Monday, June 5, 2017

URSP Student Mariam Talib Studies the Characteristics of Rural and Diverse Undergrad Students Who Have Financial Need

My name is Mariam Talib, and I am currently a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience and concentration in Industrial and Organizational psychology. The project I am currently working on focuses on the characteristics of rural and diverse undergraduate students, who demonstrate financial need. The cohort I will be using will include students majoring in COS degrees (anatomy, chemistry, biology, mathematics, environmental science, geology, physics and other COS degrees). The aim of this research is to better understand the well-being and performance of these rural students by becoming familiar with their experiences as STEM majors.

As a student with an interest in becoming an industrial and organizational psychologist, it is necessary for me to focus on individual, group and organizational dynamics. I believe in the significance of developing methods that increase the satisfaction of students and their interaction with the program.  It will allow schools to focus on finding more effective ways to help students of various backgrounds to succeed not only academically, but also socially. This relates to my long term goals as it will enable me to gain experience in areas such as recruitment, training, development and performance measurement, which are all major components of my field of interest.

Throughout the semester, I have aided in finalizing the method of study and the development of the survey along with interview questions, which can be used to analyze the cohort. I receive guidance from my mentor on a weekly basis, in order to develop the study design as well as perform weekly literature reviews to further enhance my knowledge on the chosen topic. At the end of the week, the intended goal is to learn one more fact about my topic and to complete everything on the tasks list, which is provided by my mentor.