Aisha Farra, Aashika Anantharaman, Sarah Swanson, Kerrie Wilkins-Yel, Jennifer Bekki, Nedim Yel, Ashley Randall, Bianca Bernstein
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study examined how advisor support, support from within one’s STEM milieu, and feelings of belonging in STEM influenced international doctoral women’s STEM persistence and psychological well-being. It was guided by an Intersectionality framework (Collins, 2002; Crenshaw, 1991), and our sample consisted of 118 international women students enrolled in U.S. based STEM doctoral programs. Path analysis revealed that the direct effects of advisor alliance on STEM persistence intentions, perceived support on belonging, and belonging on STEM persistence intentions were positive and significant while the direct effect of belonging on psychological distress was negative and significant. Results of our mediation analysis indicated that belonging was a statistically significant pathway in deepening our understanding of the relationship between support and psychological distress as well as with STEM persistence intentions. Overall, these results indicated that institutional support and feelings of belonging positively influenced international women doctoral students’ mental health and STEM persistence. Implications and recommendations for how STEM faculty can better support international women doctoral students are discussed.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering (JWM) publishes original, peer-reviewed papers that report on empirical investigations covering a variety of topics related to achieving inclusion of historically underrepresented and minoritized populations in science and engineering education, academe, and professional practice. These populations include those who identify as people of color, white women, first generation college students, veterans, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and the intersections of these and other identities. The journal especially welcomes research manuscripts that use theoretical frameworks and methodologies appropriate to the study of underrepresented and marginalized populations and/or use intersectional approaches. The journal also publishes studies on novel educational innovations that hold promise for transferability to other contexts.