“Our Experiences Are Not Unique”: An Exploratory Study of Common Motivators and Inhibitors For Latinas in STEM Fields

“Our Experiences Are Not Unique”: An Exploratory Study of Common Motivators and Inhibitors For Latinas in STEM Fields

Hiles, Hannah Rose. (2015) “Our Experiences Are Not Unique”: An Exploratory Study of Common Motivators and Inhibitors For Latinas in STEM Fields. In iConference 2015 Proceedings. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/73733

Research Advisor: Jeria Quesenberry, Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Information Systems

Using a combination of quantitative surveys conducted over 11 weeks, which reached 68 participants, and qualitative interviews collecting personal stories from two participants, our research team examined the general Latina experience within the academic and professional STEM community. The central hypothesis supporting this study was that Latinas in STEM experienced a sense of alienation and a general lack of support which discouraged them from both entering into and remaining in a STEM field. Our results did not broadly support this hypothesis: within our pool of respondents, the issue of alienation and lack of support was not statistically present, but this and similar issues were addressed strongly in qualitative responses, discouraging a full rejection of our original hypothesis.

Presented at iConference 2015