Microaggressions, Marginality, and the Graduate Student Experience in STEM at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Participation of Marginalized Students in STEM

Abstract

This study explores graduate students of color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign experiences with microaggressions. To maintain global standing and provide support for a growing workforce, strengthening the STEM pipeline for underrepresented minorities is integral. Advance training such as graduate education is an important component of this effort. Devoted to training the next generation of scholars for the professional role, the academic department sits at the apex of the graduate student experience, an environment, in STEM, that’s not culturally diverse. In this study, it was found that graduate student experiences were consistent with previous research on racial and gender-based microaggressions. Of all microaggressions perceived, microinvalidations were communicated as most prevalent.

Author

• Randi Congleton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign