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Tonisha Lane

Tonisha Lane, Assistant Professor

Tonisha Lane
Tonisha Lane, Assistant Professor

School of Education
1750 Kraft Drive
Room 2043 (0302)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-9725 |   tblane@vt.edu

Tonisha Lane, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of higher education at Virginia Tech and program leader for the Graduate Certificate Program in Higher Education Administration. She earned her doctorate in higher, adult and lifelong education at Michigan State University. Prior to becoming a faculty member, she worked in student and academic affairs in two-year and four-year institutions in roles such as residence life, multicultural engineering programs, and distance learning.

Dr. Lane studies the experiences and outcomes of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her research also focuses on the participation and achievement of Black students and professionals in higher education. She is a co-principal investigator on several National Science Foundation-funded research projects, including Bulls-Engineering Youth Experience for Promoting Relationships, Identity Development, & Empowerment (Bulls-EYE PRIDE), The AGEP Florida Alliance Model: Improving Minority Women Success in STEM Faculty Careers, and Graduate Student Scholarships to Advance Community Engaged Solutions to the Grand Challenge of Managing Nitrogen (S-STEM).

Dr. Lane has also been received several honors, including McKnight Fellow (2017), ACPA Emerging Scholar (2018), and a National Center for Institutional Diversity Emerging Scholar. Her work has been published in CBE-Life Sciences Education, Journal of Equity and Excellence in Education, and Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice.

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education
  • Underrepresented Groups in STEM
  • STEM Enrichment Programs
  • Identity Development in Science and Engineering
  • Black Students and Professionals in Postsecondary Education
  • PhD in Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education, Michigan State University, 2015
  • MA in Student Affairs Administration, Michigan State University, 2008
  • BS in Psychology, Michigan State University, 2005
  • American Educational Research Association
  • Association for the Study of Higher Education
  • ACPA – College Student Educators International
  • American Society of Engineering Education
  • Editorial Boards / Activities
    • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 2018-2021 
    • Editorial Board Member, Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 2017-2020
  • 2021. Received a "Thank a Teacher" message
  • 2018-2020 Emerging Scholar Designee, ACPA-College Student Educators International

Journal Articles

Lane, T. B., Morgan, K., Lopez, M. (2017). “A bridge between high school and college”: A case study of a STEM intervention program enhancing college readiness among underserved students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1521025117729824

Patterson, S. M., Lane, T. B., & Vital, L.M. (2017). Black doctoral women: Exploring barriers and facilitators of success in graduate education. Academic Perspectives in Higher Education, 3(1). Retrieved from  http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=aphe

Rincón, B. & Lane, T. B. (2017). Latin@s in Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) at theintersections. Journal of Equity and Excellence in Education50(2), 182-195.

Lane, T. B. (2016). Beyond academic and social integration: Understanding the impact of a STEM enrichment program on the retention and degree attainment of underrepresented students. CBE-Life Sciences Education15(3), 1-13. doi: 10.1187/cbe.16-01-0070

Book Chapters

Lane, T. B. (2019). Studying STEM while Black: How institutional agents prepare Black students for the racial realities of STEM environments. In C. Byrd, S. Ovink., & R. Brunn-Bevel (Eds.), Intersected Campuses: The College Experience from Different Identities and Positions (pp.194-208). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Lane, T. B., & Rincón, B. & (2019). Theoretical framework on environments. In C. Akens, J.M. Stevenson, & R. Wright-Mair (Eds.). College Students and Their Environments

Lane, T. B., Rincón, B., Revelo, R. A., Morgan, K. (in press). Addressing multiculturalism in STEM: An analysis of theories that inform our research. In C. B. Newman, A. A. Hilton, B. Hinnant-Crawford, & S. Platt (Eds.). Multicultural Education in the 21st Century: Innovative Research and Practices. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

 

  • Graduate Student Scholarships to Advance Community Engaged Solutions to the Grand Challenge of Managing Nitrogen, University of South Florida, National Science Foundation, $25,118 (Active:  2020 - 2021), Principal Investigators: Lane Tonisha B (100%)
  • ACPA-College Student Educators International Emerging Scholars, American College Personnel Association, $3,000 (Active: 2020 - 2021), Principal Investigators: Lane Tonisha B (100%)
  • Broadening Access to Undergraduate Research for Underserved Students in STEM amid Unprecedented Times, The Spencer Foundation, $50,000 (Active:  2020 - 2022), Principal Investigator: Lane Tonisha B (70%), Co-Principal Shoemaker Ian (30%)
  • AGEP Transformation Alliance: Improving Pathways int he Professoriate for Minority Women in STEM, Florida A&M University, National Science Foundation, $182,769 (Active: 2020 - 2024), Principal Investigators: Lane Tonisha B (100%)
  • National Science Foundation. Bulls-Engineering Youth Experience for Promoting Relationships, Identity Development, and Empowerment (Bulls-EYE PRIDE). Co-Principal Investigator. (Active: 2018 - 2021); Total award amount: $450,000
  • Spencer Foundation. Lane, T. B., & Shoemaker, I. Broadening access to undergraduate research for underserved students in STEM amid unprecedented times. Principal Investigator. June 2020-June 2022; $50,000 (% of participation: 70%)
  • Lewis, D., Ergas, S., Lane, T. B., Rains, M. C., Trotz, M. A. Graduate Student Scholarships to Advance Community Engaged Solutions to the Grand Challenge of Managing Nitrogen. National Science Foundation (Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, SSTEM). Principal Investigator of the VT Sub-award. September 2019-August 2024; $999,966. (% of participation: 10%) 
  • Watson, A., Lane, T. B., Thomas, S. W., Walker, B., Montas-Hunter, S., Bhansali, S., Cooper, A., Hardrick, J. AGEP Transformation Alliance: Collaborative Research: Improving Pathways in the Professoriate for Academic Minority Women in STEM. National Science Foundation (Alliance for Graduate Education to the Professoriate, AGEP). Principal Investigator of the VT Sub-award. September 2019-August 2023; $2,4000,000. (% of participation: 25%)
  • 2017-2018 McKnight Junior Faculty Development Fellowship, $15,000
  • National Science Foundation. Graduate Student Scholarships to Advance Community Engaged Solutions to the Grand Challenge of Managing Nitrogen. Co-Principal Investigator. September 2019-August 2023; $1,000,000
  • National Science Foundation. AGEP Transformation Alliance: Improving Pathways in the Professoriate for Academic Minority Women in STEM. Co-Principal Investigator. September 2019-August 2022; $2,4000,000
  • National Science Foundation. Bulls-Engineering Youth Experience for Promoting Relationships, Identity Development, and Empowerment (Bulls-EYE PRIDE). Co-Principal Investigator. August 2017-July 2020; $450,000
  • EDHE 5334:  College Students & the College Environment
  • EDHE 6404: Designing Research Proposals in Education
  • EDHE 6054: College & University Administration

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