This summer, I’m working on several projects for Praxis Lab through the Women and Gender Summer Fellowship Program. So far the project that I’ve worked on the most is the Latinx Student Experiences Survey. The survey was given to Latinx undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Michigan in 2018. The survey gathered information about students’ experiences as students of color, how the political climate at the time impacted their lives, and their knowledge and use of campus resources in order to better understand the experiences of Latinx students on the campus of a Predominantly White Institution. The lab is also currently working on two other projects: the Social Work Faculty Attitudes Survey and Fortaleza Mexicana: Families Confronting Violence in Rural Mexico. I hope to contribute to these in future weeks.
My role in the research with Praxis Lab is supporting all of their projects and carrying out my independent research project for WAGSFP. Right now I’m working on two papers that are using data from the Latinx Student Experiences Survey, writing for one of them and compiling a reference list for another. I’m also in the brainstorming phase of creating my WAGSFP research project, and I hope to start solidifying my ideas in the coming weeks.
I really enjoy working with Praxis Lab because all of our research can have a positive impact on many people. For example, I’m hopeful that our work on the Latinx Student Experiences Survey will help make positive changes at the university level for Michigan and other universities around the country. Hopefully we can help inform policy that can help create better conditions for Latinx students on college campuses.
When I’m sharing about my work for WAGSFP with others, research ethics can come into play. For me, this means that I have to be careful not to share anything that the lab doesn’t feel comfortable with me sharing. I have to exercise common sense and also follow the instructions of the Research Ethics and Compliance training I’ve completed. For one of our projects, Fortaleza Mexicana: Families Confronting Violence in Rural Mexico, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to transcribe and translate confidential information. Ethics is incredibly important and serious in all research projects.
I’m looking forward to doing more research in the coming weeks and working with Praxis Lab!
Paige
Hi Paige,
Thanks for sharing an update on how your research project is going. I also hope the results can have a positive impact on the Latinx students at UM. I would encourage you to think about how ethics can play a role in each stage of the research process. As you are considering a write up of the results of this study, how are you being equitable to the stories shared through data collection.
Thanks,
Emily