SOE News
Eileen Parsons (B.S. ’89) has returned to her undergraduate alma mater as an assistant professor of science education. Her research focuses on sociocultural contexts surrounding the teaching and learning of science. She is particularly interested in equity and access for African-American students from low-income backgrounds.
“I myself come from a poor, working class background,” Parsons said. “I want my teaching, research and service to elucidate social justice issues. Because of the help and the work of others, I am fortunate to be at UNC today. I hope my efforts will enable others to enjoy opportunities that would otherwise be closed to them especially in science.”
Science has been her passion since childhood. “I’ve always found science to be an interesting, challenging, unique avenue of creativity,” Parsons said. She believes it is important to start in the early grades to recruit children into science, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Consequently, she targets the elementary and middle grades for her research.
A native of Wilkes County, N.C., Parsons earned an undergraduate degree in science teaching with a concentration in chemistry at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education. Subsequently she earned a master’s degree in science education and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. She also received a Ford Foundation Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research for the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. “I love learning,” Parsons noted. “I enjoy putting myself in challenging situations that force me to grow.”
Before coming to Carolina, she taught high school science and mathematics in the Catawba County and Newton-Conover Schools, and served on the faculties at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., and N.C. State University in Raleigh. She has received numerous recognitions on the state and national levels, including being named a New York State Fellow, University of North Carolina Board of Governor’s Fellow, Science Teacher Research Fellow, American Educational Research Association Fellow and most recently, Spencer Foundation Fellow. She has also published in national and international journals.
Her future goals include establishing a productive research agenda that informs policy and influences the practices of current and future teachers. “I’m interested in making a difference in people’s lives by working with teachers and by disseminating research findings on topics that are seldom addressed in science education, such as using culture as capital in science teaching and learning,” Parsons explained. “Much of my progress is due to the encouragement and support that I received from educators throughout my life. I’m a living example of what the work of caring, dedicated, and socially conscious educators can produce in a child who, according to statistical analyses of my background variables, should have been a high school dropout.”