meet increasing demands of the United States leads to interest in graduate health science student success. In this study, I explored the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and licensing exam readiness among Doctor of Chiropractic students. Two research questions asked (1) how self-regulated learning strategies vary by gender and year of study, and (2) how self-regulated learning strategies relate to licensing exam readiness. One hundred thirty-three students from five chiropractic institutions were surveyed with questions from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and exam readiness items. A series of t-tests, one-way analyses of variance, Kruskal-Wallis H tests, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression addressed the research questions. Results indicated (1) self-regulated learning strategies do vary by gender and year of study, and (2) self-regulation is related to licensing exam readiness, particularly in Parts I and II of the exam. Chiropractic institutions and policymakers should focus efforts on introducing and reinforcing self-regulated learning strategies throughout the curriculum and explore licensing exam implications. Future research should continue expanding the literature on chiropractic education by considering actual licensing exam performance and determining appropriateness of the MSLQ for chiropractic students.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of adult first-generation students through their college journey. With a conceptual framework based on student involvement and social and cultural capital theories that contribute to student persistence, retention, and graduation, this study was guided by three research questions: (1) What were the expectations and motivations of adult first-generation students when pursuing postsecondary studies after the age of 25? (2) What were the main challenges experienced by this population during their journey through college? and (3) What strategies did these students use to cope with those challenges? Five first-generation participants who started or resumed their college careers when they were 27, 34, 47, and 50 years old were interviewed in-depth. Results indicated that all participants had to search for their inner strength to pursue higher education studies and required the support of their family and social network to succeed. As a result of their rich lived experiences, these adult first-generation students showed how their strong social and cultural capital enabled them to juggle family and work responsibilities and overcome the challenges of their college experiences.

Administrators and coaches in universities and colleges have focused on their students' moral development since the beginning of the higher education system. Students who participate in sports activities have acknowledged that they develop many life skills, including ethical behaviors, that can translate to non-sport environments, such as the classroom. Students who participate in organized sports programs in college often acknowledge their coach as a significant source of their development, due to the amount of time athletes and coaches spend with each other. Recently, instances of cheating have become widespread throughout American higher education. In this dissertation, I seek to evaluate the role that coaches, and overall sports participation has on the development of students' ethical behaviors both within sports and outside of the sport environment. I conducted three quantitative studies to evaluate the role that coaches play in the development of ethical behaviors in sports (as measured through sportsmanship), the similarities and differences in sportsmanship between participation in varsity or club sports, and the role that sports participation has on self-reported instances of cheating. I find that coaching behaviors that instill sportsmanship behaviors are similar to behaviors identified in youth sports and that the coaching behaviors are more predictive of …