This inductive study examined the intersectional experience within research collaborations of tenure-track faculty who are both first-generation college graduate students and from racial and ethnic groups (as defined in the United States) that are underrepresented in STEM fields (as defined by the National Science Foundation). I interviewed twelve current and former faculty members from doctoral-granting universities in the United States. I used identity as the theoretical lens to explore research collaborations at the individual level. The interviews revealed three themes reflecting identity's role in selecting and being selected as a collaborator and working with a collaborator. The themes are: an authentic identity of self that is shaped through lived experience from both inside and outside the academy that is simultaneously obvious and revealed in collaborative environments; intentional attention to an external identity that connects the individual to their community while creating and enhancing pools of collaborators; and finally, identity informed and non-identity informed engagement as a collaborator and during collaboration. I contribute to the expansion and application of identity theory within collaboration. I found evidence that identity is an individual, reflexive process involving intentional decision-making before and during collaboration. I provide a conceptual model of identity-informed collaboration that includes identity alignment and evaluation of the value and cost of the collaboration. I move variables from social capital to cultural capital and add the following variables to cultural capital: language(s), ethnicity, and geographic location, as part of the specification of cultural experience within the Scientific and Technical Human and Cultural Capital (STHC) model. I provide recommendations for supporting and encouraging identity-informed collaboration that can accelerate the necessary diversification of the professoriate. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]