People

Miriam Burnett is a mother, student, and advocate dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of Black and other underrepresented students in higher STEM education. Burnett graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with her Masters in Education in 2021. After working with the Educational eXcellence and Inclusion Training Opportunities (EXITO) program to develop a “4+1” program, her exploration grew into an investigation of  the relationship of Black students' sense of belonging and first-year retention in foundational science and math courses at predominantly White colleges and universities as an effort to enrich recruitment and retention processes of Black students in STEM at UCSB. Persisting through graduate studies as the 2021-2022 Community College Office of the President Fellow her doctoral work commits to increasing STEM supports and services for Black student populations at community colleges and universities.