Research

Our Research

Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions

  • The work was supported by a five-year, $1.26 million National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award #2045802 (University of Houston) and #2343939 (Texas A&M University).
  • The project sought to identify and understand key factors that promoted and hindered the success of Latina STEM majors at HSIs in Texas. The research findings were expected to support mentoring strategies to increase intersectionality in STEM across the nation.
  • The study employed qualitative methods, through a multi-case study approach, including interviews and focus groups, examining the experiences of Latina students in STEM majors from the start of college through after graduation.
  • Key personnel / research team: Dr. Elsa Gonzalez (investigator), Dr. Emma C. Perez (project manager), and Dr. Liliana Bravo (postdoctoral research associate).

This material was based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers 2045802 and 2343939. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material were those of the author(s) and did not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Voices of Latina medical students: A case study on resilience and culture

  • The goals of this study are centered around the racial inequalities within the United States medical education system.
  • Contrary to the deficit, leaky pipeline perspective, this study seeks to understand what strategies worked for Latina medical students and the contexts that supported their journeys.
  • This qualitative case study addressed systemic barriers by evaluating medical school pipeline activities and applying a framework that contended resilience and culture contributed to Latina medical student success.
  • The project had funding support from the University of Houston’s Underrepresented Women of Color Coalition.
  • Research team: Dr. Elsa Gonzalez (College of Education & Human Development, Texas A&M University PI), Dr. Kenya Steele (UH College of Medicine, co-PI) and Caitlin Deis (UH College of Education, investigator)

Presentation & Papers

Key Publications

Gonzalez, E., Fernandez, F., & Wilson, M. (Eds). (2020). An Asset-Based Approach to Advancing Latina Students in STEM: Increasing Resilience, Participation, and Success. New York, NY: Routledge.

Gonzalez, E. (2020). Foreword: Understanding Latina/o resilience [Special issue]. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(8), 791-795. https://doi-org.srv-proxy1.library.tamu.edu/10.1080/09518398.2020.1783016

All Publications

Perez, E. C., Gonzalez, E. M., & Sanchez Hernandez, I. (2024). Resilience in action through culture: Latinas successfully navigating STEM spaces at an HSI. Education Sciences, 14(8), 848. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080848

Perez, E.C., Gonzalez E., White, J.A., Deis, C.A., Pacheco, H., & Corral, J. (2024). Servingness in Action: Peer mentoring among Latinas in STEM. In J. Gutierrez, R. Banda, N. Grafnetterova, J. Lujan, & A. M. Flowers (Eds.), Student Success and Intersectionality at Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Policy and Practice. Palgrave-Macmillian.

Gonzalez, E. & Perez, E. C. (2024). Latina resilience in engineering: Strategies of success in a Hispanic serving institution. In L. Perez-Felkner, S. L. Rodriguez, & C. Fluker (Eds.), Latin* students in engineering: An intentional focus on a growing population. Rutgers University Press.

Deis, C., Gonzalez, E., & Perez, E.C. (2023). Roots of cultural resilience: A case study on the resilience of Latinx medical students. Journal of Latinos and Education, 23(4), 1333-1346. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2023.2263783

Corral, J., Pacheco, H., Perez, E. C., & Gonzalez, E. (2023, May 17-20). Practice-based Servingness: Mentoring Latinas in STEM in HSIs using strategies of success [Poster presentation]. Annual International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI), Urbana, IL, United States.

Gonzalez, E. & Perez, E. C.  (2023, April 13-6). Are HSIs in Texas Serving Latinas in STEM? In L. Leyva (Chair), Servingness in STEM education for Latiné/a/o/x/* students across Hispanic-Serving Institutions [Symposium]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, United States.

Perez, E. C., Gonzalez, E., Sanchez Hernandez, I., & Corral, J. (2023, February 23-25). Embracing Latina Learners’ Assets in STEM (ELLAS) in Texas [Presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE), Houston, TX, United States.

Gonzalez, E., & Perez, E. C. (2022, June 29). CAREER: Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions NSF Award # 2045802 [Paper and poster presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Gonzalez, E., & Perez, E. C. (2022, June 29). Towards Enacting Hispanic-Servingness within Engineering [Panel presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Gonzalez, E. & Perez, E. C. (2022, April 21).  Latina Resilience in STEM, Strategies of Success in a Texas Hispanic-Serving Institution [Symposium presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Diego, CA, United States.

Gonzalez, E. & Perez, E. C. (2021, November 3-6). Latina Resilience in STEM and the impact of COVID, Strategies of Success in Hispanic Serving Institutions. [Poster presentation].  Transforming STEM Higher Education, Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU), virtual.

Research presentations above were based on the project (award #2045802) funded by the National Science Foundation.