Special education services are crucial for enhancing outcomes and well-being among autistic students. Unfortunately, many racially and ethnically minoritized and girl autistic youth face challenges in timely and accurate identification. National-level data reveal autism prevalence rates differ across student gender, race, and ethnicity hindering…

Despite much effort by engineering education scholarships to make engineering more inclusive, women are still underrepresented in engineering. Women earn less than 30% of the bachelor's degrees in engineering. However, when we examine the intersectionality between gender and race/ethnicity, the lack of representation in certain groups of women…

This study focused on the issue that women are underrepresented in higher education executive and senior leadership roles at four-year colleges and universities in the United States (Dominici et al., 2009; Ginsberg et al., 2019; Gomez, 2020; Hannum et al., 2015; O'Conner, 2019; Smith, D., 2017; Teague 2015). A theoretical framework of…

Latina women are underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) education majors and careers (NCES, 2019); Thus, broadening representation of Latinas in STEM is critical to diversify the workforce and to promote innovation and advancement. Past work with Latina college students has shown that contextual experiences (i.e.,…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which ethnicity/race and economic status are related to the assignment of exclusionary discipline consequences and to the number of days assigned to exclusionary discipline consequences to Grades 4 and 5 girls. In the first study, the extent to which differences…

This study examined phenomenal gender and racial representation disparities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields -- specifically, a convergent parallel mixed study of the factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women and minorities. The research participants totaled 657 and included college students…

Women and racially and ethnically minoritized populations are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Out-of-school time programs like summer camps can provide positive science experiences that may increase self-efficacy and awareness of STEM opportunities. Such programs often use the same high-impact…

Physics is known for its emphasis on innate brilliance as a prerequisite for disciplinary membership and success. Women, Black, Latine, and Indigenous individuals remain vastly underrepresented and marginalized in physics spaces, a reality that is due in part to oppressive stereotypes that position them as less inherently intelligent than their…

Undergraduates' use of academic libraries is associated with academic achievement, but library research resources are underutilized, and little is known about what factors contribute to students' use of these resources. A random sample of undergraduate students from a historically women's college in the United States (N = 207; 59.2% white; 87.7%…

Although there is a great demand for graduates in computing fields, companies frequently struggle to find enough workers. They may also grapple with obtaining racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in representation. It has been suggested that the hiring process further contributes to these inequities. This study examined undergraduate computing…

This meta-analysis synthesizes research on using ingroup role models to improve the performance and interest of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A systematic literature search resulted in forty-five studies that met the selection criteria, including the presence of a comparison group. Both lab and…

Backgrounds: This study examined how developing an engineering identity through the interplay between interest, recognition, and performance/competence beliefs and establishing a sense of belonging supported women's persistence beliefs in engineering. Persistence belief in this study is captured through women's certainty of graduating with an…

The problem addressed by this study was disparities in the STEM professional and scholastic pipelines persist and are exacerbated by the underrepresentation of females and Black populations, indigenous populations, and people of color (BIPOC) in a variety of STEM fields. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine teachers'…

Politicians, legislators, and educational policy decision-makers are in agreement with education scholars that the enrichment and productivity of creative businesses, technological innovations, medical advancements, and a sustained global competitiveness are contingent on a nation acquiring a robust STEM-ready workforce. The problem addressed in…

Despite policy changes and targeted outreach, issues of under-representation persist for women and minorities in science fields. Previous research has explored extrinsic motivational factors for underrepresented groups in both formal educational settings. However, little research has investigated intrinsic motivation within informal educational…