Ph.D. Educational Psychology, Georgia State University

M.S. Educational Psychology, Georgia State University

B.S. Psychology and Philosophy, Oklahoma State University

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Mi’Kayla J. Newell, Ph.D., serves as a postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Broadening Participation in Computing at Morehouse College. Her scholarly pursuits center on the psychological and social factors that influence academic success and persistence in STEM. Her research examines how learning environments, interpersonal experiences, and institutional contexts shape students’ trajectories within STEM disciplines. Her doctoral dissertation quantitatively explored the racialized experiences of Black/African American STEM students to understand factors that impact science identity development. This work highlights how experiences of racial microaggressions negatively relate to science identity and, in turn, influence students’ STEM career decisions. Through her work, she hopes to contribute to the development of inclusive educational environments that support the discipline-specific identity development of STEM learners. She currently collaborates on the NSF HBCU-UP project BPR: Identifying Factors that Impact Success and Persistence in Computer Science Education (NSF Award #2508796), which includes five HBCU institutional partners. This project examines how institutional and department-level factors influence student persistence and career aspirations in computing, an area experiencing exponential growth and high workforce demand. In addition to her postdoctoral role, Mi’Kayla conducts program evaluations for informal and formal STEM academic training programs. She develops, assesses, and tracks key performance indicators to provide evidence of program effectiveness and student outcomes across middle–postbaccalaureate programs. She has served as the Publications Chair for the Black Issues in Computing Education (BICE) Symposium for the past two years (2024–2025). Mi’Kayla holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Philosophy from Oklahoma State University, a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Georgia State University.