Date of Award

Spring 8-1-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

First Advisor

I. Michael Shuff

Second Advisor

Matthew R. Draper

Third Advisor

Veanne Anderson

Abstract

A multiple-case-qualitative approach was used to examine the lives of women who overcame lives of poverty. Participants were chosen from a pool of students in the Midwestern portion of the United States who previously participated in the Educational Talent Search program, a division of Upward Bound, that assists low income and at-risk students in attending college. Numerous themes were obtained from the data; however, the overarching theme for this study included the process of change. Specifically, the women spoke about the decisions they made to overcome poverty and thus begin referring to themselves as "successful." In order to provide further richness for this study, participants' experiences were compared and contrasted to the lives of similar women within the existing literature.

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