About

Professor Christine Grant is dedicated to empowering individuals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to advance their careers through resilience and targeted support. She leads STEM Resilience, a resource that offers interactive keynotes, workshops, webinars, and career coaching and mentoring. Her approach is structured around a strategically developed Identify, Create, Execute process designed to help individuals navigate their professional development beyond their credentials. Professor Grant focuses on broadening participation in STEM by empowering men, women, and underrepresented groups, sharing strategies on resiliency and empowerment, and cultivating careers through mentoring and coaching. Her workshops and coaching sessions are customized to meet the goals of organizations and individuals, fostering change and career momentum. Testimonials from clients and colleagues highlight her impact as a positive role model, an engaging speaker, and a thoughtful coach who provides practical tools and guidance for thriving despite challenges.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Social Science
• Pedagogy
• Gender studies
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Medical education
• Engineering
• Public relations

Selected publications

• Collaborative Ethnography and Matters of Care in Counterspaces

  Engaging Science Technology and Society · 2024-04-22 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  This paper offers a reflexive analysis of an interdisciplinary and cross-race collaboration to advance equity in engineering called LATTICE (Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: an Intentional Community in Engineering). We engage two bodies of scholarship—matters of care in feminist science and technology studies (STS) and critical race theory on counterspaces—to theorize on the data infrastructure and narrative practices that we developed when applying critical methodologies to collective action in technoscience. We discuss how our care practices conflicted with traditional ethnographic practices and thus, inspired us to innovate on methods. These methods—member-checking and polyvocal memo-ing—make transgressing the boundaries of LATTICE counterspaces for public dissemination possible by invoking caring as praxis. We conclude that using these methods to discuss the contradictions and challenges in STS collaborations is an opportunity for advancing mutual intelligibility among interdisciplinary scholars and a politics of knowledge production grounded in values of care and friendship that may contribute to equity and justice in technoscience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Work-in-Progress: The Design and Implementation of EFRI-Research Experience in Mentoring Catalyst Initiative

  2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings · 2024-02-20

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers and Innovation (EFRI) Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program nationally supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields at various universities and colleges. The NSF EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative was designed to build and train these robust, interactive research mentoring communities that are composed of faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate student mentors, to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM research who are funded through NSF EFRI-REM. This work-in-progress paper describes the first five years of this initiative, where interactive training programs were implemented from multiple frameworks of effective mentoring. Principal investigators, postdoctoral associates and graduate students are often expected to develop and establish mentoring plans without any formal training in how to be effective mentors. Since the start of this initiative, over 300 faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate students have been trained on promising practices, strategies, and tools to enhance their research mentoring experiences. In addition to formal mentor training, opportunities to foster a community of practice with current mentors and past mentor training participants (sage mentors) were provided. During these interactions, promising mentoring practices were shared to benefit the mentors and the different mentoring populations that the EFRI-REMs serve. The community of practice connected a diverse group of institutions and faculty to help the EFRI-REM community in its goal of broadening participation across a range of STEM disciplines. Those institutions are then able to discuss, distill and disseminate best practices around the mentoring of participants through targeted mentored training beyond the EFRI-REM at their home institutions. Not only does the EFRI-REM Catalyst initiative focus on broadening participation via strategic training of research mentors, it also empowers mentees, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates, in their research experiences through an entering research undergraduate course and formal mentoring training workshops. Future expansion to other academic units (e.g., colleges, universities) builds on the research collaborations and the initiatives developed and presented in this work-in-progress paper. A long-term goal is to provide insights via collaborative meetings (e.g., webinars, presentations) for STEM and related faculty who are assembling an infrastructure (e.g., proposals for the ERFI-REM program) across a range of research structures. In summary, this work-in-progress paper provides a description of the design and implementation of this initiative, preliminary findings, expanding interactions to other NSF supported Engineering Research Centers, and the future directions of the EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Building Community Through Professional Development: The LATTICE Program

  2024-02-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: an Intentional Community in Engineering (LATTICE) is a national program to increase the retention and advancement of women academics in engineering and computer science. This NSF ADVANCE funded effort has a focus on community, ongoing connections, and professional development to support women as they navigate the postdoctoral and junior faculty stages. These early career stages are a crucial time of transition, and an important opportunity for retention of women in engineering and computer science. For individuals who are an "only" in terms of their social identity (e.g., gender, race, sexuality, ability status, etc.), the isolation during this transitional period can be particularly acute. Research shows that a strong connection to community can counter this isolation, and that the resulting sense of belonging is important to individual success and persistence in STEM. The LATTICE program is designed to build community and ongoing support while providing professional development. This presentation will introduce the LATTICE program theory and design, then discuss evaluation findings, unexpected challenges, and planned modifications to continue to improve the program. The LATTICE program begins with a four-day symposium that weaves together professional development skill building and conversations about social identity. The symposium activities and resulting community lay the foundation for deeper and ongoing support through the peer Mentoring Circles. Each Mentoring Circle, composed of eight to nine participants, provides a frequent and safe forum to discuss concerns, gain perspective, problem-solve, and set personal goals. The first LATTICE symposium was held May 18-21, 2017 with participants who were early-career women from electrical engineering and computer science. The second LATTICE symposium for women in any field of engineering who are underrepresented minorities will be held May 30-June 2, 2019. Evaluation data shows that the LATTICE symposium is a valuable experience for participants, who benefit both from the information discussed and the relationships they began at the symposium. Further, the Mentoring Circles help build community, while providing needed support and accountability. Within several months of participation, participants perceive that the LATTICE program is having a positive impact on their self-confidence and ability to proactively engage in career-building behaviors, such as asking for resources, seeking advice, and starting collaborations. Participants self-reported statistically significant improvements in both self-efficacy and networking activity. LATTICE participants came to the first symposium with a wide array of experiences and perceptions of bias. In order to more fully address the intersectional identities of participants while building a cohesive community, programmatic modifications are planned for the second symposium. One modification will be to incorporate the pedagogical tool of caucusing, in which participants suggest the social identities they wished to caucus around (e.g., Black, Spanish-speaking, first-generation). This allows participants (and panelists) an opportunity to gather in affinity groups of self-identified salient identities, serving to enhance and support communication, while building the capacity to understand their own identities and thereby build authentic relationships across identities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• ADVANCE-ENG Success at the Intersection of Formal and Informal Networks for Women of Color (WOC) Engineering Faculty

  2024-02-13 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Underrepresented Minority (URM) women engineering faculty are leading change in the academy through outstanding research and leadership endeavors. A 2005 ADVANCE Leadership award entitled, "Peer Mentoring Summits for Women Engineering Faculty of Color" convened the first ever set of summits focused on URM women engineering faculty. Using a "where are they now" approach, we will highlight the accomplishments of participants in this initiative started 12 years ago. While this group does diversify the faculty, their roles in the academy are not focused solely on issues of diversity. For example, as administrators, it is critical to recognize their intellectual contributions to academic policy, research and pedagogical advancements in higher education. Given the increasing number of workshops, summits and publications focused on Women of Color (WOC) STEM academicians, we will present experiential perspectives and summarize these efforts for WOC STEM faculty. The subsequent development of cross-cultural collaborations in a new multi-university NSF-ADVANCE project entitled, "Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: An Intentional Community in Engineering (LATTICE)" will also be presented. While intersectionality defines unique issues at the intersection of race and gender, this paper explores the expansion of formal networks of our diverse LATTICE team building on the success of previous faculty development initiatives. The paper will also discuss how ongoing informal networks continue to incorporate mentoring and coaching to empower women engineering faculty.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Negotiating boundaries: an intersectional collaboration to advance women academics in engineering

  Engineering Studies · 2023 · 11 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Gender studies
  • Sociology

  This paper draws on data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE-funded LATTICE program (Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: an Intentional Community in Engineering) to examine how a diverse group of women worked across social and professional identities to support early-career women in academic engineering. We used ethnography to elucidate the social dynamics and power relations involved in forming a coherent group identity for the LATTICE leadership team, and the boundaries we negotiated in running the LATTICE program. We identify the processes and behaviors through which we made boundaries between members salient yet porous to build a coherent community across various dimensions of difference. We offer three actionable strategies that impact change agents' engagement and the group's coherence across multiple dimensions of difference: (1) intentionally creating a socio-emotional culture in our group, one that spans across group members' personal and professional identities; (2) validating other group members' perspectives, and (3) striving to build consensus using storytelling. These strategies of the LATTICE leadership team provide guidelines for others who work across intersecting dimensions of difference.

  PublisherDOI

• Issue Information – Table of Contents

  AIChE Journal · 2020-07-18

  paratextOpen accessSenior author

  This plenary session will focus on ongoing success stories in diversity and inclusion and feature a moderated panel of executives from industry and senior academic administrators.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Success Factors that Shape Black Male Transfer and Academic Experiences in Engineering

  Community College Journal of Research and Practice · 2020 · 10 citations

  • Sociology
  • Social Science
  • Psychology

  Although many Black male students begin their collegiate experience at community colleges, a greater understanding of their four-year transfer experience is needed. This qualitative narrative study critically explores pathways of Black male engineering students who transferred from community colleges to four-year research-extensive institutions. The following research question guided the study: How do personal, social, and environmental factors shape the transfer experiences of Black male engineering students who attend four-year institutions? Thirteen engineering students between the ages of 21 and 56, with a mean age of 26 years, were selected for semi-structured interviews. Complementary data from online demographic surveys, researcher observation guides, memos, and field notes were obtained. The researcher used the constant comparative method to analyze and interpret data. Findings indicate that collaborative interactions within engineering communities of practice, especially with other transfer students, foster the development of Black male transfer students’ engineering mind-sets and complex problem-solving skills. Study habits and/or peer-led study groups established at community colleges translated to the four-year institution, influencing engineering student-success and enhancing knowledge through communities of practice. Lastly, participants’ responses suggest that faculty and staff interactions can influence their academic, social and professional experiences on campus. This study suggests the importance of communities of practice in the development of Black male transfer students’ engineering career at four-year institutions.

  PublisherDOI

• “Advance Eng Girls To Women: An Innovative Engineering Faculty Student Mentoring Summit For Underrepresented Minority (Urm) Girls And Their Mothers”

  2020-09-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Bowles' research centers on social justice and equity issues in adult and higher education. Critical, feminist and ecological frameworks underpin her interdisciplinary endeavors while employing mixed-methods

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Issue Information – Table of Contents

  AIChE Journal · 2020-10-17

  paratextOpen accessSenior author

  This plenary session will focus on ongoing success stories in diversity and inclusion and feature a moderated panel of executives from industry and senior academic administrators.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Advance Peer Mentoring Summits For Underrepresented Minority Women Engineering Faculty

  2020-09-03 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  As they progress in their engineering faculty careers, Underrepresented Minority Women (URM) women are very familiar with unique issues at the intersection of race and gender (DeCuir-Gunby, This familiarity results from their own personal experiences in the Academy and provides a broad set of responses ranging from leaving the professoriate to a single-minded pursuit of success no matter what obstacles are presented (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2007; National Research Council, 2006). Efforts have focused on preparing women with innovative approaches to confront and overcome any challenges through a combination of peer, cross cultural and technical mentoring.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Coleen Carrigan

  Cal Poly Corporation

  46 shared

• Julie S. Ivy

  North Carolina State University

  45 shared

• Saejin Tanguay

  University of Washington

  43 shared

• Barbara Smith

  University of Washington

  39 shared

• Jessica T. DeCuir‐Gunby

  38 shared

• Ruben G. Carbonell

  National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals

  13 shared

• Yazan A. Hussain

  Jordan University of Science and Technology

  12 shared

• Cara Margherio

  10 shared

Awards & honors

• AAAS Mentor Award (2015)
• NSF Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and E…
• William W. Grimes Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineeri…
• Dr. Joseph N. Cannon Award for Excellence in Chemical Engine…
• Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network (WEPAN) Bevlee A. Wa…