DIVAS (“Diversificadas y Valientes” into STEAM + B)

About DIVAS

DIVAS or “Diversificadas y Valientes”

(Diversified and Brave Females in STEM Environments)

FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)

UNDER THE HISPANIC SERVICE INSTITUTIONS (HSI)-STEM

Current data evidence a low participation of Latinas in STEM undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and professional fields such as the academia, research, and industry sectors; and even less participation in leadership positions. It is well documented that a critical part of the learning pathway of Latinas is to connect with experienced professionals as mentors and role models; however, such mentoring stalls once they enter the workforce. To tackle the low numbers of Latinas in academia, we plan a double

strategy: (a) we will conduct research to measure the impact of self-efficacy of the STEM female faculty members on the mentoring and retention of STEM female students; and (b) we will develop and foster an online community of STEM Latinas. The online community will have the standards to integrate collaborative inquiry and reflection practices to ensure improvement in the STEM female faculty members’ and students’ self-efficacy levels, performance, and outcomes. These communities will be active in training, reflection, feedback, and the analysis of diverse topics such as their perceived self-efficacy levels; personal, academic, and professional needs; leadership opportunities; teaching practices; and outcomes. Therefore, DIVAS has three main goals: (1) research on faculty’s self-efficacy levels and its impacts on their undergraduate students in STEM during an academic semester, (2) create an online community based on storytelling mentoring sessions and mentor-mentee groups to connect experienced Latina professionals and undergraduate students across different STEM fields, and (3) provide a DIVAS Coaching certification to STEM female undergraduates focused on helping participants build healthy and strong self-efficacy beliefs to successfully approach professional and life challenges and issues in their future careers (Bandura, 1986).

Project Years: 2023-2026

Inspiring testimonials from our DIVAS

DIVAS Recruitment

Divas Mentor Register Form – Recruitment date for Mentees has ended

Divas Student Form – Recruitment for Mentors are year round

Main Goals & Principal Objectives

Goals

Study the STEM female undergraduate students’ self-efficacy levels, with emphasis on mathematics self-efficacy across STEM courses.
Create a hybrid mentor-mentee community to connect experienced professionals to undergraduates across STEM fields between UPR-Humacao and Inter-Barranquitas.
Develop an online toolbox and website for empowering Latinas in STEM.
Measure the impacts of self-efficacy beliefs and persistence of 1st & 2nd year female students who participate in this community of practice. Data collected in this pilot project will be used to develop culturally sensitive interventions to increase retention and graduation rates.

Objectives

Study the self-efficacy levels of university students in their mathematics courses and in other courses that require mathematical concepts in STEM specialties.
Create a solid community to connect professional women and undergraduate students in STEM.
Develop an online tool platform to empower Latinas in STEM.

DIVAS Framework

A collaborative pilot project based on the social cognitive framework (Bandura, 1986) focused on:

Studying and improving the mathematics self-efficacy.
Examining persistence levels of STEM female undergraduate students to increase their retention and graduation rates.

Research

DIVAS project aims:

(1) study in-depth the STEM female undergraduate students’ self-efficacy levels, with an added focus on their math self-efficacy across STEM courses that require mathematics concepts and within mathematics courses;

(2) create a hybrid community based on mentoring sessions and mentor-mentee groups to connect experienced professionals and undergraduate students across STEM

(3) create an online toolbox and website for empowering Latinas in STEM. The DIVAS community will have the standards to integrate collaborative inquiry and reflection practices to ensure improvement in the STEM female faculty members’ and students’ self-efficacy levels, performance, and outcomes.

DIVAS Project Team

Josee Vedrine, Ph.D. PI (UPRH), will be responsible for the overall program administration and implementation.

Lilliam Casillas, Ph.D. Co-PI (UPRH), will supervise the implementation of the empowerment activities for student success, collect data, and submit the necessary reports to NSF.

Brenda Burgos, Ph.D. Co-PI, the Dean of Academic Affairs at University of Interamericana Barranquitas Campus.

Elsa Trujillo, Ed.D., will be the main researcher designing the rubrics and interviews conducted in the DIVAS program.

Betzaida Castillo, Ph.D., professor of Chemistry at UPRH, and Franchesca Lebron, MSc., Mathematics junior faculty at UPRH will focus on the mathematical self-awareness of the students within course specific content.

Michele Cartagena, Ph.D., professor of Chemistry and Maria M. Melendez, MSc. professor of Biology both at Interamericana Barranquitas will focus on the mathematical self-awareness of the students within course specific content.

Millie L. Gonzalez, Ph.D., professor of Biology at Inter-Fajardo, will work with B. Castillo and F. Lebron to review the educational content related to assessing math-self-efficacy for Biology students.

Franchesca Lebron, MSc., Mathematics junior faculty at UPRH will focus on the mathematical self-awareness of the students within course specific content.

Ingrid Montes, Ph.D. (UPRRP) and Angelica Torres, Ph.D. (UPRC) will recruit and serve students at their respective institutions.

Milagros Morales, MBA – IT specialist from UPRH, will oversee the communications of the DIVAS online community, build, and maintain a centralized website and send all rubrics/materials to the students and mentors.

Shirley Cortes, PROJECT COORDINATOR, M.A. (UPRH), Some of Shirley’s roles will be to be follow up with contracts, maintain communication with events for the group, and and complete paperwork related to travels/ orders, etc.

DIVAS EXTERNAL EVALUATOR

Ayesha Boyce, Ph.D., Associate Professor at University of Arizona will monitor and assess development, and impact of the DIVAS activities, provide quarterly reports with formative assessment findings, as well as annual summative reports, and a cumulative summative report at the end of the project period.
She uses Values-Engaged, Educative evaluation approach (VEE) (Boyce, 2017; Greene, DeStefano, Burgon, & Hall, 2006), a type of culturally responsive evaluation which effectively incorporates cutting-edge scientific content, strong instructional pedagogy, and sensitivity to diversity and equity issues.