Self-Definition of Women Experiencing a Nontraditional Graduate Fellowship Program

Authors

Gayle A. Buck, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Yun Lu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vicki L. Plano Clark, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
John W. Creswell, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

5-1-2006

Comments

Published in JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, VOL. 43, NO. 8, PP. 852–873 (2006). Copyright © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Used by permission. Available online at http://www.interscience.wiley.com

Abstract

Women continue to be underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One factor contributing to this underrepresentation is the graduate school experience. Graduate programs in STEM fields are constructed around assumptions that ignore the reality of women’s lives; however, emerging opportunities may lead to experiences that are more compatible for women. One such opportunity is the Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12) Program, which was introduced by the National Science Foundation in 1999. Although this nontraditional graduate program was not designed explicitly for women, it provided an unprecedented context in which to research how changing some of the basic assumptions upon which a graduate school operates may impact women in science. This exploratory case study examines the self-definition of 8 women graduate students who participated in a GK–12 program at a major research university. The findings from this case study contribute to higher education’s understanding of the terrain women graduate students in the STEM areas must navigate as they participate in programs that are thought to be more conducive to their modes of self-definition while they continue to seek to be successful in the historically Eurocentric, masculine STEM fields.