Multiple Intersectionalities among Faculty in STEM: An Arts-Informed Exploratory Study (MiaFS)

Lead Staff:

Nuria Jaumot-Pascual
Mia Ong
Lisette Torres-Gerald

Summary

MIaFS is a study that focuses on the lived experiences of faculty and higher education professionals of color in STEM and STEM education who identify as members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, through the use of photo elicitation and other arts-informed methods. This study is informed by the theoretical frames of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) and of Queer Critical Theory (QueerCrit) (Misawa, 2010. With this study, we will address gaps in the literature and build upon existing knowledge related to unique barriers and factors that have influenced and supported the persistence in STEM and STEM education of faculty and higher education professionals of color who identify as members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community. This study intends to contribute in uncovering the systems that uphold systems of racial/ethnic and gender/sexual oppression and address the dearth of empirical research on these topics.

Research Activity

The research plan includes three main steps:

Photo/art elicitation interviews. The project’s team will ask participants to take photographs or create art that represent their experiences in STEM and STEM education academia. Then, these photographs and art will be used to elicit conversation in an interview. Participants who complete the interview will receive a $200 stipend.

Optional activities. Once we have conducted interviews with all the participants, we would like to organize two additional activities with them, if they are interested: an online art symposium and a focus group. These activities will only take place if the study participants are interested. The stipend will not be dependent on participation in these two activities.

Online art symposium. After we interview all study participants, we will work with participants to organize an online art gallery and event where the public will be able to view the artwork and photos, read the captions, and ask participants questions. The specific format and platform for the symposium will be decided closer to an agreed upon date in the fall.
Member-check focus group. Once we have done the interviews and art symposium, we would like to do a group interview to engage in a conversation about the artwork/photos and preliminary findings from the individual interviews. Participants will be invited to share their artwork/photos and discuss their responses. The researcher team will also ask for participants’ feedback on the preliminary findings.

Impact

We will answer the following research questions:

What factors (institutional, departmental, programmatic, and interpersonal) have influenced the decision of faculty and higher education professionals of color in STEM and STEM education who identify as members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community to pursue and persist in STEM and STEM education higher education? What factors (institutional, departmental, programmatic, and interpersonal) are barriers to their persistence in STEM and STEM education higher education?
How does photo elicitation support participants’ expression of their experience in STEM and STEM education higher education? How do these methods make findings more accessible, evocative, embodied, empathic, and provocative?

Partners

Luis Leyva, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at Vanderbilt University, will be the project’s advisor. His research examines how women, students of color, and LGBTQ+ community members construct their identities in mathematics education as aspiring STEM majors. He will provide expertise in conducting research with the LGBTQ+ community in STEM higher education.