Date of Award

5-2019

Degree Type

Education Specialist

Degree Name

Education Specialist

Department

Education, Leadership and Public Service

Program

Educational Administration: Administration and Supervision (MAE)

First Advisor/Chairperson

Dr. Joseph Lubig

Abstract

ABSTRACT

THE HUMAN FACTORS WHICH ACTED AS A DRIVING FORCE FOR INSPIRING IMPOVERISHED, RURAL STUDENTS TO SUCCESSFULLY PURSUE POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

By

Adam E. Lucas

This qualitative study explored how students from rural poverty were able to find the motivation from an adult-role model to pursue post-secondary academic opportunity. This study used an open-ended questionnaire to elicit responses from four recent high school graduates who are currently enrolled in a post-secondary academic institution. The questionnaire asked the student participants to identify a specific adult individual, as well as the attributes about this individual that acted as motivation to successfully pursue post-secondary academics. In a second phase of questionnaires, the adult-role models identified by the student participants are asked about their perception of the student participants’ motivation to pursue post-secondary academic opportunities.

Results yielded eleven sub-themes and four overlying themes. Students were in-fact able to identify a specific adult who acted as a motivational factor for their pursuit of post-secondary academics; students could define attributes about this individual, which they deemed motivational; a differentiated and engaging relationship between the student and adult role-model participants developed; and due to the relationships cultivated in each student and adult-role model case, student participants were able to internalize how the actions exhibited by an adult-role model affected the adult-role model’s future and were therefore able to incorporate similar practices into their own lives in order to achieve successful outcomes of their own.

Access Type

Open Access

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