The demographics of people attending higher education institutions are changing as more women enroll and complete their studies. Initially not designed to educate women, and certainly not Black women, institutions of higher education do not show interest in exploring ways in which they could make their campuses more inclusive to Black women.…

One of the many aims of colleges and universities is helping students to develop leadership knowledge and skills in a global world. This is recognized to be a complex goal that, among other influences, involves identity development and how students understand themselves as leaders. Developing a leadership identity is a multifaceted process that…

This study examines how collegiate climates and practices can promote innovation capacities among an international longitudinal sample of undergraduate women. Using a pre-test/post-test quantitative design with a reliable and valid dependent measure of innovation capacities, this study employs structural equation modeling to robustly estimate…

Research is needed for us to be able to understand how Women of Color make meaning of their experiences in women's studies, especially Black women, whose experiences have not always been centered within women's studies (Elfman, 2009). Furthermore, it is important to distinguish Women of Color from Black women when investigating their lived…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to explore how college students from the United States describe the motivational factors that influence them to seek a degree in computer science. There is a gap in the research that shows a need to look at the motivations of women from their first experiences in computer science to begin and…

College students have long engaged in various forms of protest and dissent about both structural and human oppression appearing in the form of racial and social injustice, gender inequity, laws, war, and politics. Situating student activism in the context of student learning and identity development is key to fulfilling the role of higher…

Motivated by ongoing gender disparities in engineering, the authors qualitatively examine how collegiate STEM student organizations serve as affirming spaces for women's engineering identity development, countering their exclusionary classroom environments. Drawing from interviews and written data with 24 undergraduate women, findings demonstrate…

This study was conducted at a small public university located in New Mexico, in the southwest area of the United States. The purpose of the study was to understand persistence to degree attainment of undergraduate nontraditional Hispanic women (NTHW) students at an institution which is Hispanic-serving (HSI). Challenges for NTHW students on the…

There is a lack of significant literature that highlights the lives of students who identify as Black women who are also first-generation college students. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the impact higher education has on the development of the sense of self of first-generation Black women. More specifically, this study sought…

A considerable gap exists in understanding the educational and career trajectories of Latina students attending rural postsecondary institutions. Although the number of rural students entering college has increased, their experiences and the factors influencing their academic success and future careers have been largely overlooked. Research on…

Background: Although a large body of research has identified challenges faced by women in STEM fields and strategies to improve the experience for women in STEM, little of this research has examined which strategies undergraduate women would recommend to their peers. In the current study, undergraduate women in STEM fields (N = 89) wrote letters…

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…

Undergraduate summer field programs are valuable experiences that can foster or reduce students' self-efficacy, an important factor in students' success and retention in geoscience. Growing research findings show that science field experiences can be hostile and unwelcoming to students with marginalized identities, which may negatively impact…

This dissertation explored how former Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women athletes made meaning of their undergraduate experience and how it influenced their post-graduate lives. The study research questions focused on three areas: a) how participants constructed meaning from their athletic experiences and what role…

College students who experience dating violence (DV) often report detrimental impacts to their academic, social, and personal lives that influence their retention and persistence in higher education (e.g., Wood et al., 2020). To address the negative impacts of DV, higher education leaders and practitioners must focus on promoting healing among…