Dr. Tajma Cameron
Dr. Tajma Cameron is an Assistant Professor in Science Education and Research Faculty at the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). She is also a National Science Foundation (NSF) CADRE alumna and a Jhumki Basu Scholar (NARST). Dr. Cameron’s scholarship centers on integrating culturally sustaining and creative instructional strategies into STEM education, with a particular focus on supporting Black girls’ sense of belonging, ownership, and empowerment in these fields. Her work further examines the experiences of Black girls, including those who are twice exceptional, in STEM learning environments.
Employing culturally sustaining qualitative methodologies, Dr. Cameron seeks to illuminate the nuanced intersections of race, gender, and ability in science education. Her research aims to advance more inclusive and affirming pedagogies that cultivate the success, agency, and belonging of historically marginalized learners in STEM.
Beyond her research, Dr. Cameron has contributed to international STEM identity development initiatives, including work with the STEMBees Infinity Girls in Space Project through a United States Embassy in Ghana grant. She has facilitated masterclass sessions such as “Cultivating Your Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Identities” and “Building Your STEM Identities.”
A certified biology teacher (Grades 7–12) in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Dr. Cameron was recognized by the Maryland State Department of Education as a Teacher of Promise during her tenure as a K–12 educator. Her research has been published in Journal of Black Studies, Teaching and Teacher Education, Science Education, and the Journal of Modern Nursing Practice and Research.
Selected Publications
Cameron, T., Allen-Handy, A., Rogers, M., Ifill, V., & Schaar, R. (2026). Navigating Resilience: Young Black Girls’ Journeys through Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance (BGSD) During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In At the Intersections: Imagining a New World for Girls of Color (accepted).
Ifill, V., Cameron, T., Allen-Handy, A., Schaar, R., & Rogers., M. (2026). Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance (BGSD). In Liberatory Dance Education: Curriculum Design for Justice-Oriented Futures.
Perez, G., Shrestha, P., Cameron, T., Waight, N., Kayumova, S., Rish, R., & Scheuneman, S. M. (2025, June). The Role of Peer Interaction and Language Resources in Informal Engineering Learning Environments: The Case for Learning Through Biking. In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
Cameron T., Escalante KA., & Haslip MJ. (2024). Enhancing the Diversity of Student Nursing Practitioners: A Formative Participatory Program Evaluation of a Northeastern Licensed Practical Nursing Program. Journal of Modern Nursing Practice and Research, 4(3):16. DOI: 10.53964/jmnpr.2024016.
Cameron, T., Ambrose-Brown, V., Katz-Buonincontro, J., Anderson, R., Land, J., Livie, M., & Edmunds, A. (2024). “Mirrors and Windows:” A Case Study of Educators’ Culturally Responsive Teaching Aspirations and Syllabi Transformation in the Arts. Teaching and Teacher Education, 148.
Wright, C., Harbison, M., Tucker-Raymond, E., Edouard, K., Meehan, S., Cameron, T., & Schafer, G. (2024). Racialized spatial imaginaries: Authoring an elementary school teacher of engineering identity. Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21887
Cameron, T. (2023). We are STEM: Examining the significance and influence of Counterspaces in the development of Black girls’ STEM identity. Journal of Black Studies, 54(7), 613-634.
