"The strength of diversity is the difference of perspectives."
Written by Ariel Barreiro
Introduction
Dr. Emily Marshman meets me from the comfort of her home via Zoom, a benefit of professorship at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). Her career at CCAC has allowed her to have a positive work-life balance, and she says it was one of the deciding factors in her pursuit of higher education.
At a young age she had written plainly, “I want to be a scientist."
“I didn’t know what type of scientist – I really liked learning about nature and the way things worked; I enjoyed analyzing things right from the beginning," Marshman said.
In middle school, the image of what a career in science looked like became very blurred, and she’d all but forgotten about it as she moved into high school. Math took the forefront and Marshman’s instructive nature became clear, leading to thoughts of becoming a math teacher for high school students. One physics course brought math to a new light for her; “I thought “Wow! This is math that is actually useful for something!”” She decided to pursue her undergraduate in education with a physics focus.
After substitute teaching physics at a high school for one year, Marshman realized this was not the path she had envisioned. “I was struggling with what to do at this point. What kind of jobs could I get in industry with this degree?” She decided to go to graduate school, and luckily got accepted at her first pick, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). There she could obtain her master’s and then teach at a community college. As a first-generation college student, however, she was unprepared for what that would entail.
“I had to retake undergrad classes to even begin the grad level of physics classes.” Marshman says her education background came in handy, allowing her to stay in the program despite her educational obstacles because of her success as a TA. She networked with her professors and she cared about her students. It took a total of five years to leave grad school with a master’s and a PhD, and another two years in post-doc. “It wasn’t easy, it was really intense – really stressful.”
Research
Marshman must first acknowledge her mentor to even begin to speak on her research. She says her mentor found her during her grad program – which is unusual, as most students have several mentors by the time they enter grad school – when she was ready to simply finish her master’s and be done with school. She had tried a few research projects and none of them resonated with her; they were physics heavy and she felt behind her peers when it came to the lab.
Her mentor made her feel comfortable, in part because she was the only woman in the physics department at the time. She also offered Marshman full support as she finished her degree, and encouragement to get involved in the research that would lead to her PhD.
Marshman has led multiple studies in conjunction with her mentor in The Discipline Based Science Research Center at Pitt. The studies center around student motivation in physics courses and creating a quantum mechanics curriculum. They use surveys with topics like: a student’s self-efficacy (the belief in one’s ability to do a particular thing), scientific identity in physics, growth or fixed mindset and the difference in perception of these topics between genders.
The primary goal behind these studies was to find ways to make students feel like they belong in a physics classroom. They produced some interesting results. “Male students have higher levels of self-efficacy, and we found females were always underestimating themselves. The ones with As in the class, their self-efficacy was reported lower than their male counterparts who were barely scraping a C.”
To further expand, they conducted one-on-one interviews with the female students. They found it common for them to feel intimidated by their male peers and professors and to generally feel they didn’t belong. She says this affects their learning, both through discussion and lab. “They don’t get very hands-on with equipment – they’re often relegated to note-takers or data-recorders.” If a person isn’t learning how to troubleshoot the equipment, how can they learn?
Marshman says the obstacle to helping students feel they belong is to change the environment, which is proving to be difficult. “There’s a lot of push backs – even from physics professors.” She says small tweaks in the classroom can lead to big changes in the environment such as starting a semester off telling a class “If you’re not struggling in this class, you shouldn’t be here – because you already know the material.” This helped female students with their growth mindset and sense of belonging. “Anecdotally, students really like it – it shows someone cares about them.” Marshman said.
The study at Pitt is still going strong, with students in introductory physics courses asked to complete the survey as Marshman’s mentor continues to mainstream the idea that the gap will close in classrooms where small interventions take place. Marshman emphasizes that learning must move away from a one-size-fits-all mentality, and things like arbitrary grade requirements will cause a loss in students and diversity.
Marshman is a champion for mentors, she points to the research of how important they are. “Having someone in your field validate your identity will help you push through your coursework,” Marshman said. Without it, students are more likely to give up. Mentors provide a support system that is not found in family and friends, and serve as a reminder that everyone struggles in their education. “I wouldn’t have my PhD if it weren’t for her. Having at least one person in my corner made a huge difference for me.”
Struggles of Women and Minority in STEM
For Marshman, the struggles of women and minorities in STEM is heavily tied into her own journey and her research. It was impossible to discuss either without commenting on the struggles that women and underrepresented groups face in STEM.
The one subject not touched on was having children. “I would never have tried to have a kid during grad school!” She said implicitly. While there are people who do it, Marshman states there must be a solid support system in place to achieve both simultaneously. This limits a woman’s ability to move around for grad school and post-doc opportunities, which is often necessary. “There are responsibilities as a mom and wife, and expectations placed on you by society in those roles.” Marshman said.
The lack of role models and something called stereotype threat are other major struggles in her opinion. The stereotype threat is like a confirmation bias – the idea that women and minorities don’t do well in science. A lack of representation presents challenges in self-efficacy, which in turn affects learning.
She believes showing people’s stories and highlighting that the road to success isn’t linear for anyone will be a huge help. “So often we’re shown the finished product and the success, we’re not shown the struggle.” She said.
Marshman believes the strength of diversity is the difference in perspectives. Women will have different concerns and tend to think of the future impact more. A racial minority may think about the community impact of a project that may not have been considered. The diversity will lead to projects being thought about in a more cohesive way. “If you just have a bunch of the same homogenous group agreeing with each other…I mean, we know in science that’s not reliable data.”
It's a long, arduous road to begin to achieve as a woman in science. With the right help and proper motivation — whatever that may be for you — you can get there. At the Chance to Change Lives Foundation (CCL-US), our mission is to support high impact experiential learning experiences for undergraduate students, especially from under-represented groups, to prepare them for twenty-first century research and develop careers in STEM disciplines.
The Chance to Change Lives Foundation (CCL-US (CCL-US) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established to address some of the challenges facing students from underserved communities. We use a ‘pay-it-forward’ model to mentor and develop the next generation of leaders and knowledge creators in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. CCL-US launched the STEMNetX initiative in 2021 to begin to bridge the gaps in access to resources, awareness, capacity, and social capital through the STEMNetX Fellowship Program. The year-long STEMNetX Fellowship is centered around early-stage college students from Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) in the western PA area interested in emerging STEM fields, with the goal of creating access to peers and mentors to support career exploration in STEM fields. There are multiple ways to support the Fellowship program, and we are always searching for new partnerships!
