Inside CASL: New Senior Research Scientist
The Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL) is excited to announce the hiring of a new Senior Research Scientist. Below are a brief biography and some insight into what makes Dr. Askew a great addition to our team.
Dr. Askew is an Educational Psychologist with 14 years of research and program evaluation experience applying a culturally responsive methodology toward broadening participation in STEM. Her research examines the convergence of psychological, cultural, and organizational factors that broaden participation and persistence in STEM pathways. Her scholarship is published in the APA Educational Psychology Handbook, the Handbook of Motivation at School, and Evaluation and Program Planning, along with reports that aid educational leaders and policymakers. Dr. Askew holds doctoral and master’s degrees in educational psychology, measurement, and evaluation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. With a Caribbean heritage, Karyl is honored to join the staff as a Senior Research Scientist at the University of the Virgin Islands, one of four institutions directing CASL.
Please, describe your role in CASL
“Under the guidance and oversight of highly accomplished CASL Principal Investigators and Committee of Advisors, as a Senior Research Scientist, my role is to provide intellectual leadership for the research emanating from the center. In this capacity, I coordinate a diverse and distributed interdisciplinary community of scholars within CASL’s national network, including visiting scholars.”
What excites you about the work of CASL?
“The work of CASL centers on the cultural traditions, generative creativity, and ancestral wisdom of Black leaders in STEM education. I am excited about engaged scholarship that contributes to codifying, retelling, and repositioning the historical and contemporary narratives of HBCU leadership in the production of Black scientists and scientific thinkers.”
Why is broadening participation in STEM important?
“This nation and the interconnected global community call for new types of leaders and leadership to dismantle deeply entrenched systems of oppression and marginalization to harness the potential of STEM to create measurable change in the station and prosperity of Black, Indigenous, and all people of color.”
What does leading with soul mean to you?
“To me, leading with soul means creating healing centered environments that challenge each individual to identify, live into, and up to emerging potentials in ways that serve both the individual and the collective. It means vibrantly leading the work and warmly centering people in ways that honor the dignity and value of each contributing voice.”
We agree completely! Dr. Askew’s passion excites the leaders and staff of CASL, and we look forward to working alongside her in capturing the Soul of Leadership in STEM.