UMass Boston

Intersectionality, Women and girls of Color, Social Justice, mental health, addressing inequities in the world of work, academic and career development, STEM, developing culturally sustaining interventions

• Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Delaney, T., Gamio Cuervo, Á., Zounlome, N. O. O., & Sparks, P. D. (2023). Examining How Graduate Advisors Mitigate or Exacerbate the Structural Barriers Women of Color Navigate in STEM Doctoral Programs. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication.
• Jacobson, E., Cross Francis, D., Willey, C., & Wilkins-Yel, K. G. (In press). Race, Gender, and Teacher Equity Beliefs: Construct Validation of the Attributions of Mathematical Excellence Scale. AERA Open.
• Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Arnold, A., Bekki, J., Natarajan, M., Bernstein, B., & Randall, A. K. (2022). “I can't push off my own Mental Health”: Chilly STEM Climates, Mental Health, and STEM Persistence among Black, Latina, and White Graduate Women. Sex Roles, 86(3), 208-232.
• Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Bekki, J., Arnold, A., Bernstein, B., Okwu, C., Natarajan, M., & Randall, A. K. (2022). Understanding the impact of personal challenges and advisor support on STEM persistence among graduate women of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(1), 97.
• Wilkins‐Yel, K. G., Williamson, F. A., Priddie, C., Cross Francis, D., Gallimore, S., & Davis‐Randolph, J. L. (2022). A site of radical possibilities: Examining how a multigenerational counterspace promoted STEM persistence among undergraduate Women of Color. Journal of Research in Science Teaching.
• Powless, M. D., Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Li, Y., Lau, P. L., Cheng, J., Wong, Y. J., & Biggers, M. (2022). “[He] gave me a 30-minute lecture on how I was a shitty grad student”: Examining how male faculty can eradicate systemic oppression and support women in STEM. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
• Baker, B. A., Davis, S., Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Mukherjee, A., & Paneto, A. (2022). “It’s the Teacher’s Responsibility:” Examining Pre- and In-service Teachers’ Response to Racial Discrimination. Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation
• Wilkins-Yel, K. G., Hyman, J., & Zounlome, N. O. (2019). Linking intersectional invisibility and hypervisibility to experiences of microaggressions among graduate women of color in STEM. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 113, 51-61.

Kerrie Wilkins-Yel, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research broadly focuses on equity, justice, and access both at work and in pursuit of work. Specifically, she takes an intersectional approach to understanding the influence of oppression and marginalization on the academic and career development of women from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Her work has been published in scholarly outlets such as Sex Roles, Journal of Vocational Psychology, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, and Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Wilkins-Yel addresses race- and gender-based inequities in STEM by developing culturally sustaining interventions through interdisciplinary research-practice-partnerships. Most notably, Dr. Wilkins-Yel founded and co-directs the multi-institutional I CAN PERSIST STEM Initiative, a liberatory counterspace designed to advance STEM persistence among women and girls of color in a manner that centers their thriving. To date, her work has been supported by approximately $5M in federal and private grant awards. Dr. Wilkins-Yel is a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER fellow, as well as the recipient of the APA Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology Award, and the Society for Counseling Psychology’s Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Counseling Psychology.

Funded Grants:

• #WorkingWhileBlack: Examining how Navigating Gendered Racism at Work Impacts Black Women’s Mental Health. American Psychological Foundation. [Principal Investigator]
• CAREER: Advancing STEM Persistence among Graduate Women of Color through an Examination of Institutional Contributors and Deterrents to Mental Health. National Science Foundation. [Principal Investigator] Award Abstract # 2048018
• Collaborative Proposal: What Black Doctoral Students in STEM Want and What Their Faculty are Giving: How the Differences Impact Students’ Mental Health and Career Trajectory Decisions. National Science Foundation. [Principal Investigator at UMB] Award Abstracts #2100349 & #2100408
• CareerWISE III: Intersectional Perspectives on Associations Between Perceived Supports & Underrepresented Minority Women’s Persistence in STEM Doctoral Programs. National Science Foundation. [Principal Investigator at UMB] Award Abstracts #2019533 & #1761278
• Analyzing a Multigenerational Mentorship Environment Designed to Advance STEM Persistence of Undergraduate Women of Color. National Science Foundation. [Principal Investigator] Award Abstract #2013465
• Transforming STEM Career Pathways: Examining a Multigenerational Mentorship Environment to Support Persistence of Women of Color Pursuing STEM Education at Community Colleges. National Science Foundation. [Co-Principal Investigator] Award Abstract # 2044354