By Ashna Balroop

From bioengineering to public health and psychology, three University of Maryland professors, Jenna Mueller, Andrea Chronis-Tuscano and Jennifer D. Roberts, have pioneered groundbreaking research while balancing the difficulties of being women in a male-dominated industry. 

According to Inside Higher Education, women only make up 36% of full-time professors. Science Advances notes that this is partly because women are more likely than men to feel pushed from their jobs. They are also less likely to feel pulled towards better opportunities and consider leaving because of workplace climates. 

Despite their underrepresentation across academia, women continue to innovate. 

Mueller, an assistant professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, has developed low-cost devices using biophotonics, the science of using light to identify, image and engineer biological materials, according to News Medical. These devices are a pocket colposcope, which is designed to screen women for cervical pre-cancer, and a key scope laparoscope, which enables laparoscopic surgery in low to middle-income countries. 

“I’m really passionate about increasing health equity through developing these technologies,” Mueller said. 

This translational work led Mueller to be named a recipient of the 2025 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Society Awards, earning the Early Career Achievement Award. 

“I’m very honored to receive this award,” Mueller said. “This idea of optics meeting global health, and the fact that it’s recognized by them as an international society, a valid enterprise, is huge for the future of global health.” 

Mueller faced many challenges to get to this point in her career, as biophotonics is a male-dominated field. She overcame these challenges by seeking advice from industry pioneers.

“I found some really amazing women along the way who have been a step, or in some cases, many steps, ahead of me in my career, and really tried to learn as much as I can from them and seek out their mentorship,” Mueller said. 

As more women have become a part of the optics field, Mueller has seen their influence on the industry. 

“Women are really innovative in terms of how to get things done, how to multitask, how to troubleshoot,” Mueller said. “And having their voices in the room, I’ve noticed we’ve always come up with better solutions.” 

Chronis-Tuscano was named the Joel and Kim Feller Endowed Professor in the Department of Psychology, receiving the inaugural William E. Pelham Visionary Award for ADHD Research and Practice. 

“I was really honored to receive this award,” Chronis-Tuscano said. “William Pelham was my PhD advisor, and he was a visionary in the field of ADHD.” 

Chronis-Tuscano received this award because of her work studying under Pelham, which includes a summer camp for children with ADHD, where they learned how to work in academic settings, be responsible for their belongings and engage in sports. Chronis-Tuscano was involved in this program for 20 years and ran a program in Chicago for many summers. 

“It’s really a feel-good program,” Chronis-Tuscano said. “It’s designed to kind of launch the implementation of these behavioral strategies with the kids and their parents, both at school and at home, even after the summer program is over.” 

In the field of psychology, Chronis-Tuscano has faced issues of work-life balance, noting she was having a hard time maintaining her research program and being an involved mom.

“When my kids were little, when they were babies, I sometimes felt like I was barely keeping my head above water,” Chronis-Tuscano said. 

Regardless, Chronis-Tuscano remained a visionary in the field of psychology even after having kids and notes that she should not have set impractical goals.

 “Sort of looking back, I was still really, really productive,” Chronis-Tuscano said. “I really just needed to give myself grace and not set such unrealistic expectations for myself.”

Roberts is an associate professor of kinesiology in the School of Public Health. In her award-winning article, “The ‘Natural’ Accord of DuBois and Washington: An Environmentally Racialized Consciousness,” Roberts discusses the similarities between Booker T. Washington’s and W. E. B DuBois’s, who were both adversaries in achieving racial equality, thoughts on nature and the earth.

“I wanted to write something to bring these two men together,” Roberts said. “Because they never really had a time to come together as one.”

The article received the Editor’s Choice award from the American Journal of Health Promotion, placing it on its Best of 2024 List of Health Promotion Researchers.

“It was nice to have this paper be published in the journal, for one, because it’s just similar to many of the other ones, but then also to be recognized,” Roberts said. “I found it to be just quite affirming.” 

Being a Black woman, Roberts has experienced racism, sexism and the intersection of both throughout her career, which has manifested itself in a variety of ways, like salary inequity and being overlooked. She has overcome this through mentoring groups. 

“I try to find other scholars of color, other women scholars, and we kind of just try to support each other so that you kind of get yourself ready to go back out into the field,” Roberts said. 

From a young age, Roberts had the idea instilled in her from her all-women high school that gender should never be an excuse for not pursuing something that you are interested in. She attributes that to her reasoning for being in the kinesiology field.

“I don’t think my gender should hold me back and or anyone back for that matter, and so I think that’s probably one of the reasons why I’m in this field and why I probably will continue to be in this field and pursue various types of scholarship,” Roberts said.

In her position, Roberts strives to set an example for young scholars in her field, showing them that they can achieve anything they set their mind to. 

“[They can see] that there’s a difference. There’s a variety,” Roberts said. “There’s not just your prototypical white male in a certain field. You can be anybody.” 

Despite their different challenges, Mueller, Chronis-Tuscano, and Roberts were able to balance the difficulties of being women in male-dominated fields and further their careers through the mentorship of others. They have made a tremendous impact both as professors at UMD and through their scholarship. 

Featured Image: Professors Jenna Mueller (left), Andrea Chronis-Tuscano (center) and Jennifer D. Roberts (right). Photo credits: Fischell Department of Bioengineering (Mueller), Beya Johnson Photography (Chronis-Tuscano) and Karina Wong (Roberts). Photos edited by Karina Wong.