Lara Perez-Felkner
Biographic Data
| ID | 213787 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lara Perez-Felkner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lara |
| FAMILY NAME | Perez-Felkner |
| SIGNATURE | PEREZ-FELKNER L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Florida State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3451-8524 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Beyond the Pipeline: First-Generation College Students’ Community Cultural Wealth and STEM Degree Pathways
This study examines how first-generation college students (FGCS) and continuing-generation college students navigate STEM pathways by modeling four sequential milestones in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09): high school graduation, college enrollment, STEM major selection, and STEM degree completion. Guided by Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, we use survey-weighted sequential logistic regression to estimate stage-sp…
Public Financing of STEM Education: Research Evidence and Policy Recommendations
Research has shown effective and broadly accessed STEM education drives innovation, economic growth, and national competitiveness. Strategic public funding that supports students can expand capacity, improve STEM readiness, and enhance workforce outcomes. Targeted federal investments help reduce economic barriers for students and promote STEM career pathways. These efforts are especially effective when coupled with holistic supports such as inclu…
Geography of Computing Graduate Degree Opportunities: Examining the Characteristics of Minority-Serving Institutions
Computing Education Interventions to Increase Gender Equity from 2000 to 2020: A Systematic Literature Review
Although gender parity has been achieved in some STEM fields, gender disparities persist in computing, one of the fastest-growing and highest-earning career fields. In this systematic literature review, we expand upon academic momentum theory to categorize computing interventions intended to make computing environments more inclusive to girls and women and consider how those characteristics vary by the success of the intervention. Particular atte…
Toward institutional transformation: Warming the chilly climate for women in STEM through macrostructural change
Introduction Although the demand for graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) credentials continues to climb, women remain underrepresented as both students and faculty in STEM higher education. Compounding social forces can hinder organizational change for gender equity in STEM, constraining institutions and individuals within them. This study advances macrostructural theory to examine the impact of gender composit…
Gender Differences in Motivational and Curricular Pathways Towards Postsecondary Computing Majors
Social Cognitive Predictors of Bystander Intervention in Racial Microaggressions Among College Students
Integrating microintervention strategies and the bystander intervention model, we examined social cognitive predictors (i.e., moral disengagement, empathy, and self-efficacy) of the five steps of the bystander intervention model (i.e., Notice, Interpret, Accept, Know, and Act) to address racial microaggressions in a sample of 452 racially diverse college students. Data were collected using an online survey. Path analyses showed that moral disenga…
Liberating Our Writing: Critical Narratives and Systemic Changes in Education and the Social Sciences
We outline our evolution as Latina, Asian, and White women sociologists using a social justice lens while studying transitions to college among youth of color. During our graduate training and early academic careers, we felt pushed to center “mainstream” theories, which often failed to account for the power struggles and intersectional oppression our reading and empirical investigations uncovered. Guidance from mentors, peer reviewers, and senior…
The puzzling relationship between international development and gender equity: The case of STEM postsecondary education in Cambodia
Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees
Is there a relationship between mathematics ability beliefs and STEM degrees? Fields such as physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (PEMC) are thought to require talent or brilliance. However, the potential effects of difficulty perceptions on students' participation in STEM have yet to be examined using a gender and race/ethnicity intersectional lens. Using nationally representative U.S. longitudinal data, we measure gender and …
Sociological Perspectives on Socialization
Are 2-Year Colleges the Key? Institutional Variation and the Gender Gap in Undergraduate STEM Degrees
Studies of gender gaps in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education have rarely considered 2-year colleges, despite the fact that most enrollees are women. Situated in an interdisciplinary literature on gender and inequality in students’ pathways to STEM higher education, this study used Beginning Postsecondary Students:2004/2009 nationally representative panel data on 5,210 undergraduate students. The primary rese…
Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Conceptualizing the self-authorship experience of gay Latino college men using conocimiento
This essay aims to enhance our conceptual understanding of students with intersectional identities, specifically gay Latino men in college. We first explain how ethnic, gender, and sexual identities can act as compounding influences. Second, we review two distinct but complementary developmental theories. Conocimiento captures the disruptive, challenging path experienced by marginalized Latino youth. Self-authorship situates the broader developme…
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment: A Life Course Perspective
What is the role of parents, peers and teachers in shaping school experiences and informing the career choice of males and females? Does the school context matter, and to what extent do educational experiences influence young people's self-concept, values and their outlook to the future? Do teenage aspirations influence later outcomes regarding educational attainment and the assumption of work and family related roles? These questions and more ar…
Female and male adolescents' subjective orientations to mathematics and the influence of those orientations on postsecondary majors
Although important strides toward gender parity have been made in several scientific fields, women remain underrepresented in the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and computer sciences (PEMCs). This study examines the effects of adolescents' subjective orientations, course taking, and academic performance on the likelihood of majoring in PEMC in college. Results indicate that racial-ethnic and gender underrepresentation in science, te…
Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship
Female and male adolescents' subjective orientations to mathematics and the influence of those orientations on postsecondary majors
Although important strides toward gender parity have been made in several scientific fields, women remain underrepresented in the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and computer sciences (PEMCs). This study examines the effects of adolescents' subjective orientations, course taking, and academic performance on the likelihood of majoring in PEMC in college. Results indicate that racial-ethnic and gender underrepresentation in science, te…
Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees
Is there a relationship between mathematics ability beliefs and STEM degrees? Fields such as physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (PEMC) are thought to require talent or brilliance. However, the potential effects of difficulty perceptions on students' participation in STEM have yet to be examined using a gender and race/ethnicity intersectional lens. Using nationally representative U.S. longitudinal data, we measure gender and …
Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Conceptualizing the self-authorship experience of gay Latino college men using conocimiento
This essay aims to enhance our conceptual understanding of students with intersectional identities, specifically gay Latino men in college. We first explain how ethnic, gender, and sexual identities can act as compounding influences. Second, we review two distinct but complementary developmental theories. Conocimiento captures the disruptive, challenging path experienced by marginalized Latino youth. Self-authorship situates the broader developme…
Social Cognitive Predictors of Bystander Intervention in Racial Microaggressions Among College Students
Integrating microintervention strategies and the bystander intervention model, we examined social cognitive predictors (i.e., moral disengagement, empathy, and self-efficacy) of the five steps of the bystander intervention model (i.e., Notice, Interpret, Accept, Know, and Act) to address racial microaggressions in a sample of 452 racially diverse college students. Data were collected using an online survey. Path analyses showed that moral disenga…
Liberating Our Writing: Critical Narratives and Systemic Changes in Education and the Social Sciences
We outline our evolution as Latina, Asian, and White women sociologists using a social justice lens while studying transitions to college among youth of color. During our graduate training and early academic careers, we felt pushed to center “mainstream” theories, which often failed to account for the power struggles and intersectional oppression our reading and empirical investigations uncovered. Guidance from mentors, peer reviewers, and senior…
The puzzling relationship between international development and gender equity: The case of STEM postsecondary education in Cambodia
Are 2-Year Colleges the Key? Institutional Variation and the Gender Gap in Undergraduate STEM Degrees
Studies of gender gaps in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education have rarely considered 2-year colleges, despite the fact that most enrollees are women. Situated in an interdisciplinary literature on gender and inequality in students’ pathways to STEM higher education, this study used Beginning Postsecondary Students:2004/2009 nationally representative panel data on 5,210 undergraduate students. The primary rese…
Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship
Female and male adolescents' subjective orientations to mathematics and the influence of those orientations on postsecondary majors
Although important strides toward gender parity have been made in several scientific fields, women remain underrepresented in the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and computer sciences (PEMCs). This study examines the effects of adolescents' subjective orientations, course taking, and academic performance on the likelihood of majoring in PEMC in college. Results indicate that racial-ethnic and gender underrepresentation in science, te…
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment: A Life Course Perspective
What is the role of parents, peers and teachers in shaping school experiences and informing the career choice of males and females? Does the school context matter, and to what extent do educational experiences influence young people's self-concept, values and their outlook to the future? Do teenage aspirations influence later outcomes regarding educational attainment and the assumption of work and family related roles? These questions and more ar…
Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Conceptualizing the self-authorship experience of gay Latino college men using conocimiento
This essay aims to enhance our conceptual understanding of students with intersectional identities, specifically gay Latino men in college. We first explain how ethnic, gender, and sexual identities can act as compounding influences. Second, we review two distinct but complementary developmental theories. Conocimiento captures the disruptive, challenging path experienced by marginalized Latino youth. Self-authorship situates the broader developme…
Sociological Perspectives on Socialization
Are 2-Year Colleges the Key? Institutional Variation and the Gender Gap in Undergraduate STEM Degrees
Studies of gender gaps in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education have rarely considered 2-year colleges, despite the fact that most enrollees are women. Situated in an interdisciplinary literature on gender and inequality in students’ pathways to STEM higher education, this study used Beginning Postsecondary Students:2004/2009 nationally representative panel data on 5,210 undergraduate students. The primary rese…
The puzzling relationship between international development and gender equity: The case of STEM postsecondary education in Cambodia
Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees
Is there a relationship between mathematics ability beliefs and STEM degrees? Fields such as physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (PEMC) are thought to require talent or brilliance. However, the potential effects of difficulty perceptions on students' participation in STEM have yet to be examined using a gender and race/ethnicity intersectional lens. Using nationally representative U.S. longitudinal data, we measure gender and …
Liberating Our Writing: Critical Narratives and Systemic Changes in Education and the Social Sciences
We outline our evolution as Latina, Asian, and White women sociologists using a social justice lens while studying transitions to college among youth of color. During our graduate training and early academic careers, we felt pushed to center “mainstream” theories, which often failed to account for the power struggles and intersectional oppression our reading and empirical investigations uncovered. Guidance from mentors, peer reviewers, and senior…
Toward institutional transformation: Warming the chilly climate for women in STEM through macrostructural change
Introduction Although the demand for graduates with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) credentials continues to climb, women remain underrepresented as both students and faculty in STEM higher education. Compounding social forces can hinder organizational change for gender equity in STEM, constraining institutions and individuals within them. This study advances macrostructural theory to examine the impact of gender composit…
Gender Differences in Motivational and Curricular Pathways Towards Postsecondary Computing Majors
Social Cognitive Predictors of Bystander Intervention in Racial Microaggressions Among College Students
Integrating microintervention strategies and the bystander intervention model, we examined social cognitive predictors (i.e., moral disengagement, empathy, and self-efficacy) of the five steps of the bystander intervention model (i.e., Notice, Interpret, Accept, Know, and Act) to address racial microaggressions in a sample of 452 racially diverse college students. Data were collected using an online survey. Path analyses showed that moral disenga…
Public Financing of STEM Education: Research Evidence and Policy Recommendations
Research has shown effective and broadly accessed STEM education drives innovation, economic growth, and national competitiveness. Strategic public funding that supports students can expand capacity, improve STEM readiness, and enhance workforce outcomes. Targeted federal investments help reduce economic barriers for students and promote STEM career pathways. These efforts are especially effective when coupled with holistic supports such as inclu…
Geography of Computing Graduate Degree Opportunities: Examining the Characteristics of Minority-Serving Institutions
Computing Education Interventions to Increase Gender Equity from 2000 to 2020: A Systematic Literature Review
Although gender parity has been achieved in some STEM fields, gender disparities persist in computing, one of the fastest-growing and highest-earning career fields. In this systematic literature review, we expand upon academic momentum theory to categorize computing interventions intended to make computing environments more inclusive to girls and women and consider how those characteristics vary by the success of the intervention. Particular atte…
Beyond the Pipeline: First-Generation College Students’ Community Cultural Wealth and STEM Degree Pathways
This study examines how first-generation college students (FGCS) and continuing-generation college students navigate STEM pathways by modeling four sequential milestones in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09): high school graduation, college enrollment, STEM major selection, and STEM degree completion. Guided by Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, we use survey-weighted sequential logistic regression to estimate stage-sp…
Psychology (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Career Development and Diversity (7 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Higher Education Research Studies (5 works) · Mathematics education (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works)