STORIESSTories of Resilience and Inclusion of Engineering Students
STORIESThe STORIES project is part of a larger study run by the STRIDE research group. STRIDE stands for Shaping Transformative Research on Identity and Diversity in Engineering. We’re a group of researchers who represent a variety of engineering disciplines, have expertise in engineering education research, and draw on other research fields such as social psychology. Read below to learn about the team!
Allison Godwin
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Engineering Education & Chemical Engineering
Allison Godwin is an associate professor in engineering education and chemical engineering at Purdue University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and doctoral degree in engineering and science education from Clemson University. She is the Principal Investigator (lead faculty) on the STORIES project. She came up with the idea of researching latent diversity in engineering students’ identity development over time and has overseen all aspects of the project.
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Engineering Education
Brianna Benedict is a PhD candidate in the school of engineering education at Purdue University. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. She is the primary graduate research assistant on the CAREER project where she focused on the data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of the narratives used in the STORIES project.
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Engineering Education
H. Ronald Clements is a graduate research assistant in the STRIDE lab at Purdue University. His previous work has led to papers surrounding engineering identity formation, emotions in engineering, diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM, and interactions between engineering students and faculty. His current research interests in engineering education include generating a deeper understanding of graduate-level researchers’ beliefs about knowledge, and the influence that personal epistemology has on research approach and methodological choice.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Engineering Education
Joana Marques Melo, Ph.D. is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research focuses on understanding the impact of language and culture on the development of engineering identity. Prior to moving to the United States, she worked and studied in three different countries, which inspired her interest in learning how different cultures perceive engineering. Her research interests include quantitative methods for engineering education research, diversity in engineering education, and technical communication in STEM. Joana earned her Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from Penn State University. She also earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from ISEP in Portugal and her master’s degree in Energy for Sustainable Development from UPC in Spain.
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Department of Engineering Education
Heather Perkins is a recent graduate and post-doctoral researcher who has an enduring interest in identity, stereotypes, and statistics. She is currently part of the STRIDE lab at Purdue University. She earned her associate degree in communication design from Blue Ash College in 2009, her bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2013, and her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 2021. As part of her work with the STORIES project, she has focused on the relationship between latent diversity and discipline interests, with a particular focus on critical engineering agency, and the creation of this website!
Graduate Research Fellow
National Science Foundation
Jacki Rohde is a PhD Candidate in Engineering Education at Purdue University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering at Clemson University and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Purdue university. She contributed to data analysis and publications on the CAREER project.
