Research

Publications*

1. Smith, K. N. (2024). Admissions, organization, culture, and policy: Understanding the postsecondary structures that shape women’s entry into computing bachelor’s programs.  AERA Open, 10(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241290758 

2. Giglia, N. , & Smith, K. N. (2024). Breaking the stained-glass ceiling: The gendered experiences of women college presidents of Catholic institutions. Advance online publication.  Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/26379112.2024.2376607 

3. Smith, K. N. (2024). “A whole cycle all over again”: The graduate school considerations and plans of first-generation bachelor’s students. Journal of First-Generation Student Success. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/26906015.2024.2341067 

4. Chen, R., & Smith, K. N. (2024). Effects of federal student loans on college student retention, transfer, and dropout. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251241252927 

5. Wofford, A. M., Smith, K. N., & Branch, B. L. (2024). “I found my home there”: Exploring women’s engineering identity in STEM student organizations. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 61(3), 336–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2023.2181085 

6. Lehman, K. J., Stormes, K. N., Smith, K. N., & Lapan, J. C. (2024, March 20-23). Sealing the deal: Factors that promote computing interns’ interest in computing careers. Proceedings of the 55th Association for Computing Machinery Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (ACM SIGCSE TS ’24), Portland, OR, USA. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3626252.3630921 

7. Smith, K. N. (2023). Preparing deans of women: The origins and evolution of the earliest student affairs graduate program. Journal of College Student Development, 64(6), 647–662. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2023.a917021 

8. Smith, K., Pincus, B. , Wofford, A. M., & Branch, B. (2023). “Do I even belong?”: Internships as gendered career socialization experiences in engineering. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000532 

9. Smith, K. N. (2023). Undergraduate participation in paid and unpaid internships by income level. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 52(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1774 

10. Chen, R., & Smith, K. N. (2023). Gender and loans: Understanding differences in student debt burden. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 52(2), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1812 

11. Smith, K. N. (2023). “Our branches are the vines that must bear fruit”: The role of parents in first-generation students’ career development. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(3), 52–74. https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132580 

12. Smith, K. N. (2023). “I am the face of my future generation”: Latina first-generation undergraduates aspiring to careers in health care and medicine. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 22(3) 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927221085681 

13. Smith, K. N., & Albana, H.  (2023). When debt deters: Student loans as a predictor of education-job match among arts bachelor’s graduates. Journal of Career Development, 50(3) 563–579. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453221118030 

14. Lapan, J. C., & Smith, K. N. (2023). “No girls on the software team”: Internship experiences of women in computer science. Journal of Career Development, 50(1), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453211070842 

15. Smith, K. N. (2022). “If I do science, I can get the money”: A life history analysis of postsecondary students’ decisions to pursue teaching careers in STEM. Teachers and Teaching. 28(1), 102–117.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2021.2023862 

16. Smith, K. N., & Starcke, M. (2022). Expression & environment: Longitudinal patterns of campus graffiti. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(3), 337-352.  https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2022.2042005

17. Wofford, A. M., & Smith, K. N. (2022). Analyzing signals of (in)equity and power in engineering college internship advertisements. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(4), 25–49. https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2021037923

18. Smith, K. N. (2021). The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program: A case study of the use of forgivable loans in recruiting future STEM teachers. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 50(3), 1-35. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol50/iss3/1 

19. Smith, K. N., & Lapan, J. C. (2021). Examining women’s differential pathways into computer science by BA and BS degree programs. Computer Science Education, 33(2), 237–259. 

20. Smith, K. N., & Green, D. K. (2021). Employer internship recruiting on college campuses: “The right pipeline for our funnel.” Journal of Education and Work, 34(4), 572–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2021.1943333 

21. Smith, K. N., Wofford, A. M., Friedensen, R. E., Stanfield, T. D., & Jackson, Y. (2021). Understanding the complexity of applying theory in higher education research. In J. Huisman & M. Tight (Eds.), Theory and Method in Higher Education Research, Vol. 7 (pp. 113-129). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2056-375220210000007007 

22. Chan, M., Kwon, J., Nguyen, D., Saunders, K. M., Shah, N., & Smith, K. N. (2020). National trends in federal student loan borrowing by income group and first-generation status. AIR Professional File, 148, 4-17. http://doi.org/10.34315/apf1482020  [Alphabetical]

23. Umbach, P. D., Clayton, A. B., & Smith, K. N. (2020). Developmental education's effect on graduation and labor market outcomes. Journal of Developmental Education, 43(2), 10-18. [Access journal article here]

24. Smith, K. N. (2019). An offer that can’t be refused. In M. Benjamin & J. Jessup-Anger (Eds.), Maybe I Should. . . Case Studies on Ethics for Student Affairs Professionals (2nd ed., pp. 120-123). Lexington Books. 

25. Smith, K. N., Jaeger, A. J. & Thomas, D. (2019). “Science Olympiad is why I’m here”: The influence of an early STEM program on college and major choice. Research in Science Education, 51(1), 443–459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-019-09897-7  

26. Chan, M., Kwon, J., Nguyen, D., Saunders, K. M., Shah, N., & Smith, K. N. (2019). Indebted over time: Racial differences in student borrowing. Educational Researcher, 48(8), 558-563. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19864969  [Alphabetical]

27. Umbach, P. D., Tuchmayer, J. B., Clayton, A. B., & Smith, K. N. (2019). Transfer student success: Exploring community college, university, and individual predictors. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 43(9), 599-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2018.1520658 

28.  Gayles, J. G., & Smith, K. N. (2019). Advancing theoretical frameworks for intersectional research on women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, 179, 27-41. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.20274  

29. Smith, K. N., & Gayles, J. G. (2018). “Girl power”: Gendered academic and workplace experiences of college women in engineering. Social Sciences, 7(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7010011 

30. Smith, K. N., & Gayles, J. G. (2017). “Setting up for the next big thing”: Undergraduate women engineering students’ post-baccalaureate career decisions. Journal of College Student Development, 58(8), 1201-1217. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0094 

*I'm happy to share my work! Please contact me at katie.smith1@temple.edu for free access to any of the works listed above.

Competitive Grants, by Source

Spencer Foundation 

1. The influence of internships on the career ideas and goals of women in computer science, 2022 – 2023, $49,989

Seton Hall University 

1. Using sentiment analysis to understand the professional socialization experiences and expectations of women in computer science., 2022 – 2023, $14,736 (Opportunity Meets Innovation Challenge Grant, in collaboration with Shajina Anand)

2. Women’s engineering identity and advancement through the internship experience, Summer 2020, $8,000

Professional Associations

1. Investigating women’s engineering identity and advancement through the internship experience. American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Foundation Research Grant, 2019 – 2021, $2,500 (in collaboration with Annie Wofford)

2. Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Love of Learning Award, 2018, $500

3. North Carolina Career Development Association (NCCDA) Best Practices Grant, 2018, $600

4. Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) Golden Key Conference Scholarship Recipient, 2012, $825

North Carolina State University

1. NC State Graduate Student Association Travel Assistance Award, 2018, $500

2. NC State Graduate Student Association Grant for Conferences, 2017, $1,500