The Impostor Syndrome and Black Women in STEM: A Study Across Two Global Contexts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Learning and Using Mixed Methods Research to Explore Intersections of Identity and Experience (Table 2)

Abstract

In this paper we engage a social-ecological framework to examine the experiences of Black women science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields within two global contexts: the US and the Caribbean. Working across methodological orientations by adopting a mixed methods research stance, we integrated qualitative and quantitative findings from 20 semi-structure interviews to detail how participants describe their experiences with the impostor syndrome, relay the significance of relational dynamics, and detail how they navigate psycho-social barriers. This transnational study contributes to the limited research on the experience of Caribbean Black women in STEM and illuminates the unique experience of Black womanhood based on their global context.

Authors

• Marsha E. Simon, Valdosta State University

• Talia Randa Esnard, University of the West Indies - St. Augustine