Pioneering New Ground: Becoming a Female Undergraduate Researcher, Shattering Academic Barriers
Princeton University Empowers Women-Identifying Undergraduates in Research
Princeton University is offering a range of resources and strategies to support women-identifying undergraduate students who are passionate about research and aim to assert themselves in academic settings.
Resources for Women-Identifying Undergraduates
- Undergraduate Research Office: Princeton's Office of Undergraduate Research offers programs, scholarships, and mentorship opportunities designed to support undergraduates engaging in research. This includes announcements of scholarships, such as the Beinecke Scholarship awarded to a Princeton undergrad, that support research pathways and graduate study preparation.
- Diverse and Inclusive Academic Community: Princeton actively encourages applications and participation from historically underrepresented groups, including women, across all research disciplines and faculty mentoring roles. This institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion signals a supportive environment for women students.
- Historical and Cultural Context: Princeton’s history of women’s involvement and advocacy, including coeducation milestones and events like the “She Roars: Celebrating Women at Princeton” conference, provide a cultural foundation and community support that can empower women students.
Strategies for Women-Identifying Undergraduates
- Start with Experiential Learning: Engaging in hands-on research projects, internships, or lab rotations builds technical skills and fosters professional identity formation. Reflection on these experiences develops communication and leadership skills essential for advocacy in research.
- Networking and Mentorship: Utilizing virtual platforms as well as on-campus networks to connect with mentors and peers helps overcome barriers, provides guidance, and builds professional relationships. Facilitated networking can enhance self-efficacy and help women assert their research goals clearly.
- Skill Development in Communication and Self-advocacy: Programs informed by strengths-based approaches emphasize building self-efficacy, resilience, and clear goal-setting. Such skills translate directly into effectively advocating for oneself in research groups and leadership roles.
- Seek Institutional Support: Take advantage of Princeton’s commitment to mentoring and teaching at all levels, including support from research supervisors open to fostering a diverse research environment. Crafting a clear research proposal and teaching statement can help articulate one's goals and expectations in research collaborations.
In addition, the Center for Career Development has a guide on crafting specific and attainable goals. Students are encouraged to dream big and set ambitious goals for improving their research skills, exploring new fields, and making the most of Princeton's research opportunities.
Empowering Women in Research Settings
- Speak Up: Women-identifying students are advised to voice their passion for research and goals to professors in their courses, as many courses offer final projects that provide additional support for research. It's important for women to stand up for themselves and their ideas in research settings.
- Be an Upstander: Becoming an upstander supports the respect and voice of women peers by calling out disrespectful behavior.
- Ask Questions: Being curious and asking questions demonstrates interest and allows for full participation.
- Apply Broadly: It's recommended to apply to all positions of interest. Don't restrict yourself from applying due to perceived lack of qualifications.
- Participate Actively: Contributing at the beginning and end of discussions helps establish confidence and leaves a lasting impression. Speaking without perfection is okay, focus on sharing ideas rather than sounding perfect.
- Recognise Achievements: Acknowledging women's accomplishments supports their success and growth in research. Selecting women for leadership and committee positions highlights their potential and qualifications.
Princeton University has several student organizations and programs for undergraduate women-identifying students interested in research, including those focused on Health, Entrepreneurship, Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Research.
It's a critical time for women-identifying undergraduates to step into research and pursue academic and career goals. Princeton’s supportive diversity initiatives and historical culture of women’s contributions further bolster these efforts.
- Women-identifying undergraduates can develop their research skills through the Undergraduate Research Office at Princeton University, which offers various programs, scholarships, and mentorship opportunities.
- The junior paper and senior thesis research projects can provide a foundation for women-identifying undergraduates to showcase their research abilities and prepare for graduate study in science, health-and-wellness, women's health, and other fields.
- Participating in business-related research can help women-identifying students gain knowledge and experience in finance, careers, and education-and-self-development, making them competitive in the workforce.
- To succeed in research settings, women-identifying students should actively voice their passion for research, asking questions, being an upstander, andrecognizingachievements.
- Princeton University has numerous student organizations and programs devoted to supporting women-identifying undergraduates interested in research, such as those focused on health, entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, and research.
