The Graduate Education, Mentorship, and STEMM (GEMS) Collaborative Research Team, housed within the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at Florida State University, is comprised of doctoral students in the Higher Education program and directed by Dr. Annie Wofford, Assistant Professor of Higher Education.

The GEMS Collaborative Research Team seeks to address gaps in knowledge about graduate education, mentoring relationships, and scientific disciplinary environments. These activities hold great potential for advancing student success and societal innovation. The work of our research collaborative is inspired by the reality that educational practices (like mentorship) and policies can enhance students’ access to and success through STEMM graduate education. First, our research centers on understanding and improving these environments, aiming to (re)create educational spaces where each student can thrive in ways that honor their backgrounds and unique contributions. Second, recognizing that new insights for research and practice depend on scholarly innovation, we also address questions about novel applications of theory and method in higher education research and utilize such approaches ourselves.

grad cap
Graduate Education

Focusing on the master’s and doctoral environments that prepare the next generation of faculty and leaders across industries

Heritage fountain
Mentorship

Investigating individual and organizational components of the most essential relationships that elevate student success

Chemistry icons
STEMM

Analyzing the unique values and norms of academic disciplines in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine

Community hands
Collaborative Community

As a team, we uplift mutual respect, trust, support, and care to conduct collaborative research

Current Members

The current members of our research collaborative include undergraduate students, doctoral students and candidates, and faculty at FSU.

Research Collaborative Affiliates

Some of our former research collaborative members are now affiliates, as their impact on the GEMS Research Collaborative is lasting. Additionally, GEMS projects often include other faculty within and beyond FSU.

Research Publications with GEMS Collaborative Members & Affiliates
Full Publication List

Wofford, A. M., Winkler, C. E., & DeAngelo, L. (2025). Part of the plan? A critical quantitative examination of mentoring and psychosocial mediators shaping computing students’ graduate school applications. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000696

Wofford, A. M., & Henning, H. N. (2025). “We can change the culture through those individual engagements”: Social exchange and equity-mindedness in STEMM graduate-undergraduate mentorship. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-05-2024-0059

Wofford, A. M., Fatima, A., Wu, X., Perez-Felkner, L., Nhien, C., & Staudt Willet, K. B. (2025). Minority-serving institutions’ role in enhancing access to computing doctoral education: A multi-method landscape analysis. Innovative Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-025-09841-w 

Wofford, A. M., Perez-Felkner, L., Staudt Willet, K. B., & Nhien, C. (2025). Geography of computing graduate degree opportunities: Examining the characteristics of minority-serving institutions. Research in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-025-09848-4
 

Conference Presentations with GEMS Collaborative Members & Affiliates

Wofford, A. M., Perez-Felkner, L., & Danyi, M. (Forthcoming in April 2026). Curriculum change as collective work: Understanding graduate-level curricular reform in computing at Minority-Serving Institutions [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.

Staudt Willet, K. B., Wofford, A. M., Hayes, C. M., & Perez-Felkner, L. (Forthcoming in April 2026). Sending (mixed) signals: Comparing computing terminology in MSI graduate programs and job markets across regions [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.

McCain, J., Hayes, C. M., Wofford, A. M., & Roksa, J. (Forthcoming in April 2026). Mapping the invisible currents: Emotional, social, and organizational influences on first-generation PhD career trajectories [Roundtable presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Wofford, A. M., Winkler, C. E., Hayes, C., & Gutzwa, J. A. (2025, November 12-15). To apply or not to apply? How psychosocial factors shape computing students’ graduate application decisions [Paper presentation]. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

Wofford, A. M., Winkler, C. E., Henning, H. N., Hughes, R., & Johnson, K. (2025, November 12-15). How do we measure equity-minded mentoring? Preliminary results from survey development and validation [Paper presentation]. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

Wofford, A. M., Henning, H. N., Smith, K. N., & Branch, B. L. (2024, November 20-23). “She wasn’t supposed to be my official mentor”: Gendered mentorship in undergraduate engineering internship settings [Paper presentation]. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

Wofford, A. M., Fatima, A., Wu, X., Perez-Felkner, L., Nhien, C., & Staudt Willet, K. B. (2024, November 20-23). Exploring the role of minority-serving institutions in access to computing doctoral education [Paper presentation]. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

Staudt Willet, K. B., Wofford, A. M., Perez-Felkner, L., & Nhien, C. (2024, October 19-23). Understanding curricular knowledge through terminology in graduate computing course titles at Minority-Serving Institutions [Paper presentation]. Association for Educational Communications and Technology Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO.

Wofford, A. M. & Henning, H. N. (2024, April 11-14). Understanding the social exchange qualities of equity-minded stage-ahead mentorship in STEMM [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Wofford, A. M., & Allen Jr., J. L. (2024, April 11-14). Mentor in the mirror: How possibility models and anti-mentors shape STEMM graduate-undergraduate mentorship [Roundtable presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Wofford, A. M., Perez-Felkner, L., Staudt Willet, K. B., & Nhien, C. (2024, March 13-16). Examining organizational structures at Minority-Serving Institutions: An analysis of terminology in computing-related graduate education [Poster presentation]. Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.