This article appeared in Catalyst Magazine, Spring 2025
Laura Hirshfield joined UC Berkeley in fall 2024 as an assistant teaching professor and Director of Undergraduate Education in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (CBE). She earned her BS from the University of Michigan and her PhD from Purdue University, both in Chemical Engineering. She later shifted to engineering education research through postdoctoral appointments at Oregon State University and Olin College. At the University of Michigan, she also served as a DEI Lecturer, using research methods to assess climate and culture in the College of Engineering.
At Berkeley CBE, Hirshfield teaches a graduate seminar on pedagogy and the senior design capstone course. Her research explores how students engage with different communities during their education and how this varies across intersections of personal identity. College of Chemistry: Describe the moment you realized you'd be dedicating your life to science. Why did you choose academia to further that dedication?
Laura Hirshfield: I have always known I wanted to be a scientist; I find the logical, organized, algorithmic nature of science to be meditative. I like being able to predict what happens and feeling assured in that prediction.
I don't think there was a specific moment of realization, but a series of moments. I decided to go into engineering as an undergraduate student because I knew I wanted to use science to help people and solve important problems. I realized in my senior year of college that all the roles I had loved best involved teaching or helping others, like working as a tutor in my department or teaching dance at summer camps; so I realized that the way I wanted to solve the problems of humanity was by being a professor to support students in becoming the best engineers they could be. As I worked on my PhD in chemical engineering, I learned about the engineering education field and I knew I had found my passion; it was then I realized that I wanted my contribution to the world to also include helping other educators better support their own students. By continually working to improve the educational experience for students, we are equipping more and more students to solve today's important problems.
CoC: What science problem do you feel called to solve and why? What research are you currently working on, and how does it contribute to the broader field of study?
LH: I want to improve chemical engineering education so that more diverse students feel equipped to succeed. Beyond having content knowledge, I want students to graduate with a strong engineering identity—confidence, a sense of belonging, and a clear vision of themselves in the field. This development of engineering identity happens in and out of the classroom, and often through interactions with others: through study groups, research projects, internships, extracurriculars, and class projects teams. My research examines how students develop an engineering identity through engagement in educational groups, and how this process is shaped by their intersecting personal identities. Current research projects I am focused on include studying women's experiences in team projects and investigating how neurodivergent students approach team experiences.
CoC: What excites you most about the future of your field, and how do you see your role in shaping that future?
LH: I love how chemical engineering is constantly changing to better suit the needs of our ever-evolving world, and that means more people can find a way to become a part of the field. I hope the work I do has an impact on how we structure our courses and educational experiences, so more students feel better equipped to become successful chemical engineers. Having a more diverse field of chemical engineers solving our ever-evolving problems means we will have better solutions.