COLLEGE PARK, MD (February, 2016) The doctoral dissertation penned by Dr. Steve D. Mobley, Jr., a recent graduate of the College of Education, has met with an extraordinary reception in the academic community.
The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) will present Dr. Mobley, Jr. with its 2016 Outstanding Dissertation Award, which recognizes substantial contributions to the literature and field of higher education, at its annual conference in San Francisco on March 15, 2016. Dr. Mobley, Jr. has also garnered a 2016 Dissertation of the Year Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE), which he will accept at that organization’s annual conference, held April 7 - 9 in Long Beach, California.
The dissertation, entitled Difference Amongst Your Own: The Lived Experiences of Low-Income African-American Students and Their Encounters with Class within Elite Historically Black College (HBCU) Environments, was co-chaired by Dr. Francine Hultgren, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, and former faculty member Dr. Noah Drezner. It was nominated for the NADOHE dissertation award by the co-chairs, along with dissertation committee member Dr. Kimberly Griffin.
While there have been an array of studies that depict how low-income Black students navigate elite predominately White institutions (PWIs), empirical research that underscores how these students navigate elite historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is non-existent.
Difference Amongst Your Own uses hermeneutic phenomenology to directly grapple with the impact that social class differences have on the undergraduate experiences of low-income African-American students who attend elite HBCUs. The study shifts scholarly discourses on HBCUs by taking a deliberate look into how Black intra-racial socioeconomic differences impact their institutional cultures and student experiences. Ultimately, Dr. Mobley, Jr. argues that neither HBCUs nor their students are a monolithic group.
The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education is the preeminent voice for diversity officers in higher education, disseminating empirical research to inform diversity initiatives, providing professional development, and informing and influencing national and local policies. The American Association of Blacks in Higher Education pursues the educational and professional needs of African Americans in higher education with a focus on leadership, access, and vital issues impacting students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
Steve Mobley, Jr. received his Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership with a concentration in higher education from the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education in 2015. He is currently Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. In August 2016, he will join the faculty of the University of Alabama as an assistant professor of higher education administration. His research focuses on the contemporary placement of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), particularly the understudied facets of HBCU communities, including issues surrounding race, social class, and student sexuality.
Dr. Francine Hultgren is a professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership. Her scholarship draws upon the foundations of phenomenology and hermeneutics to make interpretive sense of the lived realities of teachers and students. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from The Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Noah Drezner, now an associate professor of higher education at Teachers College of Columbia University, was previously a faculty member of the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education. His research examines philanthropy and fundraising as it pertains to colleges and universities, including higher education's role in the cultivation of prosocial behaviors.
Dr. Kimberly Griffin is an associate professor of student affairs in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education. Prior to earning her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Griffin worked in higher education administration, focusing on diversity recruitment, admissions, and retention. Her research primarily looks at the access, experiences, and outcomes of underrepresented communities in higher education; diversity within the Black higher education community; and the nature and influence of faculty-student relationships and mentoring.
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