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College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Mary Wyer

MW

Unpaid Emeritus

Department of Psychology

Poe Hall 640

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Bio

Dr. Mary Wyer is Associate Professor in Psychology and Women’s & Gender Studies at North Carolina State University. She has worked with issues related to underrepresented groups in science and engineering since 1984. Her most recent project focuses on developing measures of students’ stereotypes of scientists and engineers. Dr. Wyer has published nine edited collections or special journal issues, three of these developed in collaboration with scientists/engineers and focusing on gender issues in STEM, in particular the widely used textbook, Women, Science, and Technology (Routledge, 2009), with Mary Barbercheck, Donna Giesman, Hatice Örün Öztürk, and Marta Wayne. Her published empirical research explores how persistence is influenced by students’ images of STEM professions and professionals, their attitudes toward gender equality, and their assessments of the classroom climate. Her most recently published empirical work includes:

Wyer, M. (forthcoming, 2017). In the company of feminist science. In Jacquelyn White & Cheryl Travis (Eds.), APA handbook of the psychology of women. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Schinske, J., Perkins, H., Snyder, A., & Wyer, M. (2016). Scientist spotlight homework assignments shift students’ stereotypes of scientists and enhance science identity in a diverse introductory science class. Cell Biology Education—A Journal of Life Sciences Education 15, 1-18.

Wyer, M., Schneider, J., Nassar-McMillan, S., and Oliver-Hoyo, M. (2010). Capturing stereotypes: Developing a scale to explore U.S. college students’ images of science and scientists. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology 2, 382-415.

Nassar-McMillan, S., Wyer, M., Oliver-Hoyo, M., and Ryder-Burge, A. (2010). Using focus groups in preliminary instrument development: Expected and unexpected lessons learned. The Qualitative Report 15, 1621-1634.

Website

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/stereotypes/index.htm

Projects

  • 2008-2011. National Science Foundation, ADVANCE D-3 Project, to design, develop, and disseminate best practices in hiring and retaining women and faculty of color in STEM fields.
  • 2005-2010. National Science Foundation, Measurement Matters Project, to develop survey scales to capture stereotypes about students, career commitments to STEM, and perspectives on equality in STEM fields.
  • 2002-2005. National Science Foundation. ADVANCE Leadership Award, to develop and offer seminars for STEM faculty on the new scholarship on women in science.

Research Publications

  • Wyer, M. (forthcoming, 2017). In the company of feminist science. In Jacquelyn White & Cheryl Travis (Eds.), APA handbook of the psychology of women. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
  • Schinske, J., Perkins, H., Snyder, A., & Wyer, M. (2016). Scientist spotlight homework assignments shift students’ stereotypes of scientists and enhance science identity in a diverse introductory science class. Cell Biology Education—A Journal of Life Sciences Education 15, 1-18.
  • Wyer, M., Barbercheck, M.,  Giesman, D., Ozturk, O.O., and Wayne, M. (Eds.) (2001, 2nd edition, 2009, 3rd edition, 2014). Women, science and technology. New York: Routledge.
  • Wyer, M. (2008). Feminism/feminist science studies. In S. Rosser, ed.,Gender myths and beliefs in scientific research. New York: ABC-CLIO.
  • Wyer, M. (2008). Biology. In S. Rosser, ed., Gender myths and beliefs in scientific research. New York: ABC-CLIO.
  • Wyer, M. (2008). Biologists who study gender/feminism in science. In S. Rosser, ed., Gender myths and beliefs in scientific research. New York: ABC-CLIO.
  • Wyer, M., Murphy-Medley, D., Damschen, E., Rosenfeld, K., Wentworth, T. (2007). No quick fixes: Women’s studies, curriculum transformation, and the sciences. Psychology of Women Quarterly 31, 96-102.
  • Damschen, E., Rosenfeld, K., Wyer, M., Murphy-Medley, D., Wentworth, T., and Haddad, N. (2005). Visibility matters: Increasing student knowledge of women’s contributions to ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3(4): 212-219

Funded Research

  • 2008-2011, “Developing Diverse Departments at NC State,” Co-PI (with Laura Severin, Daniel Solomon, Marcia Gumpertz, and Margaret Daub), NSF ADVANCE HRD-0820013, $495,983
  • 2005-2010, “Measurement Matters: Developing New Scales to Evaluate Undergraduate Students’ Images and Attitudes in SME Fields,” PI, NSF HRD-0522860, $517,705
  • 2002-2005, ADVANCE Leadership Award, NSF, SBE-0123604, $185,000
  • 1998-2001, “Educating the Science and Engineering Workforce in Collaboration with Women’s and Gender Studies Programs: A North Carolina State University Initiative,” Co-PI, NSF Grant no. HRD-9810454, $99,752.
  • 1999-2000, Publication supplement to NSF HRD-9810454, $13,965.

Area(s) of Expertise

Higher Education, Gender, STEM, Career Commitments, Faculty Women, Curriculum Innovation

Groups