Madison Shumway

Life Editor

Recent Texas A&M Ph.D. graduate Alejandra Maldonado stood in front of a room full of high-schoolers and told them to close their eyes. Imagine a scientist, she instructed.

She asked how many students had imagined a man. Many raised their hands. How many had imagined a white man? Dozens of hands remained in the air.

Later, ISU psychology professor Mona Xu referenced the exercise.

“How do we define who is a scientist, and how do we decide who can be a scientist?” she asked. “How do we decide if we can define ourselves as part of that group?”

The “Supporting Your Goals” STEM Cafe, hosted on Nov. 9 by ISU STEM Diversity and Outreach, sent a clear message: its attendees, composed mostly of young women, minorities and first-generation students, could be scientists.

Inviting students from local high schools for lunch, the Cafe featured talks from four women employed in biology, environmental science, psychology and engineering. They spoke about job opportunities, offered advice and addressed their own challenges and successes breaking into their fields, ultimately encouraging attendees to consider a STEM career.

Uniting each speaker’s remarks was a central theme of overcoming barriers through resilience. Instead of glossing over their struggles in finishing their degrees and achieving within their profession, they spoke candidly about juggling school with family responsibilities, facing resistance about the topic of their research and overcoming misconceptions about who belongs in STEM careers.

“When you’re doing your studies and you feel like you’re all alone, remember you’re not,” said Dawn Davis, a University of Idaho natural resources Ph.D. student and National Science Foundation fellow. “There are others out there like you.”

Davis discussed her winding path through the higher education system and the topic of her dissertation, the preservation of peyote for ecological and cultural purposes.

Throughout her talk, she touched upon the ability of people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply their experiences to their research. Her research focus stemmed from personal interest, and Davis now represents one of the only indigenous people studying peyote at her level of expertise, she said.

“When you’re a scientist, you have the opportunity to solve issues in your community others aren’t caring about,” said STEM Diversity and Outreach Coordinator Sonia Martinez, who organized the event. “That’s why scientists are so important, because no one’s going to care about your community more than you.”

After engaging participants in the “imagine a scientist” exercise, Maldonado also presented her own research topic, addressing some of the challenges she encountered along the way to earning an advanced degree.

Having recently graduated from a wildlife and fisheries Ph.D. program, she recalled the research breakthroughs that made her experience worth it and the one quality she said enabled her to graduate.

“The only thing you really need for a Ph.D. is perseverance,” she said. “You really just have to want it, have a tough skin. Knowing that you want it is the first step.”

The Cafe’s resident engineer, ISU alumna Krystal Chanda, referenced the persistence she needed to earn her degree but focused on the demonstrable perks of majoring in engineering. She cited financial security, abundant job opportunities and a never-boring work environment as reasons to consider a career in engineering.

“You’ll get to do what you love for the rest of your life,” she said. “And you’ll be able to find a job wherever you go.”

Concluding the afternoon was a talk from Xu on impostor syndrome: a psychological phenomenon in which a person doubts their qualifications and accomplishments, believing they’ve faked their way into their position.

Students and professionals from underrepresented backgrounds often experience impostor syndrome because their colleagues don’t look like them or share the same experiences, she said, and addressing the causes of impostor syndrome can help people overcome it.

“It’s okay to feel that way,” she said. “Learn to accept the great things you’ve accomplished and let them move you forward.”