First gen FSOS grad student honored with multiple scholarships
Samantha LeBouef, a first-generation college student who is currently a graduate student in the CEHD Department of Family Social Science, is the winner of two prestigious scholar awards.
LeBouef was selected out of 195 doctoral candidates from across the University who were nominated to receive a 2022-23 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF).
In addition, she is one of 100 doctoral students within the U.S. and Canada selected to receive a prestigious $20,000 P.E.O. Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was nominated by P.E.O. Chapter R in St Paul.
LeBouef is a 2016 graduate of Louisiana State University, where she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, among many other honors.
She has authored several articles in the premier family and education scientific journals. In addition, she has presented on the importance of postsecondary education for a MN Department of Higher Education public engagement series. She is also working closely with her advisor, Jodi Dworkin, Family Social Science professor and extension specialist, on a leadership series engaging youth in sharing their narratives of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their school and learning experiences.
LeBouef assisted with a youth leadership workshop providing tools to help them share their narratives around their school experiences during COVID.
Her Ph.D. research focuses on first generation college students’ (FGCS) experiences of family support both during and after college, and the implications of that support for student success and well-being. The goal of her work is to challenge the narrative surrounding FGCS which suggests that because neither of their parents obtained a four-year college degree, these students begin college at a deficit. By leveraging FGCS family and diversity as strengths she hopes to improve the FGCS experience and ultimately student success.
“This is an extremely understudied area of research, and Samantha is contributing to changing the narrative, to one that is focused on family strengths, student success and the supports that impact that success for diverse students,” says Dworkin. “Not only is Samantha poised to make a contribution to the research but also to the ways in which we support and mentor first generation college students not just into college but to thrive throughout college.”
The UMN Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) gives the University’s most accomplished Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to an outstanding research project by providing time to finalize and write a dissertation during the fellowship year.
The award includes a stipend of $25,000 for the academic year (September-May), tuition for up to 14 thesis credits each semester (fall and spring), and subsidized health insurance through the Graduate Assistant Health Plan.
More about the P.E.O. Scholar Awards
The P.E.O. Scholar Awards program, established in 1991, provides substantial merit-based awards for women of the U.S. and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) has helped more than 116,000 women pursue educational goals by providing over $383 million in grants, scholarships, awards, and loans.