Creating my unique path.
I describe my career as following “intentional serendipity” with purpose as my compass. I’ve led large-scale STEM education experiences in government, nonprofit, higher education, and the tech industry. Now, focusing more on research, I hope to have a meaningful impact on how technology impacts the margins and the masses.
Here’s my bio…
Lauren Thomas Quigley, PhD is a Research Scientist leading social impact projects at the intersection of technology, data, and social justice. Her work aims to answer two broad questions: who gets to be an engineer/technologist? and what good can technology do? To achieve these goals her work focuses on identity and critical theory use in engineering education and data-centric solutions for social justice. Lauren earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech with dissertation research focused on the identity-trajectories of graduate students in optical engineering; she is also the first Black woman to graduate from the program.
In nearly 10 years of professional experience, Dr. Quigley has led education at scale efforts in government, higher education, nonprofits, and the tech industry, many of which have focused on learning outside of the traditional classroom. These learning experiences, whether for a cohort of 24 or for tens of thousands of learners globally, were designed and implemented with a research baseline and an aim to improve interdisciplinary and intersectional pathways into STEM.
Lauren is currently a Research Scientist at IBM Research and an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering. She also serves as a curriculum consultant for Hack the Hood.
A little spice…🔥
Lauren's experiential expertise as a Black woman in tech and STEM higher education adds a specific, additional, and valuable perspective. Her worldview as a womanist, interdisciplinary research expertise, and commitment to social justice are the perspectives that she brings to her work and speaks from. Through time and healing, she dares to be unafraid enough to speak truth to power.
“When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
Audre Lorde, The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action
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