Browsing by Author "Fisher, Gwen, committee member"
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Item Open Access A net-risk approach to displacement and reoccupation decision making(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Braley, Gerald Scott, author; Johnson, Thomas E., advisor; Brandl, Alexander, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Sudowe, Ralf, committee memberDecision makers and planners have a large body of information available concerning most aspects of a radiation disaster. International and national standards organizations, as well as national and local level policies and plans provide little guidance about the risks involved in relocating a population from a radiologically contaminated area. Populations displaced after all types of disasters have demonstrated poorer health outcomes, both physiological and psychological, than their non-displaced peers. These include a greater risk of diabetes and greater rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression when compared with other populations who experienced the disaster but were not relocated. Methodologies for population-level radiation dose prediction have improved, with recent data from contaminated areas in Japan providing real-world information about radiation doses. These improvements have not yet made their way into policies and guidance. The objective of this work is to quantify and incorporate multiple forms of risk, radiological and non-radiological, into a single model to improve decision making and minimize harm connected to displacement from and reoccupation of radiologically contaminated areas after a disaster.Item Open Access A policy-capturing study of preferences for differing training factors(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Willis, Colin, author; Kraiger, Kurt, advisor; Cleary, Anne, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Maynard, Travis, committee memberThe present study applied policy-capturing, a methodology in which subjects act as their own control, to assess the utility of 32 different training scenarios. These scenarios were composed from levels of four different cues, or components, of training: whether the trainee was a new hire or tenured employee, whether the training content taught human or technical skills, whether the training method was classroom-based, computer-based, a blend of the two, or mobile-based, and whether the learning occurred individually or as part of a group. These cues were fully crossed to build the scenarios, so that participants saw every possible combination of the cues across the scenarios. Participants, who on average reported working fulltime, being with their organization for at least six years, and taking over 30 training courses across their career, were asked to rate these scenarios on how useful the training would be for them and for their job and to give an overall rating to the scenario. Additionally, participants reported their prior training experience, motivation to learn, role conflict, role overload, role ambiguity, and age. It was hypothesized that: (a) Each cue would each explain a significant proportion of variance in scenario ratings; (b) participants would combine cues interactively, and these interaction terms would explain a significant proportion of variance in scenario ratings; (c) more motivated to learn participants would combine cues interactively more frequently than less motivated participants; (d) more potentially stressed individuals would prefer less restrictive training methods (i.e., computer-based or mobile-based methods); (e) more experienced participants would combine cues interactively more frequently than less experienced participants; and (f) scenario ratings would decrease as age increased. Results were modeled at two levels – between and within subjects – and the results supported the notion that potential trainees have stable preferences for different training scenarios, these preferences vary across prior training experience and motivation to learn, and conceptions about training are formed prior to training. These results support the future exploration of training preferences, specifically how other cues might influence preferences, whether these preferences influence later training evaluations, and whether designing future training to match, even generally, the preferences of trainees improves training learning or transfer outcomes.Item Open Access An exploration of Latine experiences of school and college readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a LatCrit and cultural wealth perspective(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Joachin, Vanessa S., author; Conner, Bradley, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee memberMarginalized communities, including Latine people, have historically been denied access to post-secondary education. This is not surprising when one considers that U.S. institutions of education were not conceived for People of Color. While enrollment trends for Latine college-bound students are promising, disparities persist. Latine communities still have higher rates of school attrition than non-Latine populations and the increase in high school graduation and college enrollment still lags non-Latine communities. While LatCrit and Community Cultural Wealth literature provide a valuable and comprehensive approach to understanding the experience of Communities of Color, cultural and social capital scholarship and deficiency thinking continue to be prevalent in current Latine education and college preparation research. Most research places the dominant (school or program) narrative at the center of studies. Additionally, COVID-19 brought national concern and discourse around accessible childcare, student health, and education loss as well as the exacerbated inequity in these domains on low-income and BIPOC students and families. Given that systematically created education gaps have always existed and disproportionately hurt BIPOC communities, it is important to understand the impact of COVID-19 on those established gaps, how BIPOC students and families navigate school during the pandemic, and how communities and institutions are supportive or hostile toward BIPOC students in their pursuit of education. This study used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis informed by LatCrit and Community Cultural Wealth frameworks to explore (a) how the pandemic has impacted the lives of Latine high school students, their families, and their communities (b) how the negative effects of the pandemic connect to systemic and historical oppression of the Latine community (c) the students' use of intrapersonal and community strengths to navigate school and post-school plans during the pandemic. The sample of Latine 11th and 12th grade students were predominantly low-income and self-identified as Latine. Data was analyzed by coding for meaning units and themes. Themes were organized using Nvivo software.Item Open Access Appraising organizational politics and support: challenging employees to engage(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Manning, Steven G., author; Byrne, Zinta, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Rickard, Kathryn, committee member; Ganster, Dan, committee memberOrganizational politics are an inevitable part of organizational life (Hochwarter, Ferris, Laird, Treadway, & Gallagher, 2010) and yet research has largely demonstrated that perceptions of politics are typically negative and, consequently, have a negative influence on employees (Bedi & Schat, 2013; Rosen & Hochwarter, 2014). Because politics are so prevalent – and indeed necessary – in organizations (e.g., Pfeffer, 1992), researchers have recently called for a broader perspective that considers the positive aspects of politics. Although some have forged new roads to examine the positive side of politics (Albrecht & Landells, 2012; Hochwarter, 2012), the journey has only just begun. Therefore, contributing to this line of research, the current study flips the focus on politics research from negative outcomes to positive by exploring when and how a negative perception of politics can lead to positive outcomes for employees and the organization. By experimentally manipulating participants' perceptions of politics and organizational support, I hypothesized that some work environments lead employees to perceive politics as a challenge stressor (Byrne, Manning, Weston, & Hochwarter, 2017; Cavanaugh, Boswell, Roehling, & Boudreau, 2000) encouraging them to act (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and increase engagement at work. Results of analyses using 258 participants demonstrates experimentally that organizational politics and organizational support impact participants' appraisals of the environment as challenging or hindering. Additionally, political environments are negatively associated with persisting on a frustrating task. This experimental study provides a nuanced and novel view of political environments without re-conceptualizing what organizational politics are, and helps to explain how employees perceive positive outcomes at work even though organizational politics are so prevalent and most often considered a negative influence at work.Item Open Access Electron paramagnetic resonance dosimetry and the use of Japanese wild boar tooth enamel as a dosimeter for reconstruction of lifetime external absorbed doses from the Fukushima Exclusion Zone(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Harshman, Amber, author; Johnson, Thomas E., advisor; Brandl, Alexander, committee member; Sudowe, Ralf, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee memberThe goal of this study was to establish characteristics of Japanese wild boar tooth enamel in the region of 0.25 – 12.0 Gy and to reconstruct external doses to wild boar native to the Fukushima Exclusion Zone using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Dosimetry. The significance of Japanese wild boar in their ecosystem and their position within the trophic hierarchy make the wild boar a species of particular importance and therefore the focus of this study. Dose response, linearity, and variability of enamel originating from various wild boar were investigated. Radiation dose response of Japanese wild boar tooth enamel in the range of 0.25 – 12.0 Gy was found to be linear, and the average variation in dose response between teeth originating from the same boar specimen was 30%. Analysis of dose response of permanent and deciduous tooth enamel revealed a statistically significant difference in both the degree of dose response and also variation. No statistically significant difference in dose response was found in permanent molar teeth of boar of differing ages or in boar of different sex. Doses were successfully reconstructed with large associated uncertainties. The critical level dose value for the calibration curve was 1.0 Gy, and the detection limit dose was 1.8 Gy, suggesting that this method would be more beneficial for boar with lifetime doses over 1 Gy. The method of reconstructing external doses using EPR dosimetry with tooth enamel from Japanese wild boar as dosimeters has proven to be a viable method which can be used to reconstruct doses to wildlife in accident-stricken areas in the absence of alternative dosimetry.Item Open Access Exploring former collegiate women athletes' experiences of emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Colley, Madison L., author; Steger, Michael F., advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Tompkins, Sara, committee member; Butki, Brian, committee memberHistorically, sport has been regarded as inherently good and beneficial in a variety of individual and societal domains; however, more recent research has begun to challenge this idea by examining one pervasive, negative practice within sport, emotionally abusive coaching practices. Emotionally abusive coaching practices are associated with a host of negative psychological, emotional, physical, social, educational, and sporting outcomes, with some lasting years after the athlete has left the competitive sporting role. Much of the literature examining the emotional abuse of athletes has focused on elite child athletes in Canada and the United Kingdom, with little to no research conducted in the United States (US) or on elite adult athletes. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine women athletes' perceptions of emotional abuse from a coach who is a man, the impact of emotional abuse on mental well-being and athletic performance, and the potential implications of power on athletes' perspectives and ability to report the abuse within collegiate sport in the United States. This study also aimed to examine the post-traumatic growth experiences, or lack thereof, in the years following the participants' exits from collegiate sport. Due to the relatively new and exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative approach was taken with a symbolic interactionist approach to grounded theory. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 former collegiate women athletes with 1-5 years distance from the competitive sporting role. Data was analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding techniques with adherence to the constant comparative method to ensure theoretical saturation. An additional coder was employed to ensure inter-coder reliability in data analysis. Three themes were identified in alignment with the research questions; the first being the impact on athletes during and after their athletic careers, the second being the ways that athletes made sense of their experiences, and the third being the post-traumatic growth experiences reported. Findings demonstrated that emotionally abusive coaching practices are associated with a variety of negative short- and long-term outcomes for former collegiate women athletes in the United States. Moreover, the perceived power held by the coach impacted the ways that athletes made sense of their experiences. Finally, post-traumatic growth experiences were observed in all athletes studied. This study highlights the detrimental impact of emotionally abusive coaching practices on athletes and reinforces the need for athlete protection mechanisms in collegiate sport in the United States.Item Open Access "Exposure to respirable crystalline silica during five OSHA Table 1 tasks and the effectiveness of dust controls, the contribution of background silica dust to personal exposures, and the use of a photometric instrument to assess silica dust exposure in real time"(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Cothern, Emily J., author; Brazile, William, advisor; Reynolds, Stephen, committee member; Autenrieth, Daniel, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee memberTo view the abstract, please see the full text of the document.Item Open Access Glass kickers: training men as allies to promote women in leadership(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Mattingly, Victoria Prescott, author; Kraiger, Kurt, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Henle, Chris, committee member; Rhodes, Matthew, committee memberDespite making up nearly half of today's workforce, women are disproportionately unrepresented in leadership roles—a phenomenon referred to as the glass ceiling. In an attempt to achieve workplace gender parity, organizations invest considerable resources in diversity and inclusion training programs. Such programs often fail to achieve intended outcomes, however, commonly placing the onus of responsibility on women themselves and neglecting to address the systemic cultural biases that perpetuate gender discrimination. With men holding the vast majority of leadership positions, they are in a position to use their power to advance women in leadership initiatives by actively supporting aspiring female leaders and serving as change agents to eradicate culturally embedded gender biases. The purpose of this research was to build and evaluate a training program that equips men to effectively serve as allies to women in the workplace. This randomly-assigned, treatment-control evaluation design used self- and other-report data to assess training effectiveness on skill-based, cognitive, and attitudinal outcomes. Data was collected from a sample of senior male leaders (n = 37) from a global manufacturing company. The results provided mixed support for increased frequency of trained ally behaviors, enhanced knowledge about workplace gender equality, and more favorable attitudes about the participants' role as allies to women in the workplace. This study provides a promising first step toward effectively inviting men into workplace gender equality initiatives, empowering them to break the glass ceiling from their position above in partnership with women trying to break it from below.Item Open Access Individual perceptions of culture and change: a unifying perspective on change-oriented organizational cultures(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Weston, James W., author; Byrne, Zinta, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Ganster, Dan, committee member; Graham, Dan, committee memberOrganizational change has become a mainstay for today's organizations. Yet, organizational change efforts overwhelmingly represent unsuccessful and stressful events for both organizations and employees. Much of the extant literature on organizational change focuses on a modified culture as an outcome of change, but this ignores the potential for organizational culture itself to facilitate organizational change efforts by engendering an inherent value for organizational change in employees before changes even happen. I propose that one potential solution to unsuccessful change efforts is for organizations to adopt a change-oriented culture, making change acceptable rather than an obstacle to overcome. Because a changed culture is the typical change outcome, existing organizational culture frameworks are broad and therefore address organizational change (e.g., adaptive culture in the competing values framework, or learning organizations) in a cursory manner. Furthermore, these broad frameworks were developed in parallel yet isolated streams of research; hence, their value for predicting organizational change outcomes is limited. Therefore, to address failing organizational change efforts and disjointed culture frameworks, I synthesize the facets of existing organizational culture frameworks that focus on change to create and define a change-oriented culture. Data from multiple samples of a total of 963 Amazon's Mechanical Turk workers were used to test the psychometric properties of a new measure of change-oriented organizational culture. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the relationship of change-oriented organizational culture to its nomological network above and beyond existing cultural frameworks. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that change-oriented culture directly relates to organizational change attitudes, turnover intentions, and organizational commitment; indirectly relates to change-related behaviors through readiness for change; and indirectly relates to perceptions of change success through resistance to change. Moreover, change-oriented organizational culture related to change-related attitudes and organizationally relevant outcomes significantly better than the adhocracy dimension of the competing values framework, the innovative dimension of Wallach's organizational culture measure, and perceptions of learning organizational culture. However, both change-oriented organizational culture and perceptions of learning organizational culture related to affective commitment to change and organizational commitment equally well. This study advances the organizational culture literature by proposing a new theoretical orientation to change – that the culture can facilitate change efforts rather than simply serve as an outcome of change interventions – and furthermore, provides a first attempt at defining and collecting empirical data to support the validity of a change-oriented culture dimension.Item Open Access Is judgment reactivity really about the judgment?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Myers, Sarah J., author; Rhodes, Matthew, advisor; Cleary, Anne, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Folkestad, James, committee memberA common research tool used to measure one's understanding of their own learning is to collect judgments of learning (JOLs), whereby participants indicate how likely they are to remember information on a later test. Importantly, recent work has demonstrated that soliciting JOLs can impact true learning and memory, referred to as JOL reactivity. However, the underlying cognitive processes that are impacted when learners make JOLs and that lead to later reactivity effects are not yet well-understood. To better elucidate the mechanisms that drive JOL reactivity, I examined how changing the method of soliciting JOLs impacts reactivity. In Experiment 1, I manipulated how long participants had to make their JOLs; in Experiment 2, I compared JOLs made on a percentage scale versus a binary (yes/no) scale; and in Experiment 3 participants were required to explain why they made some of their JOLs. Judgments that require or allow for more in-depth processing (i.e., longer time in Experiment 1, percentage scales in Experiment 2, explaining in Experiment 3) should require more effort from participants to make their judgments. If these more effortful judgments lead to larger reactivity effects, it would suggest that reactivity is driven by processes that occur when making JOLs. However, findings from the experiments did not support this account. Although some differences in reactivity effects were seen after making binary and explaining JOLs compared to percentage JOLs, the hypothesis that more cognitive effort would result in stronger reactivity was not supported. Therefore, results suggest that the mere presence of JOLs during study may cause a general shift in participants' learning approach, resulting in later JOL reactivity.Item Open Access Mental resources for achieving future plans: trajectories of future self-continuity, stressors, and performance outcomes in the workplace(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Finch, Hannah M., author; Prasad, Joshua, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Henry, Kim, committee member; Ganster, Dan, committee memberIn work settings, individuals are faced with tasks and challenges that can result in stress if not faced with adequate resources. This study aims to investigate Future Self Continuity (FSC) as a mental resource that describes how clearly one can link their present and future selves. The Job Demands-Resource theory describes the detrimental effects of lack of resources leading to stress and undermining behavior in an individual (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). This study originally aimed to examine how the experience of workplace stressors and engagement in work performance outcomes in young workers over the course of three months unfold, as well as how the trajectory of these constructs coincides with changes in FSC. However, results showed that there were no discernible trajectories over the course of three months, and variability in FSC, stressors, and workplace performance were assessed instead. In doing so, this study aims to introduce FSC to the literature on Occupational Future Time Perspective as a resource for organizations to be mindful of. Results show that FSC had a significant direct effect on mean workplace deviance, goal progress, intent to leave, and the variation in intent to leave. In addition, FSC variability had a significant direct effect on workplace deviance variability and intent to leave variability. These direct effects would indicate that FSC does in fact influence performance outcomes in the workplace but the lack of stressor-outcome buffering effects suggests FSC does not operate as a resource within Job-Demands Resources Theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017).Item Open Access Neutron fluence in a Howitzer drum and construction of a water moderated neutron irradiator(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Diaz Ruiz, Anilu S., author; Sudowe, Ralf, advisor; Johnson, Thomas, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee memberThe Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University is utilizing a variety of irradiators to study the effects of ionizing on materials and tissue. Two of these are neutron irradiators based on 1 Ci and 5 Ci plutonium/beryllium (PuBe) sources, respectively. Neutron activation analysis is utilized to measure the neutron fluence at various positions in a Neutron Howitzer containing the 5 Ci source and a water tank containing the 1 Ci source. By determining the neutron flux in both systems, neutron irradiation at different intensities will become available for future research at Colorado State University. Additionally, both the drum and tank will be excellent teaching tools as they demonstrate neutron moderation, neutron shielding, material activation, and fluence measuring. Manufactured by the Nuclear-Chicago Corporation, the Model NH-3 Neutron Howitzer Drum is constructed in such a fashion that the PuBe neutron source can be moved in and out of irradiation position. In the irradiation position, two samples may be exposed to neutrons from the source by placing them in one of two horizontal ports in the drum. Both drum and ports are shielded with paraffin, which allows moderation of the neutron flux to thermal energies. In the experimental study, multiple metal foils were activated in the drum by irradiating them up to the point of measurable activity. Using a High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector, the activity of the foils is quantified. The results of the measurements were used to calculate the neutron fluence using known neutron capture cross-sections. The calculated neutron fluence was then compared to the neutron fluence determined through a computational model of the drum using the Monte-Carlo N-Particle transport code (MCNP). Using the principles and methods practiced on the Howitzer drum, a water moderated neutron tank was constructed as a secondary neutron irradiator. The compared experimental and modeled neutron fluence spectrum in the drum were used to derive an effective model for total neutron fluence with respect to spacing from the inner end of the sample channel (x) of y = 69759e-0.17x and thermal neutron fluence of y = 12035e-0.176x.Item Open Access New evidence for age differences, within-person declines and plasticity in the aging white matter: new MRI techniques and analytical approaches(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Mendez Colmenares, Andrea, author; Thomas, Michael L., advisor; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z., advisor; Davalos, Deana, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Hamilton, Karyn, committee memberWhite matter deterioration leads to cognitive impairments in healthy aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related dementias. Therefore, it is critical to identify interventions that can slow the white matter deterioration. Animal studies have suggested that the white matter plays an active role in brain plasticity and learning. However, evidence for experience-induced plasticity in adult human white matter remains scarce and inconsistent, especially in older age. To accurately predict the effects of interventions on the white matter, we first need to understand the direction and magnitude of naturally occurring within-person changes across adulthood. To date, white matter in aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related dementias have been studied almost solely using diffusion MRI, which provides limited information about the white matter microstructure. Because there is little evidence of white matter plasticity in adult humans, white matter has rarely been considered as a target for interventions against dementia. This dissertation comprises three scientific articles investigating the mechanisms of white matter decline and plasticity. The first article presents a study using a novel technique (T1w/T2w imaging) to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on aging white matter in a randomized controlled trial. The second article is a meta-analysis and systematic review of within-person changes in white matter. The third article shows the first application of a multimodal fusion analysis to study healthy aging white matter. Through these innovative approaches, this dissertation provides new insights into the mechanisms of white matter decline and plasticity, paving the way for the development of effective interventions to promote healthy brain aging.Item Open Access Optimization of sustainability and resilience for transportation projects(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Kumar, Shantanu, author; Mehany, Mohammed Hashem, advisor; Grigg, Neil, committee member; Abdallah, Moatassem, committee member; Atadero, Rebecca, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee memberThe state of America's infrastructure is old and has been deteriorating and is in need for severe rehabilitation and maintenance. The population has been increasing which has increased the demand for new transportation projects over the last decade. Therefore, it is essential to not just construct new transportation projects but invest in the rehabilitation and maintenance of the existing infrastructure. The transportation sector has the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among all infrastructure projects. In the transportation sector, the roads and highways subsector have the highest associated emissions which calls for projects in this subsector to be more sustainable. Concurrently, it has been observed that the frequency of natural disasters has increased exponentially in the last few decades which has increased the need to be more resilient. Sustainability and resilience are intertwined but different concepts that need to be explored and analyzed together. Both sustainability and resilience have been quantified using a variety of different methods, and rating system have been one of the most common and widely used methods across the globe for infrastructure projects. In North America (especially the US), the ENVISION rating system created through join efforts of the Harvard graduate School of Design's Zofnass Program of Sustainable Infrastructure and the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure, has been the most widely used rating system for various infrastructure projects, especially transportation projects. Often, achieving sustainability and resilience is associated with a higher cost. This research proposed optimizing sustainability and resilience while minimizing the life cycle cost (LCC) and GHG emissions using the NSGA-II algorithm. It takes input of all possible strategies within the different dimensions of sustainability and resilience and uses the abovementioned algorithm to determine a list of pareto optimal solutions. These solutions represent a space of acceptable solutions which have high sustainability and resilience while also having low GHG emissions and LCC. This model is intended to assist stakeholder in making decisions to improve the sustainability and resilience while promoting a life cycle thinking. It also provides a unique database creation idea for keeping all sustainable and resilient strategies for different infrastructure projects in one place which can promote an open access feature as more transportation agencies and stakeholders buy-in to the idea of using this model.Item Open Access Promoting psychosocial health and empowerment among female sex workers in Nepal: a pilot peer education intervention(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Menger, Lauren Marie, author; Stallones, Lorann, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Kaufman, Michelle, committee member; Ryan, Elizabeth, committee memberAcross contexts, female sex workers (FSWs) may be exposed to varying degrees and combinations of risks in their work, including but not limited to long hours, poor working conditions, disease transmission, unplanned pregnancy, violence, drug and alcohol use and abuse, debt, and various forms of harassment, discrimination, and exploitation. It is likely that the risks associated with sex work are greater in developing countries where sex workers have a low and stigmatized status, minimal capacity to earn an adequate income, limited level of control regarding clients accepted and services rendered, and restricted access to sufficiently resourced health and other services and support structures. The sex industry in Nepal is synonymously referred to as the entertainment sector. Women in the entertainment sector (WES) in Nepal are vulnerable to an array of occupational risks, which compromise their psychosocial health and empowerment, in turn limiting their ability to thrive and engage in protective behaviors. The present study involved the pilot test of a peer education intervention in collaboration with a non-governmental organization (NGO) to empower and promote the psychosocial and occupational health of WES in Kathmandu, Nepal. Ten WES were trained as peer educators (PEs) and, through formal and informal teaching opportunities, reached over 140 FSWs with psychosocial health promotion messages. In addition to a detailed literature review, method, and discussion, this dissertation comprises three manuscripts. The first manuscript presents results from a quasi-experimental pre/post evaluation with 160 WES, including those who were (n = 96) and were not (n = 64) exposed to the PEs, to assess the impact of the program on psychosocial and occupational health and empowerment outcomes. Results indicate that WES who were exposed to the psychosocial health promotion messages of the PEs reported significantly improved psychosocial health knowledge and perceived self-efficacy, ability to access resources, happiness, and job control compared to WES who were not exposed to the PEs. The second manuscript presents results from a mixed-methods evaluation to assess the feasibility of the program and its impact on the psychosocial and occupational health and empowerment of the 10 WES trained as PEs. PEs were surveyed at baseline, immediately post intervention, after 2-months, and after 10-months to evaluate psychosocial and occupational health, empowerment, and peer education efficacy. Upon completion of the program, one-on-one exit interviews were conducted with nine of the PEs and two field staff from the partner NGO to solicit more in-depth feedback about the program. PE survey results indicate the program had a significant impact on some aspects of psychosocial health and empowerment, with positive trends on many other variables. Exit interviews revealed additional positive impacts of the program, including enhanced confidence and communication skills and increased self-awareness and self-care behaviors. Overall, the findings presented in these two manuscripts suggest peer education is both a feasible and promising means to enhance the psychosocial and occupational health and empowerment of WES in Nepal. The third manuscript details the processes implemented in this pilot study. Peer education methods have been established as a promising way to reach FSWs and other vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations with health promotion programming; however, there is scant published information about how such programs are designed and implemented. This lack of process information contributes to poor clarity regarding how to effectively develop and execute peer education programs and increases the propensity for repetition among failed strategies. Using this pilot program as an example, this manuscript offers an in-depth vantage point into the black box of peer education by outlining the specific steps taken while designing, implementing, and evaluating the program. While considering each phase of the project, the challenges encountered along the way as well as the effective strategies implemented to overcome them are reviewed, with a focus on offering practical tips and strategies. Conclusions and a summary of recommendations for those interested in implementing similar programs are discussed. These three manuscripts as a whole can be used to inform future interventions aiming to enhance the psychosocial and occupational well-being and empowerment of sex workers and other vulnerable and hard-to-reach working populations through peer education methods.Item Open Access The experience of career change driven by a sense of calling: an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Ahn, Jina, author; Dik, Bryan J., advisor; Rickard, Kathryn, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Eakman, Aaron M., committee memberThe present study used a qualitative methodology to examine how a sense of calling is related to the career change process. Interviews were conducted with eight career changers who perceived their career transition as a way to fulfill a calling. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), eight categories were elicited: prior to career change, pre-transition period, process of discerning a calling, definition of calling, challenges of pursuing a calling-infused career, ways of dealing with challenges, impact of a calling-infused career change, and unique aspects of a calling-infused career change. Generally, interviewees were satisfied with their calling-infused career transitions and reported greater levels of well-being in the area of work and personal life. In-depth self-exploration and making meaning from challenging experiences were addressed as a way to discern a calling. Interviewees defined calling as a source of fulfillment, a way to serve the greater good at work, a spiritual conviction that one is doing what one is meant to do, and a part of one’s identity. As unique characteristics of calling-infused career change, interviewees indicated that their career changes happened with altruistic motives and in the pursuit of intrinsic rewards. Interviewees also reported feeling blessed to be able to live out their calling and viewed pursuing a calling as an ongoing process.Item Open Access The influence of trust, self-confidence and task difficulty on automation use(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Patton, Colleen E., author; Clegg, Benjamin, advisor; Wickens, Christopher, committee member; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Ortega, Francisco, committee memberAutomation can be introduced statically or dynamically to help humans perform tasks. Static automation includes always-present automation types, whereas in dynamic automation, the presence of automation is controlled by another source, typically a human. In static automation, trust, automation accuracy, task difficulty and prior experience with the automation all contribute to the human dependence on the automation. In the dynamic literature however, a small body of research suggests that accuracy and task difficulty do not impact the decision to use automation, but a combination of trust and self-confidence does. The difference between the influence (or lack thereof) of task difficulty in static and dynamic automation is unusual, and prior literature does not make a strong case as to why this difference exists. Through three experiments, the influences of task difficulty, prior experience, trust, self-confidence, and their interactions are investigated. Experiment 1 used a dual task warehouse management paradigm with a lower-workload and higher-workload version of the task. Results indicated that trust-self-confidence difference was related to automation use, such that higher trust and lower self-confidence led to more use. Additionally, the difficulty manipulation did not have an impact on automation use, but self-confidence did not change across the two levels of difficulty. Experiment 2 investigated four levels of difficulty through a dynamic decision making task with participants detecting hostile ships. There was a difference in automation use at the easiest and most difficult levels, indicating that if the task difficulty difference is salient enough, it may influence automation use. The trust-self-confidence relationship was also present here, but these measures were only collected at the end of the task so their influence across the difficulty levels could not be measured. Experiment 3 used the same paradigm as Experiment 2 to investigate how perceived difficulty, as compared to objective difficulty, influences automation use. Results indicated that perceived workload influenced automation use, as did the change the trust-self-confidence difference. The findings of these experiments provide insight into how trust and self-confidence interact to influence the choice to use automation and provide novel evidence for the importance of workload in discretionary automation use decisions. This suggests the importance of consideration of human operator perceptions and beliefs about a system and of themselves when considering how often automation will be used. These findings create a foundation for a model of influences on automation use.Item Open Access Validating and implementing the informal learning behavior scale(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Willis, Colin Michael Groden, author; Kraiger, Kurt, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Cleary, Anne, committee member; Maynard, Travis, committee memberThe present study developed and tested a measure of informal learning behaviors for the workplace. Informal learning refers to any learning that occurs outside of formal and structured instructional settings. The literature has recently called for validated and reliable measures of informal learning, following a growing body of evidence that informal learning is both extremely prevalent in the workplace and important to high performance at work. Two connected studies were conducted to address this gap in the literature. In the first, a thorough literature review was conducted to identify a subset of informal learning that was intentional and observable at work. Six dimensions of informal learning were proposed to meet these criteria: planning, socializing, reflecting, experimenting, adapting, and scanning. Items were written and reviewed by subject matter experts. Participants were recruited from a research pool and an online MTurk pool to respond to the initial set of items and several additional scales used for convergent and discriminant validation. Analyses found strong support for a 23-item, five-factor model combining the planning and scanning dimensions and strong relationships between the dimensions and metacognition, motivation to learn, learning goal orientation, and a prior informal learning scale. Conversely, there were weak or negative relationships between the dimensions and prove performance goal orientation, as hypothesized. The second study was conducted to confirm the 23 item, five-factor model of the scale in a new, organizational sample and collect additional validity evidence by testing a model linking informal learning to self-regulation, support for learning, and job performance. Participants completed measures of the informal learning behavior scale, sleep quantity and quality, occupational self-efficacy, and support for learning in the organization. Responses were then matched to archival performance data. Analyses confirmed the hypothesized structure of the scale but found only some support for the proposed model. Sleep had no impact on either occupational self-efficacy or informal learning behaviors. Perceived support for learning was not related to informal learning behaviors. Occupational self-efficacy was related to informal learning, and the experimenting dimension predicted both job performance and job potential. The resulting scale is a reliable measure of five informal learning behavioral dimensions with a developing body of validity evidence supporting its use.