Seeking Study Participants: Female PhD STEM students

Principal Investigator Dr Jo Smith is seeking participants for a study of the academic conference experiences of female PhD students in STEM-related fields.

Female computer science student Istock

Principal Investigator Dr Jo Smith from the University of Auckland's Faculty of Education and Social Work is seeking participants for a study of the academic conference experiences of female PhD students in STEM-related fields. She is conducting the study with Doctoral student, Sarah-Kay Coulter, who will conduct the interviews.

Jo and Sarah-Kay are hoping to include at least 24 participants from the University of Auckland. There is no limit on the number of participants, but the first 24 volunteers will receive a $25 gift card to the University book store for participating. Study participants need to have participated in at least one academic conference, as an attendee or presenter, either in person or virtually.

If you are interested in participating, you can opt to take part in either an individual interview for about 40 minutes or a focus group of 4-6 people for about 60-90 minutes. The interview/focus group could take place in a conference room on the university campus or over the phone/Skype/Zoom, depending on participants’ preference. Focus group participants will be asked not to share what is said with others; an individual interview would offer complete confidentiality. We will not include people’s names or department/school names in the study findings.

If you  have any questions or are interested in scheduling an interview or focus group, please email Jo Smith at smith.joanna@auckland.ac.nz.

This study has been approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee on 7 January 2021 for three years. Reference Number UAHPEC21547.