Dr. Mathews is an Assistant Professor Community Area of Psychology. Her research considers how youth of color draw upon their ethnic-racial identity (i.e., the process and meaning associated with the role of ethnicity and race in one’s life) and critical consciousness (i.e., one’s awareness of social inequality and the tools, beliefs, and actions used to challenge such inequality) development as motivators for their STEM based academic engagement and activism. Her work focuses on these processes during adolescence and emerging adulthood, drawing from theoretical and methodological approaches in education, psychology, and African American studies. Dr. Mathews’ scholarship has three central foci: 1) integrating ethnic-racial identity and critical consciousness factors as dual promoters of positive Black and Latinx adolescent and emerging adult development, 2) examining how both ethnic-racial identity and critical consciousness promote STEM orientation, and 3) assessing the complexity of ethnic-racial identity and critical action behaviors (including STEM-based activism) in both Black and Latinx adolescence and adulthood.