Diversity and Your Department

Prime, D. R., Bernstein, B. L., Wilkins, K. G., & Bekki, J. M. (2015). Measuring the Advising Alliance for Female Graduate Students in Science and Engineering: An Emerging Structure. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(1), 64–78. (PDF)

This study finds that one way to retain women STEM students is through strong relationships with advisors. A strong bond with an instructor can allow the student to express whether or not they are getting the instrumental support and instruction they need. This study is helpful because it focuses on advising, an integral collegiate experience, rather than teaching.

Whittaker, J. A., & Montgomery, B. L. (2012). Cultivating Diversity and Competency in STEM: Challenges and Remedies for Removing Virtual Barriers to Constructing Diverse Higher Education Communities of Success. The Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 11, A44-A51. (PDF)

This study examines why there is a large divide between the success of minority students in Historically Black Colleges and majority colleges. Whittaker and Montgomery recommend programs to help minority students succeed based on efforts that have been successful. This is an even-handed overview and recommended for all readers.

Danielsson, A. T. (2012). Exploring woman university physics students "doing gender" and "doing physics." Gender and Education, 24(1), 25–39. (PDF)

This exploration of gender in the field of physics tries to differentiate itself from other studies of similar topics by focusing not on the differences between male and female students but on personal interviews with female physics students that get at the nuances of the experience. This article is very personable and serves to remind the reader that the individual people and their experiences are not just vehicles for statistics.