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…

This study explored how Black women described their experience pursuing a PhD for professional and personal growth. It aimed to provide a valuable resource for Black women considering or currently undertaking doctoral education by offering insights into the experiences of their peers. Furthermore, the research sought to inform decision-making…

This study examined the impacts of long-term exposure of outdoor adventure programming (OAP) for adolescent girls. This qualitative study shares the stories of the 8th grade students at the French Broad River Academy for girls, which is a private middle school that integrates OAP into its curricula located in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.…

Along the P-16 continuum, intersecting systems of oppression work to invisiblize, dismiss, and disparage Latina first-generation students' existing sources of knowledge, identity, and culture, resulting in long-term visible and invisible harm to their growth and well-being. Despite significant gains in higher education enrollment in the last two…

Maintaining adolescents' engagement with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in and out of school may help ensure that adolescents are prepared to enter the STEM workforce. This study aims to extend prior work by documenting internal and external factors that matter for both STEM class engagement as well as engagement with STEM…

Prior research has indicated that students in the undergraduate physics lab divide work inequitably with regard to gender. In this work, we further probed women's experiences in lab group work, focusing on women who take on managerial and leadership roles in the lab. We interviewed and surveyed women enrolled in a sophomore-level project-based lab…

The global lack of student motivation towards learning science and gender imbalance in STEM careers provided the impetus for this study, which had two key aims: (1) to examine the influence of female students' perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment on their motivation towards and self-regulation in science learning,; and (2) to…

National efforts have been made to increase STEM participation among racially marginalized individuals (Ro & Loya, 2015). However, women, especially African American women, remain underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly in engineering and computer science disciplines. The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study was to…

Nurturing students' leadership is a crucial element in the twenty-first century due to its effects on their personal growth, well-being and self-awareness. Peer mentoring programmes promoted students' confidence levels and provided leadership development opportunities for them. The majority of peer mentoring studies often looked into the positive…

This article explores 210 Latinx high school student's perceptions of school counseling activities. Using content analysis, researchers analyzed students' written answers regarding their perceptions of school counseling activities. The researchers found that Latinx students believed academic and career interventions as most important, while those…

Current research on ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development among Black youth derives primarily from studies that focus on the impact of parental racial socialization from a racial/monoidentity perspective without accounting for the roles of youth's other worlds (i.e., schools, classrooms, and peers) and the intersection of their social…

Despite the fact that approximately half of high school physics students are female, only 21% of physics bachelor's degrees are awarded to women. In a previous study, drawn from a national survey of college students in introductory English courses, five factors commonly proposed to positively impact female students' choice of a physical science…

This study explores relationships between experiences in initial education, subsequent life experiences/opportunities and the decision to return to education later in life. Semi-structured interviews with seven female returners to education, focused initially upon the women's perceptions of their aspirations and motivations at various ages, how…

Research has highlighted the challenges that women face as mature-age students in higher education. The challenges are particularly acute when a woman is the first in her family to go to university. Many women begin their journey as students with considerable self-doubt and lack of confidence. They may also face an ongoing struggle to find a way…

The purpose of this study was to explore women students' experiences and reactions to a core Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) class cross-listed with Women's Studies (WS). Using 6 focus groups with 22 women, we found that the course increased "awareness of gender" (Theme A) but was limited partially because of patriarchical beliefs,…