Perceptions of African American women receiving an online doctoral degree

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represents my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

Today African American women are getting online doctorate degrees and according to the statistics the African American women are in a greater number of degree attainments as compared to the African American men. However, there are still hundred of African American women struggling to rise above the poverty line. There are hundreds to these females who want to learn wants to get educated, want to get a degree, but cannot due to many different reasons. Nonetheless, there are ones who are getting these degrees despite of all the obstacles and hurdles. According to Davis (1997) there are thousands of African American households which are headed by women. Half of these households consist of single mothers along with children where they have to earn and support her children. Women in these households are struggling to support her family as well as to finish education. In such cases these women cannot afford to go to a traditional classroom in order to complete their higher education. So to overcome this obstacle these women has taken the support of online education.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTi

DECLARATIONii

ABSTRACTiii

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

Problem Statement2

Research Aim & Objectives2

Research Questions3

Significance of the Research3

Layout of the dissertation3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Online Education5

Importance of online education6

Obstacles in education6

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY8

Overview8

Research Design8

Qualitative Research Method9

Secondary Data9

Research Philosophy10

References11

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In the year 1862, Mary Jane Patterson, the very first African American woman to be awarded with a Bachelors of Arts Degree made history. Since then, thousands of African American women had made significant accomplishments in the field of education. African American women are now CEO's of multinational organizations, they have excelled in the field of politics, medicine, education, entertainment, law, art and many others (Davis, 1997). Education is a very strong characteristic among many African American women because of their capabilities to rise above the obstacles and challenges and master goals (Green, 2005). The pathway to administer change is merely based upon breaking barriers and building bridges to success. Education is one of the most significant channels of change and in self-improvement. The NCES- National Center for Education and Statistics published statistical data on African American women and degrees. According to the stats in the NCES report sixty eight percent of African American women had associate's degrees, sixty six percent had bachelor's degrees, seventy one percent had master's degrees, and sixty five percent of them were awarded with doctorate degrees (NCES, 2009). African American women have realized a way to break all the barriers through ...