ABSTRACT
Ling has been at Flagship University for over a year now. While she has adjusted to the expectations of her polymer science program and her assistantship, she is admittedly having a hard time meeting people. Being one of the few women students in the program, much less her entire college, she ofien feels excluded from her peers’ conversations and get-togethers. While she knew she would have trouble finding other women faculty, she was surprised at how few other women students she has met in the sciences. When coupled with the language and cultural challenges she is facing, Ling feels isolated and often lonely. This is particularly problematic when it comes to group work. Most of the male peers get together on a regular basis to work on their coursework and constantly help each other with their respective experiments and issues they may face in research. However, things are different for Ling. Her lack of peer support means that she generally has to figure out things on her own, sometimes resulting in academic performance lower than that of her peers. She wonders if she made the right decision in coming to this country.
