2026-09-25T16:05:22Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129546 2026-02-05 col_2142_5131 col_2142_8800 com_2142_5130 com_2142_5132

application/pdf en text Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01 The student, Destiny Williams-Dobosz, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-18 at 14:54. The student, Destiny Williams-Dobosz, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-18 at 15:16. This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-21 at 16:23. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21837 on 2025-10-19 at 19:15:10 Resilient Yet Vulnerable: Understanding the Psychosocial Experiences of Black Women First-Generation College Students in STEM Williams-Dobosz, Destiny 2025-04-21 Perry, Michelle Perry, Michelle Cromley , Jennifer Bosch , Nigel Marchand , Aixa Collins , Jasmine Black women psychology eng The ontological experiences (realities and ways of being) and epistemologies (ways of knowing) of underserved and marginalized populations are not one-dimensional. This research aimed to explore how Black women who are first-generation college students (FGCSs) navigate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). As an educational psychologist who researches help-seeking and learning in STEM for numerically underrepresented and minoritized students, I became frustrated reading deficit-based approaches to research. This frustration brought me to the quote, “Black women are simultaneously vulnerable and resilient in the face of systematic inequality” (Evans-Winters, 2019). From this liminal space, I began a research journey to understand the both-and tension of resilience and vulnerability for Black women FGCSs in STEM. First, I employed autoethnographic storytelling to uncover my developmental trajectory toward graduate studies. As a Black woman, FGCS, and as someone who studied chemistry as an undergraduate, I needed to grapple with my own stories to analyze other stories responsibly. Next, I conducted a single-case interpretative phenomenological analysis of Jane (pseudonym), a Black woman FGCS in computer science, to explore the risk contributors and protective factors to her STEM pursuit. Last, I conducted a cross-case interpretative phenomenological analysis of four Black women FGCSs in STEM to investigate their net vulnerability, stress engagements, and coping mechanisms when seeking academic help. Ultimately, each study reported in this dissertation presents layered and practical insights for instructors, administrators, and students. To address any educational problem effectively, we must first know what is happening, what is working, what is not working, and for whom it is not working. 2025-05 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129546 Copyright 2025 Destiny Williams-Dobosz Educational Psychology Educational Psychology University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Ph.D. Dissertation