National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
Our Staff
Kate Lehman
| Title: | Director |
| National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition | |
| Email: | kl86@mailbox.sc.edu |
| Phone: | 803-777-2570 |
| Resources: | Curriculum Vitae |
Kate Lehman, PhD, serves as director of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition where she provides leadership for all Center operations, strategic initiatives, conferences and events, publications, and scholarly and research activities. Kate also serves as an affiliated faculty member in the University of South Carolina’s Department of Leadership, Learning Design, and Inquiry. Kate teaches courses on research methods and the impact of college on students, as well as advises students and serves on dissertation committees. Dr. Lehman’s research interests center on the major selection process for first- and second-year college students, experiences that promote student retention and success in their major field (particularly STEM and computing fields), and the college-to-career transition. She currently serves as co-PI on an NSF-funded study that tracks first- and second-year computing students through college and beyond into careers and graduate school to examine the experiences that shape their educational trajectories.
Prior to joining the NRC, Kate served as co-founder and associate director of Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology and as Assistant Academic Researcher and Assistant Adjunct Professor in UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies. Momentum is a research center that employs mixed-methods approaches to conduct cutting-edge research on efforts to diversify computing and technology fields, with an emphasis on efforts to recruit women and people of color into computing education pathways and retain them into technology fields. Over her 12 years at UCLA, Kate worked alongside Dr. Linda Sax to establish Momentum’s reputation as a leader in computing education. During her tenure as associate director, she served as PI or co-PI on numerous large-scale, NSF-funded projects, recruited and developed top research talent, established key partnerships with leaders in education research and policy, led extramural fundraising efforts, published widely, and regularly represented Momentum at national and international conferences and convenings. Kate continues to serve as an affiliated scholar at Momentum. Kate has also held positions in student affairs at The Ohio State University and the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
Kate is a proud alum of Miami University, The Ohio State University, and UCLA. Outside of work, Kate is a mom of three, an exercise enthusiast (find her on Peloton!), and a Francophone.
Please find selected publications and presentations below; see attached CV for a comprehensive list.
Educational Background
- Doctor of Philosophy, Higher Education and Organizational Change, University of California, Los Angeles
- Masters of Arts, Higher Education and Student Affairs, The Ohio State University
- Bachelor of Arts, French, Miami University
Lehman, K. J., Karpicz, J. R., Nakajima, T. M., Sax, L. J., & Rozhenkova, V. (2022). “None of This Happens in a Vacuum”: The Impact of External Dynamics on Department Chairs’ Efforts to Broaden Participation in Undergraduate Computing. Computer Science Education, 1-23. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2022.2160150
Lehman, K. J., Newhouse, K. N., Sundar, S., & Sax, L. J. (2022). Nevertheless, They Persisted: Factors that Promote Persistence for Women and Racially/Ethnically Minoritized Students in Undergraduate Computing. Computer Science Education, 1-26. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2022.2086401
Riggers-Piehl, T. A., Lehman, K.J. & Sandvall, E. (2020). The Role of College Experiences in the Development of Self-Authored Worldview Commitment for First-Year STEM Students. Journal of First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 32(2), p. 77-104. Retrieved from: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/fyesit/fyesit/2020/00000032/00000002/art00005
Rodriguez, S.L. & Lehman, K.J. (2018). Developing the next generation of diverse computer scientists: The need for enhanced, intersectional computer science identity theory. Computer Science Education, 27(3-4), 229-247. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2018.1457899
Sax, L. J., Lehman, K. J., Jacobs, J. A., Kanny, M. A., Lim, K., Monje-Paulson, L. & Zimmerman, H. (2017). Anatomy of an enduring gender gap: The evolution of women’s participation in computer science. The Journal of Higher Education, 88(2), 258-293. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2016.1257306
Lehman, K.J., Sax, L.J., Burt, B.A., Keup, J.R., Perez-Felkner, L., Rodriguez & S.L., Saenz, V.B. (2023, November). Taking Care of Business: Developing Skills to Successfully Lead Your Research Team. Research workshop presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Minneapolis, MN.
Lehman, K.J., Stormes, K., Smith, K. & Lapan, J. (2023, April). Playing the Field: Non-Computing Majors’ Experiences in Computing Internships. Roundtable presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
Lehman, K.J., Sundar, S., Kalsi, H. & Rajninger, T. (2023, April). Making the Leap: Recent College Graduates’ Early Career Experiences in Computing Fields. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
Lehman, K.J., Newhouse, K., Sendowski, M. & Wofford, A. (2019, November). Doing and defining interdisciplinarity in undergraduate computing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Portland, OR.
Lehman, K.J., Riggers-Piehl, T.A., Rodriguez, S., Park, J. Burt, B. Snipes, J.T. (2018, November). Catching the spirit: A discussion on the role of spirituality and diversity in the experiences of STEM students. K.J. Lehman (Chair). Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Tampa, FL.
DuBow, W. & Lehman, K.J. (2023, June). Data Collective: Challenges in Getting Data from Higher Ed. Presentation at the 2023 National Science Foundation Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Education and Workforce (EWF) PI Meeting. National Science Foundation. Atlanta, GA.
Sax, L.J. & Lehman, K.J (2023, June). NASEM Briefing: Pathways to Doctoral Degrees in Computing. Presentation for National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Pathways to Doctoral Degrees in Computing (virtual).
Lehman, K.J. (2022, February). Building Inclusive Classrooms: Lessons Learned from the BRAID Research Project. Presentation for the School of Computing & Information Systems at the University of Melbourne (virtual).
Lehman, K.J. (2021, December). A Spectacular Failure: Understanding Computer Science’s Stubborn Participation Gaps and Leveraging Research to Close Them. Presentation at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, virtual conference.
Lehman, K.J. (2021, September). Learning from BRAID: Prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work in Times of Uncertainty. Invited talk for the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine Information Technology Grand Rounds (virtual).