斯蒂芬妮·威尔西，2000年, 博士学位 is the social science researcher for the Celtic STEM Initiative (C-STEM) Project, funded by an S-STE grant from the National Science Foundation. The C-STEM project aims to create a pipeline of academically talented, 女, 低收入 students who enter STEM fields or seek advanced STEM degrees after graduation. Wilsey was part of the team that procured the grant and her role is to address the fourth goal of the project, which is to generate new knowledge on the extent to which living-learning communities enhance success for the C-STEM student scholars.
Wilsey是一位心理学家, with a background in developmental psychology, so has a keen interest in not only what the students are studying, but the social and emotional support students receive, and how that affects their educational journey. Wilsey was asked to join the research team as she specializes in this area, with most of her published research centering around how young adults respond to different learning settings and opportunities, and how they can be strengthened or improved upon.
The current project asks participants questions that gauge a student’s connection to the university, 到他们的专业, 身份, if their sense of belonging and connection has increased since participating in the project, 还有其他类似的问题.
“Often the social aspect seems not as important [as academics] but it is actually really, 真正重要的. Feeling connected and learning how to talk and engage with the professors and other students is so important to a student’s success, especially for first-generation college students.”
Wilsey explains the importance of the study’s particular population, STEM领域的女性, by sharing a story about a previous student.
“For women in the sciences it is often not enough to just say go get this degree. There are a lot of barriers to women in these fields. I have taught a lot of biology and chemistry majors throughout the years when I would teach general psychology. I remember one former student I ran into at a restaurant in Pittsburgh, she was our waitress.
She was a brilliant student, a really sharp chemistry major. I knew she had gone on to a grad program, so I asked her how she was doing. 她说她很沮丧. She was a top student going into her program, but found it very difficult to be in it as a woman…She ended up dropping out of the program.”
Wilsey explained various challenges often faced by STEM领域的女性, 尤其是第一代, 低收入, and those without a large support system or deep connections.
“I don’t know that this project can completely protect or prevent things like this from happening, but it was built into the programming that we realize there are some fields, 无论是政治还是it, that are very difficult for some people to get into if you don’t feel supported. It makes a difference when you feel supported, 要知道还有很多像你一样的人, 谁在乎你, 想要坚持下去.
And so that is really what I am looking at. 我每次都想起那个学生. 我该如何帮助像她这样的人? There are people who are really talented, 新濠天地app需要更多的科学家, 如果新濠天地app因为愚蠢而失去别人, 不幸的原因, that is really against how we are taught at Geneva and in the sciences.”
By studying connection in correlation to academic success and personal thriving in students, Wilsey and her research team hope to provide research-backed methods for helping at-risk students thrive in their education.
Wilsey began a lot of her interest in this area and has invested some of her professional time at Geneva and within the Beaver Falls community.
作为一名学生, Wilsey began her journey in psychology work that now results in research projects and multiple publications all aimed to improve the experience of young adults.
“Geneva prepared me very well because I did multiple research studies as an undergraduate student at Geneva and I was trained well in quantitative research methods…I also have been prepared for projects like this that are very interdisciplinary because of Geneva’s liberal-arts focus. I am not someone who can only do psychology-related things, I can see the connections with other fields of study, 这使我多才多艺, and is why they wanted me on this project.”
Living-learning communities is another area of study Wilsey has spent her career focusing on. 在以前的项目中, Wilsey has worked with names that will be familiar to many at 新濠天地app大学, 温迪幼兽, executive director of Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation, 和布拉德肖·弗雷, 博士学位, 新濠天地app名誉教授, 关于城市大厦.
Wilsey took both her technical field knowledge and soft skills she gained at Geneva to springboard into a master’s, 博士学位, 现在是国家研究项目. Using skills and knowledge to better our community and world in service to God and neighbor is the mission of a Geneva education, which so many of our alumni exude in their personal and professional lives.
