“It Was Hard,and It Still Is . . .”: Women of Color Navigating HSI STEM Transfer Pathways

Representation Across Contexts

Our analyses sought to understand the gendered and racialized experiences of WOC within multiple institutional contexts, explicitly outlining the commonalities and differences across institutional contexts. All participants attended an HSI at some point, and most began college at an HSCC (see Table 2). Several students attended non-HSIs in their transfer pathways and compared their experiences among various institution types and across the 2- and 4-year sectors. Although incidents of gender and racial discrimination were less common at HSCCs, where faculty and student populations were more diverse, some participants encountered gendered experiences within CC STEM contexts. More often, gendered experiences occurred within the 4-year university context or post-4-year contexts, including in graduate school and in the STEM industry as participants worked as interns and research associates. Navigating multiple institutional contexts throughout their STEM pathways, many participants recognized a lack of representation of women, and specifically WOC, in STEM. WOC were noticeably underrepresented in the STEM student population and STEM faculty positions. For some, the absence of other women in their discipline led to a sense of isolation or intimidation. Participants observed this lack of representation across CC and university contexts, especially within STEM courses (e.g., “Most of my engineering professors have been men.”).

Several pointed out that the composition of STEM faculty at 4-year institutions was less diverse compared to CC STEM faculty. The lack of WOC and faculty of color in general was evident at PWIs, E-HSIs, and HSIs alike. Nicole, a Black woman majoring in biology, detailed her STEM experiences while attending a non-HSCC, but still diverse CC, with 65% SOC, on the East Coast compared to her experiences at a 4-year HSI: “At community college, I definitely had a lot more non-White science professors but here at the [HSI] university, everyone is White.” She also mentioned that there were more WOC faculty at her CC and specifically called attention to the absence of Black faculty at the 4-year HSI.

In addition to fewer women and people of color in STEM faculty positions, participants noted a sense of disconnect from university faculty and peers. This lack of connection to others in STEM and decreased sense of belonging were evident even among students who transferred from HSCCs to 4-year HSIs. Some expressed that few university professors understood their CC and transfer-student experiences and at times created competitive and intimidating STEM classroom environments, especially in spaces largely comprising White students. For example, Nicole recalled negative interactions with a male professor at a 4-year HSI:

[W]hen I went to his office hours, I noticed he wouldn’t help me, and then I ended up going with my Asian friend. . . . [H]e helps [her], but I can’t ask the question, she has to ask the question. . . . He didn’t treat me the same way as he treated the Asian and White kids.

Although Nicole recognized the differential treatment she received compared to her Asian and White peers, she also acknowledged that not all STEM professors were dismissive and discriminatory in their teaching and mentoring practices. Still, Nicole reiterated that the absence of STEM faculty whom she related to and identified with was problematic. With mostly male faculty in engineering, Elizabeth, a Latina (Mexican American) mechanical engineering major shared similar interactions with professors: “You always get that professor every now and then that’s like, ‘I’m not going to help you. You should know this on your own.’” Several explained that it was easier to relate to HSCC faculty and peers, as many were from similar backgrounds (e.g., students/faculty of color, from surrounding neighborhoods) and had personally navigated the CC system and transfer process.

Ana, a multiracial (Mexican American/White) graduate student specializing in cell and molecular biology in a joint doctoral program at an HSI and E-HSI, similarly reflected on her experiences while attending two HSCCs prior to transferring to the 4-year PWI where she earned a bachelor’s. She recalled that “community college was much more diverse,” but as a doctoral student, Ana acknowledged that the diversity seen in the undergraduate population at her current HSI was not as pronounced within her graduate program: “I’m in the doctoral program. . . . [T]here’s definitely more guys around than there are girls. . . . [W]hen I’m out in my field . . . I see mainly male White ratios. . . . [W]hen I come back to [HSI university] . . . it’s extremely diverse.” Ana further described her graduate-school experiences, distinguishing the diversity and collaborative efforts she was accustomed to at [HSI university] compared to what she observed among other graduate students in cell and molecular biology at an E-HSI. This elite research-intensive, public university had only recently begun to increase its Latinx enrollment to become an E-HSI. She asserted, “My internal lab [HSI university] is very collaborative. . . . [E]verybody’s there to help each other and support each other. . . . [O]ver there [at E-HSI], it’s super competitive. There’s no such thing as collaboration.” Along with competitiveness among peers, Ana also believed that “some of the [E-HSI] faculty were extremely welcoming, [but] others were extremely standoffish, like, ‘I don’t care what you’re doing, don’t talk to me.’” As a graduate student in a joint doctoral program at two different universities (HSI and E-HSI), Ana had a unique perspective in terms of navigating multiple institutional contexts within STEM. Her experiences across several HSIs/E-HSIs underscore the sense of competitiveness and isolation that WOC often experience even within diverse institutions, particularly once they reach graduate school.

Gendered Microaggressions

Some participants described experiences with covert or subtle forms of sexism or gender discrimination in their pursuit of STEM degrees and careers. Such forms of discrimination involved interactions with professors, colleagues, or classmates who uphold the patriarchy by excluding women from positions of power and undermining women’s experiences of gender discrimination (Wang & Degol, 2017). Underlying these covert, subtle forms of sexism is the connotation of male dominance, including hostile or benevolent views and behaviors toward women (Wang & Degol, 2017). Mary’s (Filipina; first-generation college student; cell and molecular biology major) narrative centered on her experiences as a graduate student and lab technician in an all-male medical research lab and department at a PWI, in contrast to the support she received as an undergraduate at 2- and 4-year HSIs. Although she recognized that her colleagues at the PWI valued her thoughts and contributions, she said that they also subjected her to benevolent forms of gender discrimination by treating her as the “lab mom.”

Mary also encountered other covert forms of gender discrimination during graduate school. For example, although she went into a master’s program with the intent to apply for PhD programs and believed that she was a strong candidate, given her work experience and educational background, her mentors undermined her academic and career goals in STEM. Mary remarked, “It was competitive. . . . I was disappointed because I had spent all this time getting more experience, working on publications, preparing my portfolio . . . [and] I didn’t have the same support.” Instead of advocating for her pursuit of a PhD in biomedical sciences (“You don’t necessarily have to go for a PhD”), mentors encouraged her to seek lab management positions. Mary questioned why her mentors did not support her in ways consistent with her male peers: “Maybe they looked at me as a woman of childbearing age. . . . [C]ertainly I didn’t have the same kind of mentorship as I did [through HSI programs].” In describing her STEM journey, Mary explained that although she felt well supported in targeted campus programs as an undergraduate, others at these HSIs often discouraged her from pursuing a STEM doctorate.

Other examples of covert, subtle forms of sexism experienced by the WOC in our sample involved notions of presumed incompetence. Participants’ narratives illustrated how professors and colleagues in STEM made assumptions about and constantly questioned these WOC’s competence. Elizabeth reflected on her experiences with male classmates in her engineering courses at HSIs: “They think that you don’t know anything. . . . ‘I’m in the same class. I kind of have a better grade than you. Why do you think I don’t know this?’” She clarified that although many of her male classmates were nice, at times it was difficult for her to get help from them for more challenging problems and assignments because of these assumptions about her engineering knowledge and competence: “They’ll try to explain everything to you. You’ll ask them a simple question, super simple. They don’t answer it. They go on into a different rant and think you don’t know it. I mean, mansplaining.”

Intersections of Race and Gender

Another important theme that emerged from our interviews with WOC in STEM involved experiences at the intersections of their gender and racial/ethnic identities (e.g., a Mexicana engineering major). For example, Melissa described how her experience in industry during her first environmental engineering internship contrasted with her HSI experiences. Interactions with colleagues were degrading at times because of her identity as a woman and as a Latina in engineering:

I was always kinda, like, in the bubble being at [HSI university]. It was so diverse. . . . I was very lucky. And at [HSCC], same, there was, like, a big Latino community. It was not until I went out into the workforce . . . [that] it was just mostly males and White people. And it just felt overwhelming. . . . People would sometimes be racist . . . like, “Oh, you’re an engineering intern?” Like, they wouldn’t believe it . . . just the way they would say it. Is it because I’m female, or is it because I’m Latina? . . . [I]t was hard, and it still is sometimes.

She continued to discuss her reasons for persisting in a field where she felt marginalized as a WOC: “[T]hat part was hard . . . being in a field where there w[ere] no women and no Latinas . . . but I knew I could do it.”

For Elizabeth, her identity as a woman was at the forefront of her STEM experiences at a 4-year HSI:

For me, [being Hispanic is] kind of second to being a woman in engineering because I don’t necessarily feel when I walk into a room, it’s like, “I’m feeling Hispanic here.” . . . I felt like that in [a Midwestern PWI], but here, it’s like I’m the only woman in this room. It’s hard.

As one of the few women in engineering classes composed almost entirely of men, Elizabeth acknowledged the salience of her gender identity. Conversely, her Latinx identity was less pronounced, given the racial/ethnic diversity of the 4-year HSI she attended compared to the PWI university she attended (before reverse transferring to an HSCC), where Latinx undergraduates made up less than 6% of the student population. Luisa, a Latina (Salvadorian American) premed first-generation college student, similarly expounded the prevalence of gender in shaping her STEM experiences: “I actually haven’t experienced some things most Hispanics have, because . . . I’m light-skinned. . . . People never know what I am, so . . . the race thing is not a[s] big [a] factor for me as it is to be a woman in the field.” Distinct from Elizabeth’s experience, Luisa disclosed how her physical appearance and racial ambiguity might have contributed to her experiences as a WOC in STEM. More specifically, she perceived being a woman as much more central to her experiences in STEM because she had not encountered the same racial discrimination as other Latinxs in STEM.

Esmeralda (Mexican American/Puerto Rican; first-generation college student; psychology major), who attended an HSCC and transferred to a 4-year HSI, articulated that her intersecting identities often resulted in tokenism, professors calling on her to be a spokesperson for the experiences of other students who similarly identify with several marginalized identities:

[F]or me, that’s definitely a salient identity . . . not just being a woman, a woman of color, or Latinx specific[ally], but being a gay woman. Something I have to constantly think about all the time . . . “Look at all these marginalized identities Esmeralda has. Let’s just plug her in everywhere.”

Esmeralda’s narrative reiterated the mental and emotional exhaustion she endured while being constantly regarded as the teacher rather than a student.

Challenging Stereotypes

WOC in our study persisted and successfully navigated HSI STEM transfer pathways despite the obstacles they faced in STEM. In sharing their narratives of success, participants described their efforts to combat gender and racial stereotypes as they were confronted with a lack of representation, feelings of isolation, and competitiveness within the STEM disciplines. Many acknowledged that these STEM ideals conflicted with society’s perceptions of how WOC should behave. Esmeralda described dual expectations of “cutthroat” competitiveness in STEM, while simultaneously experiencing hostility when she displayed assertiveness or other characteristics that did not meet others’ expectations of women and particularly WOC (e.g., “[D]on’t be assertive, don’t speak louder than anybody else, don’t cause conflict.”). With this conflict between gendered and racialized stereotypes and characteristics valued in STEM, some described how their pursuit of particular majors and career paths challenged stereotypes about WOC in STEM. Jasmine (Mexicana; first-generation college student; civil engineering major) stated, “I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to do things that are different to the standards of what typically society does, and I feel like I’m achieving that as far as being an engineering woman.” She explained how overcoming racism/sexism in STEM was essential to remaining a strong role model for other WOC in the field. Melissa’s narrative as a Latina engineer similarly reflected her desire to persist: “I just wanted my sister to see that she could do whatever she wanted . . . to set that example for her that she could do it.” Despite the racism/sexism she faced as an environmental engineering intern, Melissa wanted to show her sister that Latina women could succeed in any field. Nicole described how her mother had helped prepare her for the discrimination she eventually experienced as a Black woman in STEM at a 4-year HSI: “My mom always taught me you have to work harder than the next person because they might not look like you, or they have other advantages.” She further explained how she challenged these gender/racial stereotypes:

[T]he other two girls that I started studying with, they don’t look like me. . . . [T]hey have other resources. . . . [B]ecause I was able to utilize them, I was able to understand the textbook more, because this is biochem with the professor that don’t like me, right, and doesn’t help.

By building relationships with STEM peers who had access to financial resources for tutoring and other supports, Nicole found ways to excel in STEM despite the discrimination she experienced from professors.

Importance of Women Mentors and Support Networks

Given the challenges they face as WOC in STEM, several emphasized the value of having women mentors and a strong support network of women within and outside STEM. Establishing supportive relationships with other women, specifically WOC, was integral to their successful navigation of higher education. For example, although Nicole had few interactions with STEM faculty who were WOC, she recalled interacting with a Black woman who was an administrator at her 4-year HSI in charge of a campus support program for Black students in STEM. Similarly, Bianca, a Filipina first-generation college student studying clinical psychology and statistics, spoke about her support network of women at the multiple institutions she attended. She highlighted an HSCC psychology professor and two student affairs professionals at her 4-year HSI who connected her with campus support programs in STEM that prepare underrepresented students in biomedical and behavioral sciences for PhD programs. She remarked, “[T]hey’re just amazing women . . . very empowering, passionate, and dedicated to help[ing] students succeed. . . . I wouldn’t have achieved this much without their support, especially them believing in me.” When asked why she was able to connect with her mentors so well, Bianca stated:

Melanie because she’s Filipino, so that helped a lot. . . . [T]hey’re mainly approachable people, and they’re just passionate in helping students. They see the students’ strengths and abilities, and they don’t hesitate to tell the student what the student’s capable of and providing them with the resources that the students need to grow and succeed. Just that dedication . . . when you talk to them, they listen to you.

Bianca stressed how her mentors, all WOC, were beneficial as she transitioned from an HSCC to a 4-year HSI and as she completed the graduate-school application process. Bianca’s mentors focused on her strengths and assets as a STEM student while simultaneously supporting her development as a budding scientist and scholar.

Mary spoke about the importance of having women principal investigators and women in leadership positions within what she described as an “old boys club” in STEM disciplinary culture, where women were seldom given the same opportunities as their male peers:

[I]t was chauvinistic, but it was the culture, and it came from the top down . . . inappropriate things that were said. . . . [A]s a woman, it was challenging to try to pursue your career and your education. . . . [There were] different tiers as far as who’ll be given opportunities to succeed.

Mary further discussed her experiences transferring from the school of medicine to the school of public health, which was more culturally diverse and had women in positions of authority (i.e., vice provost, department chair, her direct supervisor/principal investigator). Because the vice provost provided a space for students to voice their concerns, Mary wrote a letter describing her challenges as a woman in STEM, which resulted in departmental changes:

[B]eing vocal initiates change. . . . I was very vocal, too, because I had transferred from an all-male lab and department to one that was probably equal genders. . . . [I] felt more comfortable about vocalizing my experiences. . . . [I]n the former one, I just had to be quiet because you don’t want to be . . . teased.

As evidenced through the narratives of such participants as Bianca, Melissa, and Mary, on-campus women mentors significantly influenced the STEM educational trajectories of several WOC in our study.

Along with key relationships with women mentors on campus, participants expressed the importance of developing connections with other WOC in their classes. The value of having a support network of women classmates in a field with so few was evident in Carla’s (Mexican American; first-generation college student; math major) experience at her HSCC: “That was really inspirational, just knowing that there were other women in the field of STEM, because mostly we see guys, so that was kind of intimidating.” Elizabeth similarly commented on her connections with women in her engineering courses, especially because there were so few: “[T]hey want to group together because there’s not that many girls in the classes. . . . [W]e’re united on that . . . it would be nice to have more women in STEM, but we’re not quite there yet.” She also spoke about her friendships, specifically with WOC in STEM:

I knew about the National Science Foundation’s . . . REUs [Research Experiences for Undergraduates] because my friend, she had done one the previous summer. . . . She’s half Mexican, half Filipino, and she is a dark-skinned girl as well. . . . We share the same difficulties. There’s also two of the other girls that transferred from [HSCC]. They’re both Hispanic. . . . They also encountered struggles in STEM.

These relationships provided counterspaces where the women could share STEM opportunities for advancement and connect to others who understood the barriers they faced as WOC in STEM. Several WOC in our study also underscored the support received from women off campus and how it contributed to their success and persistence in STEM.