Kindergarten to Career: Turning Points in the Trajectories of Women of Color in STEMM

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: Women at Work: Troubling the Water in Education and Academia (Table 7)

Abstract

Efforts to address the systemic barriers faced by Women of Color in STEMM continue to be a national priority. Employing Careership, a sociological career development theory, this study examines key turning points throughout the educational and career trajectories of WOC in STEMM. Analyzing interviews of 39 women of color professionals in STEMM, turning points include structural, self-initiated, and forced, with many more self-initiated turning points identified during critical undergraduate and graduate years. This study has implications for critical areas of intervention throughout the entire educational and career trajectory, with more detailed recommendations for the transition into college and graduate education.

Author

• Krystle Cobian, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author