Nerissa Mulligan has received the Engineers Canada-TD Meloche Monnex Scholarship. The scholarship provides financial assistance to engineers returning to university for further study or research in a field other than engineering.
Nerissa is an Education PhD student who studies how women and men experience undergraduate engineering differently. Her work focuses on first-year students, examining gender gaps in self-efficacy—a key factor tied to motivation and academic success—how those confidence levels shift over the year, and how prior coursework shapes outcomes. The goal of her research is to help engineering programs recognize these differences and adapt their curricula and teaching practices to better support all students, ultimately improving the attraction and retention of women and other historically underrepresented groups.