Date of Award
5-1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D. in Education
First Advisor
George S. McClellan
Second Advisor
Whitney T. Webb
Third Advisor
Janae FE. Willis
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Rural communities across the United States continue to experience population decline as young adults with postsecondary aspirations often leave their hometowns in pursuit of educational and economic opportunities. This migration, commonly referred to as rural brain drain, is often a result of the cumulative effects of limited access to postsecondary resources, career pathways, and community infrastructure that support rural retention. While extensive research documents the economic and educational dimensions of this phenomenon, fewer studies explore the influence of social, civic, and fraternal organizations on sustaining rural identity and fostering connection to place. This Dissertation in Practice proposes a study to examine the potential mitigating role of the Grange—formally known as the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry—a long-standing fraternal organization rooted in rural America. Through a qualitative inquiry grounded in Social Identity Theory (SIT) and the interconnected psychosociological concepts of place-based identity, belonging, kinship, and social capital, the study would investigate how membership in the Grange prior to and during undergraduate education may shape rural students’ perceptions of returning to or remaining in their home communities after earning a degree. Manuscript III offers the scholar-practitioner’s leadership philosophy and how that would shape the way in which she would lead if the study’s findings would suggest Grange students hold positive perceptions of returning to rural communities after college graduation, specifically identifying coalition-building, adaptive leadership, and frameswitching as frameworks that would inform response.
Recommended Citation
Brozana, Amanda Leigh, "Could Grange membership reduce brain drain?: Perceptions of student fraternal members on returning to rural America after graduation" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8802.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/8802