Overview

Dream on! Supporting and Graduating African American Girls and Women in STEM tells the life stories of African American women who originally pursued degrees in pre-medicine and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors in high school and college. In Dream On! Dr. McPherson draws upon the personal stories of 16 undergraduate African American women who had aspirations of pursuing undergraduate degrees that led to careers in medicine, health professions, engineering, or mathematical fields. The book begins by telling their success stories and love for math and science in K-12 settings. It then discusses their stories of trials, triumphs, and even some tragedies when pursuing their undergraduate degrees at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Despite enduring challenges in their majors, all 16 of resilient African American women completed undergraduate degrees in health science, social science, and/or STEM majors. A discussion on how they built a sense of community, that is a sense of belonging in their majors is described as well. Careers that these women pursued were medical doctors, scientists, mathematicians, engineer, business professional, and human resources professionals. The book is a must read for girls, women, and minority women, and minorities who want to pursue medical degrees or STEM fields at predominantly white institutions, families, educators, administrators, and policymakers.

Full Product Details

9781737273127

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Barriers exist for all people daring to seek careers in STEM. For women and minority women, tremendous personal strength is necessary to dare to dream the dream, to persist despite the absence of external encouragement and often active discouragement. Listen to the stories of the women in the book to understand how they experienced their education and use these lessons to help you engage and successfully mentor the students that come into your life."" --From the foreword written by Dr. Alexa Irene Canady-Davis Retired, neurosurgeon ""In this thoughtful and timely work, Dr. Ezella McPherson provides fresh insights into the types of experiences that can help young women of color complete STEM majors or else steer them to other pathways. The lessons that Dr. McPherson offers for students, families, and educators will be of considerable value as we continue thinking as a society of how best to increase diversity in these critical subjects and in the STEM workforce."" --Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President, University of Maryland Baltimore County ""Dr. McPherson begins her book by pointing out two trends. First, African American women's STEM degrees are primarily limited to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Second, African American women are chilled out of STEM programs at predominantly white universities. She uses qualitative data from a group of African American women in STEM at predominantly white universities to reveal these young women's persistence in the midst of racial inequalities. A must read for students, professionals, and policy makers in STEM education."" --Dr. Sandra L. Hanson, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, Catholic University of America"

""Barriers exist for all people daring to seek careers in STEM. For women and minority women, tremendous personal strength is necessary to dare to dream the dream, to persist despite the absence of external encouragement and often active discouragement. Listen to the stories of the women in the book to understand how they experienced their education and use these lessons to help you engage and successfully mentor the students that come into your life."" From the foreword by Dr. Alexa Irene Canady-Davis Retired, neurosurgeon ""Like having a caring mentor at your side, Dream On! focuses on empowerment & information...[for] girls and women wanting to succeed in STEM...Educators will find inspiration to incorporate culturally informed, caring teaching practices to build greater success."" Independent Book Review- Lisa Parker Hayreh ""In this thoughtful and timely work, Dr. Ezella McPherson provides fresh insights into the types of experiences that can help young women of color complete STEM majors or else steer them to other pathways. The lessons that Dr. McPherson offers for students, families, and educators will be of considerable value as we continue thinking as a society of how best to increase diversity in these critical subjects and in the STEM workforce."" Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President Emeritus, University of Maryland Baltimore County ""Dream On! is not only a well-researched account of these women's experience but also a rousing call to action, for both African American women and the educational system, offering guidance and encouragement to students and urging greater support from schools, teachers, and more. This is a valuable resource for students entering the STEM field but also for the educators and administrators who they will encounter"". -Booklife Reviews ""Dr. McPherson uses qualitative data from a group of African American women in STEM at predominantly white universities to reveal these young women's persistence in the midst of racial inequalities... In Dream On! McPherson uses the voices of young African American women to provide insights into the processes at work and to suggest recommendations for teachers and practitioners."" Dr. Sandra L. Hanson, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, Catholic University of America

""In Dream On!, Dr. Ezella McPherson speaks on the influence of early exposure to science and math and the involvement of African American girls in K-12 STEM fields...Dr. McPherson honestly approaches the obstacles faced by African American women in college-level science, emphasizing the significance of making the hidden curriculum visible."" Readers' Favorite 5- star review- Jamie Michele ""Barriers exist for all people daring to seek careers in STEM. For women and minority women, tremendous personal strength is necessary to dare to dream the dream, to persist despite the absence of external encouragement and often active discouragement. Listen to the stories of the women in the book to understand how they experienced their education and use these lessons to help you engage and successfully mentor the students that come into your life."" From the foreword written by Dr. Alexa Irene Canady-Davis Retired, neurosurgeon ""In this thoughtful and timely work, Dr. Ezella McPherson provides fresh insights into the types of experiences that can help young women of color complete STEM majors or else steer them to other pathways. The lessons that Dr. McPherson offers for students, families, and educators will be of considerable value as we continue thinking as a society of how best to increase diversity in these critical subjects and in the STEM workforce."" Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President, University of Maryland Baltimore County ""Dr. McPherson begins her book by pointing out two trends. First, African American women's STEM degrees are primarily limited to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Second, African American women are chilled out of STEM programs at predominantly white universities. She uses qualitative data from a group of African American women in STEM at predominantly white universities to reveal these young women's persistence in the midst of racial inequalities. A must read for students, professionals, and policy makers in STEM education."" Dr. Sandra L. Hanson, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, Catholic University of America

Barriers exist for all people daring to seek careers in STEM. For women and minority women, tremendous personal strength is necessary to dare to dream the dream, to persist despite the absence of external encouragement and often active discouragement. Listen to the stories of the women in the book to understand how they experienced their education and use these lessons to help you engage and successfully mentor the students that come into your life. --From the foreword written by Dr. Alexa Irene Canady-Davis Retired, neurosurgeon In this thoughtful and timely work, Dr. Ezella McPherson provides fresh insights into the types of experiences that can help young women of color complete STEM majors or else steer them to other pathways. The lessons that Dr. McPherson offers for students, families, and educators will be of considerable value as we continue thinking as a society of how best to increase diversity in these critical subjects and in the STEM workforce. --Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President, University of Maryland Baltimore County Dr. McPherson begins her book by pointing out two trends. First, African American women's STEM degrees are primarily limited to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Second, African American women are chilled out of STEM programs at predominantly white universities. She uses qualitative data from a group of African American women in STEM at predominantly white universities to reveal these young women's persistence in the midst of racial inequalities. A must read for students, professionals, and policy makers in STEM education. --Dr. Sandra L. Hanson, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, Catholic University of America

Author Information

Dr. Ezella McPherson earned a Master of Education and Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. As an African American woman, she is familiar with the STEM culture through first-hand experiences, observations of friends, and former students in STEM majors and pre-medicine. She has also published manuscripts on African American women's giftedness in STEM (""Oh you are smart: Young, gifted African American women in STEM majors""), spiritual capital (""Having our say in higher education: African American women's stories of 'doing science' through using spiritual capital""), resilience (""African American women's resilience in hard science majors""), informal learning (""Informal learning in SME fields for African American undergraduate females""), and commitment to STEM majors (""To commit or leave from STEM majors at a PWI: An exploration of African American women's experiences""). She recently published the number 1 best-selling book titled, Real Outreach: A Practical Guide to Retaining and Graduating College Students. Her co-authored manuscripts include the mentoring of African American women in STEM at Historically Black College and Universities (""Mentoring our own: African American women in engineering"" with co-author Dr. Virginia Tickles) and examining the experiences of minority women in STEM (""Minority women in STEM: A valuable resource in the global economy"" with co-author Dr. Diane Fuselier-Thompson""). She has presented on college student persistence, retention, and graduation of African American women, minority students, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students at conferences, such as the American Educational Research Association, American Educational Studies Association, Association for the Study of Higher Education, STEM Education Conference University of British Columbia, International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Oakland University Student Success Conference, American Sociological Association, and the Equity within the Classroom Conference.

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