STEM Pathways - High School to Postsecondary

We are currently investigating the transition from high school to postsecondary work or education among students, especially those from low-income backgrounds. How do individuals become interested in STEM fields and how they manage to persist in their career aspirations over time? How do young people find ways to align their educational plans with their career aspirations or transfer from a community college to a four-year college? What do STEM career aspirations look like for students who are first generation to finish high school or go to college and what do their pathways look like? Project Summary and Resources

 

 

Cultivating Mentoring

Our team is examining the nature of mentoring experiences across variety of sources and contexts, and how the nature of the mentoring experience influences outcomes gained. We have worked with businesses, community agencies, and colleges in the development and evaluation of mentoring programs. How do young people find mentoring experiences when they face a lack of readily accessible career mentors within their family networks? What strategies are particularly successful, and how does mentoring help to keep individuals "on track" toward their career goals? How can women develop mentoring networks or their own "board of directors" to increase success?

 

 

Combining Work and School

We are focusing on students from lower-income or working class backgrounds, students that need to work while being in school and for whom the work environment is an important factor in their success – or the major challenge. Current foci include individuals using corporate tuition programs to support their progress in higher education, coping strategies of working students/employees who study, and what high school and college students gain from working in “career-relevant” jobs as compared to “random” jobs.

 

 

 

About our Research Team

Our research team consists of dynamic and diverse women from various stages of life and backgrounds, including first generation college students, transfer students, and nontraditional-aged students. We are committed to creating new knowledge, disseminating results, and engaging in reciprocol practices that are mutually beneficial to our collaborators. We often sponsor academic development programs with our collaborating partners. Most of our undergraduate students have paid research positions through Professor Packard's National Science Foundation grants.