¡Tú Puedes! (You’ve Got This): Exploring the Challenges & Opportunities for Women of Color in Stem Doctoral Programs

Abstract

Accessibility remediation is in progress for this itemWomen of Color (WOC) remain significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral programs in the United States. Despite national efforts to broaden participation in STEM, structural barriers—including racialized and gendered exclusion, isolation, and institutional inequities—persist within graduate education. This dissertation, ¡Tú Puedes! (You’ve Got This): Exploring the Challenges & Opportunities for Women of Color in STEM Doctoral Programs, centers the lived experiences of WOC navigating these spaces, with the aim of highlighting both the challenges they face and the strategies they implement to persist. Using a phenomenological research design, this study draws on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with WOC currently enrolled in STEM doctoral programs across R1research institutions (Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education [CCIHE], 2025). Guided by the theoretical frameworks of multiracial feminism and intersectionality, the research explores how race, gender, and other social identities intersect to shape doctoral experiences within historically academic disciplines. Findings reveal consistent patterns of marginalization, including cultural taxation, hypervisibility, and exclusion from networks of power. However, participants also identified meaningful sources of support such as affinity spaces, mentorship from faculty of color, familial encouragement, and personal strategies of resistance and resilience. Many emphasized the importance of creating institutional change that reflects their realities and sustains their success. This dissertation contributes to the growing body of literature that centers WOC in higher education by amplifying their voices and narratives. It offers actionable recommendations for academic institutions to better support and retain WOC in STEM doctoral programs through equity-driven policy, culturally responsive mentorship, and intentional community building. Ultimately, this work asserts that transforming the landscape of STEM doctoral education requires not only representation, but systemic change informed by those most affected