Navigating Academia

Academia is so messed up in so many ways. The only benefit of academia is that you are getting paid to answer the questions you want to answer and to do the work you want to do. And I finally said to myself, 'you know what, I'm allowed to do that, I'm allowed to do the work that I want to do, even if I have to scrape by...'

                                                                                                - Lisa Diamond, PhD

The women we interviewed discussed their experiences within academia, including specific challenges they have faced and opinions they have about the system as a whole. Some themes explored in greater detail include achieving advanced degrees, the tenure system, research and teaching endeavors, and balancing being a scholar with political activism. Lagging recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in STEM careers is a persistent problem, despite women's strong enrollment, success, and graduation rates in undergraduate STEM education, but on-going research seeks new strategies to foster career success for women in STEM.

Page written and researched by Abigayle Kendall, Kaylee Martin, Rachel Nelson, and Eva Quintus-Bosz.