Stefani Bjorklund

Vice President of Internal Relations/ Executive Associate/Project Manager

Dr. Stefani Bjorklund is an Executive Associate and Senior Research Associate with Rankin & Associates Consulting. She earned a B.A. in psychology from Villanova University and a Ph.D. in Higher Education at The Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Bjorklund’s research has focused on the following issues in postsecondary education: access, recruitment, and retention of underrepresented college students and faculty; welfare reform and financial aid policies; low-income student experiences; campus climate for students of color, women students, and low-income, parenting students; and effects of instructor activities, collaborative learning, and group work on gains in student skills.

Dr. Bjorklund was a research associate at the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE), a unit of the National Academy of Engineering, where she spearheaded a multi-campus National Science Foundation-sponsored project to investigate faculty and student engagement in learning activities and lifelong learning. She also was a part of a team that evaluated two NSF-sponsored coalitions of engineering colleges. Prior to returning to graduate school, she was a social worker and administrator of a federally-funded demonstration project funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Additionally, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering for social service and animal welfare agencies.

Pronouns: She, Her, Hers

Publications

Bjorklund, S. A., Parente, J. M., & Sathianathan, D., (2004). Effects of faculty interaction and feedback on student skills. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(2), 153-160.

Heller, D. E. & Bjorklund, S. A. (2004). Student financial aid and low-income mothers. In V. Polakow, S. Butler, L. Deprez, & P. Kahn (Eds.), Shut out: Low-income women and higher education in post welfare America. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Terenzini, P.T., Cabrera, A. F., Colbeck, C. L., Bjorklund, S. A., & Parente, J. M., (2003). Racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom: Does it promote student learning? In C.S. Turner, A.L. Antonio, M. Garcia, B.V. Laden, A. Nora, & C.H. Presley (Eds.) Racial and ethnic diversity in higher education (pp. 411-427). Boston: Pearson Education. [Reprinted from Journal of Higher Education, 2001, 72, 509-531.

Bjorklund, S. A. & Colbeck, C. L. (2001). The view from the top: Leaders’ perspectives on a decade of change in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 90(1), 13-19.

Terenzini, P. T., Cabrera, A. F., Colbeck, C. L., Bjorklund, S. A., & Parente, J. M. (2001). Racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom: Does it promote student learning? Journal of Higher Education, 72(5), 509-531.

Terenzini, P. T., Cabrera, A. F., Colbeck, C. L., Parente, J. M., & Bjorklund, S. A (2001). Collaborative learning vs. lecture/discussion: Students’ reported learning gains. Journal of Engineering Education, 90(1), 123-130.

Colbeck, C. L., Campbell, S. E., & Bjorklund, S. A. (2000). Grouping in the dark: What college students learn from group projects. Journal of Higher Education, 70(1), 60-83.

Bjorklund, S. A., Parente, J. M., & Campbell, S. E. (1999). Faculty and students’ perceptions of classroom climate for women and minority students: Implications for policy and practice. In M. R. Anderson-Rowland, D. M. Hastings, & R. M. Dockter (Eds.), NAMEPA celebrates 20 years of excellence, 1979:  Engineering diversity for the 21st century (pp. 30-36).