Dissertation
Making sense of mattering: a phenomenological study of Black deaf college students and academic success
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
May 2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/r10f-xh03
Abstract
Research on the persistence of students in higher education has investigated a wide host of competing and intersecting factors (Astin, 1977; Tinto, 1997). Yet, insufficient attention has been given to the experience of mattering and its role in the persistence of marginalized groups such as Black d/Deaf college students. Mattering is understood as the extent to which an individual feels important or significant to the community or people around them (Schlossberg, 1998), and is deserving of greater consideration as part of the constellation of factors influencing persistence. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how Black d/Deaf college students make sense of their experience of mattering to others, and how that experience influences their academic success. Using a post-intentional phenomenological research design, the study explored the lived experiences of six Black d/Deaf students at Gallaudet University, a university dedicated to the educational needs of the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community. This study had three major findings: 1) all participants agree upon CHERISH/MATTER as the most accurate expression of their experiences of mattering through American Sign Language; 2) participants' shared experiences reveal new insights about the nature, directionality, and properties of mattering; and 3) mattering "matters" for the academic success of the participants. Out of these findings emerge new ways to conceptualize mattering theory. The findings can also inform the practice of faculty and student affairs administrators involved in the development and retention of Black d/Deaf college students and similarly marginalized groups.
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Details
- Title
- Making sense of mattering
- Creators
- Jennifer S. Powers - DU
- Contributors
- Kristine S. Lewis Grant (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xi, 205 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 9499; 991014632673604721