Chloe Hendrix is an undergraduate studying developmental psychology at the Institute of Child Development. This summer, Hendrix is conducting research through the McNair Scholars program—a federally funded, graduate school preparation and research program for students who are of low income, first generation college, and underrepresented backgrounds. Hendrix’s McNair Scholar program advisor is Keisha Varma, Associate Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology’s psychological foundations of education program. Varma met virtually with Hendrix to ask about her experience as a McNair Scholar and working on Varma’s Project ESPRIT, an NSF-funded project that looks at ways to use a social media learning environment to help mediate the achievement gap by increasing minority and immigrant parent involvement in middle school science education.
Dr. Varma: Why did you decide to apply to the McNair Scholars fellowship program?
Chloe: I chose to apply for various reasons. I was initially introduced to it by Professor Chris Uggen, who I work with as an RA in the Sociology Department. He mentioned it to me because he has participated in the program multiple times, and I knew some of the scholars who had worked with him in the past. I thought, “Oh this is really helpful because I’m considering going to grad school and eventually getting a PhD.” When I looked into it more, I saw they provide a lot of mentorship and research experience and other things that would be helpful for me. That’s how I got introduced to it.
Dr. Varma: When did we first meet, and what made you decide to work together in the history project on the three projects?
Chloe: Finding a mentor was one of the most stressful parts because I was thinking so hard about it. I thought, “I need to find someone that aligns closely with what I do.” In the past and currently I’ve worked a lot within the Sociology Department, but I’ve really been trying to branch out. I am a developmental psychology major, and I wanted to work with someone in the Department of Educational Psychology to get the in-depth experiences I’m interested in. Then, the McNair program shared a document listing all of the faculty who were interested in working with seniors. I saw your [Dr. Keisha Varma’s] interests—related to the achievement gap and race, racial and ethnic differences, and education—are really closely aligned with mine. Those were kind of struggles that I faced and, I know, a lot of other people faced. I thought, “I need to work with her,” and now I do!
Dr. Varma: What, if anything, has surprised you about your work with McNair Scholars and on the project?
Chloe: I knew the program [McNair Scholars] was very in-depth, but I guess I was a little bit shocked at how many different areas the program covers. I was under the impression that it would be mostly focused on research. However, mentorship is a huge focus—and not just working with a professor or working with faculty—but really getting to know them on a personal level. Like when they [the McNair Scholars program] had us interview our mentors and learn more about their experiences. I think a lot of people don’t recognize how valuable it is to listen to someone who’s been through this and learn from their mistakes and their successes. You [to Dr. Varma] have been a perfect example of how you [students from underrepresented backgrounds] can do that yourself. So, the mentorship was surprising to me. Also, they have had us explore grad schools. I’m writing a CV and personal statement, updating my resume and LinkedIn. It [the McNair program] has really covered a lot of things, and I think that’s rare, especially for a short program. It’s a little bit stressful because it’s only a few weeks. It is helpful, however, that they force you to start thinking about your future.
Dr. Varma: Can you tell me a little bit more about the topic of your research project, and how you decided on it?
Chloe: My research is surrounding racial and ethnic differences, self efficacy, learning, and success. I think it’s pretty clear now that certain fields, especially STEM, lack a lot of diversity. When we typically think of all STEM fields, it’s a very white, male dominated field. There’s a lot of focus on adding more females to the field. However, that leads some people to ignore the lack of racial diversity in the area [STEM] too. There are systems and programs in place that act as barriers for underrepresented students. I think programs, like the McNair program, can help. Start with children when they’re really young and realize what is preventing minority students from succeeding in these fields. It’s not that they’re not interested. It’s not that they are not capable. It’s usually because of certain barriers and the lack of peer and teacher representation around them. It’s really complicated. And I think it’s something that we need to explore if we want to actually diversify that field.
Dr. Varma: What has been the most challenging about your research experience?
Chloe: I think this is really common in academica. You always feel like you’re not doing enough, and everyone’s one step ahead of you—even when that’s not true. It’s easy to compare yourself to other people, even though everyone in McNair Scholars is doing something completely different. I think, “Oh, am I behind? Are they doing it faster than me? Am I getting enough data out of this?” There’s this pressure when you’re doing research to find out mind blowing results that no one’s ever heard about before, but it’s rare. A lot of researchers are just repeating things and looking for new answers. However, there’s always this pressure to discover something amazing. I have realized that things aren’t perfect. I think what’s important in research is that you’re always questioning things, and I’ve learned to be okay with not having clear results and data. So that’s probably been the hardest part, dealing with ambiguity—especially with everything going on right now in the world. So I think this program—especially during this time—has made me realize it’s okay to not know everything, and it’s a good thing to just continue having questions.
Dr. Varma: How do you think you’ve gotten to a place where you can say, “It’s okay not to know everything?”
Chloe: I don’t know. I think for me, it’s been helpful talking with other McNair Scholars because we would share things like, “I feel like I don’t know what’s going on. There’s all of this data, and I don’t know what to focus on.” You have one question, and it leads you to, like, 10 other questions when you just want one answer—which is usually not realistic. There are so many answers and so many different perspectives. It’s hard to be surrounded by people who are really successful—people who have PhDs, people who are really high up in their field. You’re always comparing yourself to them. I do that sometimes too, but I try to remind myself, “I’m just an undergrad. It’s okay. I know you feel like you’re kind of behind or you feel like you’re inferior, but everyone started in some place.” I think I talked to you [Dr. Varma] about how I get nervous to ask questions sometimes. I say, “This is probably a weird question,” or, “I should know this already.” But you won’t know until you ask, and it’s better than just being scared and then having to deal with it later because it all comes piling on.
Dr. Varma: How do you plan to use what you’ve learned from being on the ESPRIT project?
Chloe: I think it’s just another research experience that’s helpful for me. It’s always nice to connect with new people. I’ve had a good amount of research experience, but it’s nice to see how different research teams work. I’m learning different skills. I know that some people [undergraduate researchers] in different groups are doing transcription. I have done qualitative coding in the past, but there are other research methods I haven’t experienced yet. I think—in general with this team but also in next year—I have to be more independent with research. I’ve always been part of some group doing a smaller portion of a project. Now, I will be the main researcher thinking about what am I trying to focus on and how am I going to do that. I’ll be conducting independent research—not simply just following someone else’s directions all the time.
Dr. Varma: So, what would you like other undergraduates, especially undergraduates from underrepresented populations, to know about participating in research?
Chloe: I think it’s really scary, and that’s normal—especially if you go to a place like the University of Minnesota or places that are predominantly white. You walk into a room or a space and you instantly feel like you’re not qualified. It doesn’t really matter how experienced other people are. Sometimes if you just don’t see someone who looks like you, you just somehow feel like you’re inferior. So, I would say don’t be afraid to try things. That was something that was hard for me because I was just always afraid. I thought “If I apply to be in this research group, they’re not gonna think I’m qualified.” But you have to start somewhere. So, I recommend trying to join as many things as possible, getting involved in as much research as possible. When you start getting involved with research, that’ll open up new opportunities to be in more research. It goes back to me saying “everyone starts somewhere.” You have to get past the feeling that you don’t know what you’re doing and just do it. Just put yourself out there and ask a lot of questions. It’s a big concern when you’re an underrepresented student. You think, “Okay, they’re going to perceive me a certain way because of my race or because of my gender or whatever it is.” Put those worries aside and just focus on doing what’s best for you. I think a lot of success has to do with the opportunities and connections that you have, so getting to know people is important.
