Initiative introduces undergrads to interdisciplinary research

Growing up as the daughter of Haitian parents, Esther Alexandre was surrounded by a culture that expected girls to grow up and become nurses or teachers and, if not, become homemakers. Alexandre decided to change the narrative and is now studying computer engineering at the University of Miami. She was intrigued about what determined how young women pursued a career in the STEM field. As part of her work as a 2021-2022 Adobe Research Scholar working with the guidance of Ava Brillat, program lead for information literacy and instructional design, and Vanessa Rodriguez, head of the Creative Studio, as well as other librarians at the Otto G. Richter Library, Alexandre created a documentary in which she interviewed dozens of students. Most of the students in the documentary, " Pipeline of Women in Stem ,” were at the University of Miami. She also talked off camera to many young students from Ruben Dario Middle School in Miami. : "As I look back, I can see the fractures of where I could have gone through a different pathway.