2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This full research paper draws attention to challenges faced by women of color in their academic journeys in STEM. Within the stories shared by minoritized women, many were recently exploited during their time as doctoral students, research scientists, postdoctoral scholars, and as early career faculty within STEM fields in academia. Many of these incidents could be characterized as hierarchical microaggressions. Listening to their stories we can consider the extent to which individual bad actors were responsible for these harms, versus exploring the system-level conditions and cultures that enable these situations. This work encourages faculty to lean into the power, positionality, and agency they possess to work toward creating a culture and environment that is respectful, rejects exploitation, exposes ‘hidden truths’, fosters collaboration rather than competition, and advocates for others.