Congratulations to Zoraima Rosario-Rolon who on Thursday, October 15th, 2026 successfully defended her dissertation proposal.
The title of Zoraima's dissertation is, "MATTERING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE ASPIRING ACADEMIC ADJUNCT FACULTY'S EXPERIENCE."
The abstract of this study follows:
Overview of Problem: Colleges and universities increasingly depend on contingent faculty; yet, adjunct instructors frequently encounter low compensation, employment insecurity, limited institutional support, and exclusion from professional and social activities. These conditions may diminish their sense of mattering, psychological well-being, professional identity, engagement, and commitment to their academic communities. Research has focused primarily on adjunct faculty’s working conditions, job satisfaction, and belonging, leaving their lived experiences of mattering comparatively underexplored.
Research Purpose: This qualitative study aims to describe how aspiring academic adjunct faculty in Humanities and Education departments perceive mattering within their academic communities and how those perceptions relate to psychological well-being. Drawing upon Rosenberg and McCullough’s theory of mattering: this study seeks to uncover participants’ experiences of attention, dependence, importance, and ego-extension.
Research Design: The study uses interpretive inquiry as methodology with qualitative methods for research design, and Rosenberg and McCullough’s theory of mattering as analytic lens.
Sample: A purposive sample will include aspiring academic adjunct faculty teaching in Humanities or Education departments at public and private four-year colleges and universities. Participants will hold or are pursuing doctoral degrees; and aspire to full-time, tenure-track or non-tenure track, academic positions.
Data Collection: Data will be collected through semi-structured, 60 minutes interviews that allow participants to describe their experiences and psychological well-being in their own words. Participants will also have the option to provide an image that represents their perceived mattering within their academic community.
Dissertation Committee Chair:
Susan V. Iverson, EdD
Dissertation Committee Members:
Cindy Porter, EdD
Mindi Reich-Shapiro, PhD
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