This dissertation is an exploration of leader identity development and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college academic classrooms. While there continues to be research promoting diversity in STEM professions, women remain underrepresented in STEM disciplines, leadership positions, and for this specific study, the…

In response to unwaveringly high attrition from STEM pathways, STEM Intervention Programs (SIPs) support STEM students in effort to increase retention. Using mixed methods (survey and focus groups), we studied students at one university who were either supported or unsupported by SIPs to understand how students may differ in experiences believed…

Even though there has been a narrowing of the gender gap in STEM, there is still a pronounced gap in the physical sciences, engineering, and computer science. Females who persist in these fields have a strong STEM identity, including developing specific STEM interests. Females can develop STEM identity through long-term, active involvement in…

This study puts forth the counternarrative of the first author Gislaine, a first-generation undergraduate student, Latina, and computer science major. Gislaine participated in a research internship and STEM mentorship program led by the second author, Meredith. Through this program, Gislaine designed and taught CS lessons to predominantly…

Individuals that experience imposter phenomenon harbor resilient doubts about their abilities (Thompson, Foreman, & Martin, 2000). According to Dr. Dena Haritos-Tsamitis (2019), the study of impostor phenomenon has revealed that the success regarding personal experiences were to 70% as defined their internal experience of intellectual…

Social group disparities persist in who chooses to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in higher education. Goal congruity theory has highlighted how perceptions of other-oriented opportunities in STEM can spur interest among underrepresented students. The present work extends this framework by considering how…

Black women undergraduates are represented in low numbers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Research studies have lacked data outlining the compounding effects of the intersectional, gendered, and racialized experiences they often face in their programs of study. Participation in kinship networks may be a critical…

Guided by a combination of LatCrit and intersectionality this study examined the challenges Latina Multilingual Learners' (ML) experienced in STEM and how their multiple marginalized identities (i.e. being Latina, female, and non-native English-speaker) and the oppression related to class, gender, race, and ethnicity influence their perspectives.…

A major concern in science education is how to help students form science identity to increase their aspiration for STEM careers. Given the key role of experiences in individual's science identity formation, STEM experiences related to project-based learning (PBL) have received increasing attention in recent years. The purpose of this study was to…

In "Belonging and Identity in STEM Higher Education," leading scholars, teachers, practitioners and students explore belonging and identity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and how this is impacted by disciplinary changes and the post-pandemic higher education context. In STEM fields, positivist…

Second-year students, also known as the forgotten class, receive the least attention of any undergraduate college class, making fewer contact points with faculty and garnering minimal support from student affairs staff. The second year of college represents different challenges than the first year, and at some institutions, a higher percentage of…

The integration of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) laboratory curricula has provided new avenues to engage students at all levels in discovery-based learning. Empirical research demonstrates that CUREs have the potential to foster students' development of…

Reported herein are the findings from a grounded study probing the impact of graduate student mentors in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research experiences for undergraduates (REU) program (2014-2016) in chemistry & chemical biology at an urban private research university on undergraduates' development through the lens of…

Latina high school students aspiring to careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) participated in the year-long Latina STEM Fellowship (LSF) program. A team of education professionals interviewed the students to better understand how these Latina students visualize a future STEM career, their perceived…

Much research on women of color in STEM has treated women of color as a collective, giving little attention to the nuanced differences in the experiences of the women within this larger group. Research on women of color in STEM has also given insufficient attention to disciplinary differences, and has often applied unidimensional, rather than…