August 2024 Student Spotlight

Interview:

Q: What brought you to the University of Louisville?

A: My immense admiration for and my desire to work with my mentor Dr. Judith Danovitch brought me to the University of Louisville.

Q: What is your specific area of research? 

A: My work speaks to fundamental questions about how children think about intersectionality and how this affects their STEM learning. As part of my former research training at the Social Learning Lab at Boston University, I worked on projects looking at children’s science learning with a focus on addressing gender differences in science that sparked my current research interests.

Q: What made you go into this field of study?

A: My interest in and curiosity to understand human behavior led me to pursue my undergraduate studies in Psychology. My further quest to explore the field and broaden my academic and research skills in an international environment led me to move from India to the United States to pursue graduate school in psychology. I feel by pursuing a career in this field, I will be able to live my dream of bringing a positive change to the society and give something back to people.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive the Inclusive Excellence Award?

 A: I feel immensely happy that my efforts toward fostering a diverse and inclusive community and service to my field have been recognized by being selected to receive the Inclusive Excellence Award. This recognition will serve as a source of motivation which will help me to continue serving the community and the field. It feels really encouraging and special to receive this award.

 Q: What do you plan to do after earning your degree? 

 A: I plan to pursue a post-doc or work in a research-intensive position. I want to be at an institute or organization that will enable me to continue conducting my research.

Q: What accomplishment, academic or otherwise, are you most proud of?

A: I recently received the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 52’s Student International Research award recognizing my cross-cultural research study. During this project, I collected data from over 1000 adolescents in India and America and looked at their science learning attitudes with the aim of addressing the global gender gap in STEM. I am extremely proud to have received this award.

Q: What has been your favorite part of the graduate school experience at UofL?

My favorite part about the Graduate School experience at UofL is the opportunity to meet incredibly supportive and helpful people. The common thread that ties all the people that I have met, be it in my own department, or other departments where I was enrolled in classes, or through my position as my department’s Graduate Student Council (GSC) rep, is how genuinely compassionate and encouraging everyone is. It seldom happens that one comes across others who are truly interested in your personal and professional growth.

Q: What do you feel is the greatest challenge that graduate students face and how have you dealt with this challenge?

I think the greatest challenge that graduate students face is the opportunity cost involved in anything that graduate students do. As a doctoral student, I am always buried with work. If I want to take out time for self-care or take a holiday, I suffer from a sense of guilt and think that I should finish up work rather than devote time for self-care or taking a break. Furthermore, graduate students give up so much, be it living away from family or beginning a solidified career later than their peers because they need to dedicate so many years to their education. That said, pursuing graduate school is a choice and I am glad that recognitions like the Inclusive Excellence Award exist to keep us students motivated and make us feel special when our efforts are recognized. It feels very rewarding when students’ efforts are recognized and valued. I have dealt with these challenges by surrounding myself with people who are true well-wishers, and who you can speak your heart out to when you are not in good shape. I have also realized that taking short breaks and traveling has helped me rejuvenate.

Awards and Honors

• American Psychological Association (APA) Division 52,Student International Research Award
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Graduate Student Poster Award Runner-up
• University of Louisville:
• M.S. in Experimental Psychology, Graduate Deans Citation Award
• Department of Psychological & Brian Sciences, Junior Research Excellence Award
• Graduate Dean’s Diversity Supplement Award

Publications

• Shenouda, C., Patel, K.S., & Danovitch, J.H., (in press). Who can do STEM?: Children’s gendered beliefs about STEM and non-STEM competence and learning. Sex Roles.
   
• Patel, K.S., Danovitch, J.H., & Noles, N.S (revise and resubmit). Children’s evaluation of Black and White men’s and women’s scientific knowledge: An intersectional approach. Developmental Psychology.
• Master, A., Patel, K.S., Weltzien, K., & Sharmin, S. (revise and resubmit). “I Felt Like I Completely Belonged in That Class”: The Development of Girls’ Sense of Belonging in K-12 STEM Education. Educational Psychology Review

Fun Facts

A talent you have always wanted: To be able to sing well.

Favorite book: The Alchemist

Favorite quote: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” by Mahatma Gandhi

Role Model: My mom

Favorite thing to do or place to go in Louisville: I love going to the NuLu marketplace on a bright sunny evening.

If you weren’t in graduate school, what would you be doing now? I would probably be a stand-up comedy artist.