2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Black women in STEM graduate programs at predominantly white institutions face persistent barriers to belonging, including racial isolation, gendered microaggressions, and limited access to culturally affirming mentorship. This study examines how participants describe their sense of belonging before and after participation in a year-long, cohort-based Sista Circle intervention designed to strengthen belonging. Using a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design, we analyzed pre- and post-program reflective responses from 16 Black STEM in graduate programs. In vivo coding preserved participant language, quantitized thematic frequency analysis was used descriptively to examine changes in the presence of belonging-related constructs across time. Findings show that participants’ descriptions shifted from conditional and externally mediated belonging before the program toward relationally grounded, culturally affirming, and institutionally situated belonging after participation. Across post-program reflections, participants more frequently described emotional support, peer mentorship, cultural healing, and radical self-care as mechanisms through which belonging was built and sustained. Overall, findings suggest that culturally embedded counterspaces can support meaningful improvements in belonging for Black women in graduate science and engineering contexts and offer a replicable framework for equity-centered graduate support programs.