“I wanted to follow in her footsteps”: Activating,Nurturing,and Extending Community Cultural Wealth for Students of Color Entering STEM Pathways

Abstract

Background/Context

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations account for the second-fastest growing sector in the United States. As racial and ethnic “minorities” become the college-age majority, there is a need to facilitate access and success for Students of Color in STEM fields.

Purpose

The present study seeks to investigate the ways in which important others shape the initial educational and career aspirations of Students of Color pursuing STEM pathways.

Research Design

This study draws on a mixed-methods research design using both survey and interview data to investigate similar and different facets of the college and career decision-making processes for Students of Color in STEM fields.

Results

Findings from this study suggest that as Students of Color narrow their decisions to attend college, select a STEM major, and pursue a STEM career, the network of people who influence these decisions widens beyond parents and family members to include K-12 teachers and other institutional agents. This network, then, activates, nurtures, and/or extends the community cultural wealth for Students of Color entering STEM pathways.

Conclusion/Recommendations

Our findings suggest that at every decision-making point (e.g., going to college, selecting a STEM major, and pursuing a STEM career), family members (e.g., parents, siblings, and extended family) directly or indirectly shaped the STEM pathways of Students of Color. As such, we argue that families cannot be ignored in the pursuit toward diversifying the STEM workforce.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Auerbach

(2006). “If the student is good, let him fly”: Moral support for college among Latino immigrant parents. Journal of Latinos and Education, 5 4, 275—292.

Baber

L. D.

Rincon

B. E.

, & Martinez

M. G.

(2012, April). Latina/o students in STEM: An examination of navigational and social capital. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.

Brooks

J. E.

(2015). The impact of family structure, relationships, and support on African American students’ collegiate experiences. Journal of Black Studies, 46 8, 817—836.

Cantú

(2012). Getting there cuando no hay camino (when there is no path): Paths to discovery testimonios by Chicanas in STEM. Equity & Excellence in Education, 45 3, 472—487.

Carnevale

A. P.

Smith

, & Melton

(2011). STEM: Science technology engineering mathematics. Washington, DC: Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University.

Carnevale

A. P.

, & Strohl

(2013). Separate & unequal: How higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of White racial privilege. Washington, DC: Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University.

Cegile

(2011). Underrepresentation of women of color in the science pipeline: The construction of science identities. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 17 3, 271—293.

Ceja

(2004). Chicana college aspirations and the role of parents: Developing educational resiliency. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3 4, 338—362.

Ceja

(2006). Understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college choice process of Chicana students. Journal of College Student Development, 47 1, 87—104.

10.

Cooper

C. W.

(2009). Parent involvement, African American mothers, and the politics of educational care. Equity & Excellence in Education, 42 2, 379—394.

11.

Creswell

J. W.

(2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.

12.

Denzin

N. K.

, & Lincoln

Y. S.

(2008). Strategies of qualitative inquiry (3rd ed.). SAGE.

13.

Eagan

M. K.

Hurtado

Chang

M. J.

Garcia

G. A.

Herrera

F. A.

, & Garibay

J. C.

(2013). Making a difference in science education: The impact of undergraduate research programs. American Educational Research Journal, 50 4, 683—713.

14.

Estrada

Hernandez

P. R.

Schultz

P. W.

(2018). A longitudinal study of how quality mentorship and research experience integrate underrepresented minorities in STEM careers. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 17 1, 1—13.

15.

Fernández

(2016). Illuminating agency: A Latin@ immigrant parent's testimonio on the intersection of immigration reform and schools. Equity & Excellence in Education, 49 3, 350—362.

16.

Fernández

, & López

(2016). When parents behave badly: A critical policy analysis of parent involvement in schools. In Young

, & Diem

(Eds.), Critical approaches to education policy analysis: Moving beyond tradition (pp. 111—121). Springer.

17.

Flowers

A. M.

(2015). The family factor: The establishment of positive academic identity for Black males engineering majors. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 39 1, 64—74.

18.

Fordham

(1985). Black student school success as related to fictive kinship: Final report. Washington, DC: The National Institute of Education.

19.

Fries-Britt

L. S.

Younger

T. K.

, & Hall

W. D.

(2010). Lessons from high-achieving students of color in physics. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2010 148, 75—83.

20.

Greene

J. C.

Caracelli

V. J.

, & Graham

W. F.

(1989). Towards a conceptual framework for mixed-method evaluation designs. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 11 3, 255—274.

21.

Hanson

S. L.

, & Meng

(2008). Science majors and degrees among Asian-American students: Influences of race and sex in “model minority” experiences. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 14 3, 225—252.

22.

Hart

, & Risley

T. R.

(1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Paul H. Brookes.

23.

Hernandez

Rana

Alemdar

Rao

, & Usselman

(2016). Latino parents’ educational values and STEM beliefs. Journal for Multicultural Education, 10 3, 354—367.

24.

Imenda

(2014). Is there a conceptual difference between theoretical and conceptual frameworks? Journal of Social Sciences, 38 2, 185—195.

25.

Jackson-Smith

(2015). The summer was worth it: Exploring the impacts of a STEM focused summer research program on the success of African American females. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 21 2, 87—105.

26.

Kiyama

J. M.

(2010). College aspirations and limitations: The role of educational ideologies and funds of knowledge in Mexican American families. American Educational Research Journal, 45 4, 59—67.

27.

Kiyama

J. M.

, & Harper

C. E.

(2018). Beyond hovering: A conceptual argument for an inclusive model of family engagement in higher education. The Review of Higher Education, 41 3, 365—385.

28.

Krueger

R. A.

, & Casey

M. A.

(2009). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. SAGE.

29.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

, & Hackett

(2002). Social cognitive career theory. In Brown

(Eds.), Career choice and development (pp. 255—311, 4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

30.

Martin

J. P.

Simmons

D. R.

, & Yu

S. L.

(2013). The role of social capital in the experiences of Hispanic women engineering majors. Journal of Engineering Education, 102 2, 227—243.

31.

McGee

, & Spencer

M. B.

(2015). Black parents as advocates, motivators, and teachers of mathematics. The Journal of Negro Education, 84 3, 473—490.

32.

Miles

M. G.

Huberman

A. M.

, & Saldaña

(2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE.

33.

Miller

J. D.

, & Kimmel

L. G.

(2012). Pathways to a STEMM profession. Peabody Journal of Education, 87 1, 26—45.

34.

Miller

J. D.

, & Pearson

(2012). Pathways to STEMM professions for students from noncollege homes. Peabody Journal of Education, 87 1, 114—132.

35.

Moeller

Banerjee

Bottia

M. C.

Stearns

Mickelson

R. A.

Dancy

Wright

, & Valentino

(2015). Moving Latino/a students into STEM majors in college: The role of teachers and professional communities in secondary schools. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 14 1, 3—33.

36.

Moll

Amanti

Neff

, & Gonzales

(1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31, 132—141.

37.

Moore

J. L.

(2006). A qualitative investigation of African American males’ career trajectory in engineering: Implications for teachers, school counselors, and parents. Teachers College Record, 108 2, 246—266.

38.

Murillo

M. A.

Quartz

K. H.

, & Del Razo

(2017). High school internships: Utilizing a community cultural wealth framework to support career preparation and college-going among low-income students of color. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 22 4, 237—252.

39.

National Science Board. (2018). Science and engineering indicators 2018. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.

40.

O'Brien

L. T.

Boldorn

Adams

Garcia

D. M.

, & Hammer

(2015). Ethnic variation in gender-STEM stereotypes and STEM participation: An intersectional approach. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21, 169—180.

41.

Palmer

R. T.

Maramba

D. C.

, & Dancy

T. E.

(2011). A qualitative investigation of factors promoting the retention and persistence of students of color in STEM. The Journal of Negro Education, 80 4, 491—504.

42.

Payne

R. K.

(2005). A framework for understanding poverty (4th ed.). Aha! Process.

43.

Peralta

Caspary

, & Boothe

(2013). Success factors impacting Latina/o persistence in higher education leading to STEM opportunities. Cultural Studies of Science Education Journal, 8 4, 905—918.

44.

Pérez

, & Taylor

K. B.

(2016). Cultivando logradores: Nurturing and sustaining Latino male success in higher education. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9 1, 1—19.

45.

Pérez

P. A.

, & McDonough

P. M.

(2008). Understanding Latina and Latino college choice. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 7 3, 249—265.

46.

Pérez Carreón

Drake

, & Barton

A. C.

(2005). The importance of presence: Immigrant parents’ school engagement. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 465—498.

47.

Revelo

R. A.

, & Baber

L. D.

(2018). Engineering resistors: Engineering Latina/o students and emerging resistant capital. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 17 3, 249—269.

48.

Rincón

De La Rosa

, & Chapa

(2017). A state of neglect: Latino educational attainment. In De Los Santos

Rendon

L. I.

Keller

Acereda

Bensimón

E. M.

, & Tannenbaum

R. J.

(Eds.), New directions: Assessment and preparation of Hispanic college students (pp. 59—73). Bilingual Press.

49.

Rist

(1970). Student social class and teacher expectations: The self-fulfilling prophecy in ghetto education. Harvard Educational Review, 70 3, 267—301.

50.

Rodela

(2016). Undocumented educational leadership: The development of Latina mothers into emergent social justice leaders. National Forum of Applied Educational Research Journal, 29 1–2, 21—33.

51.

Saldaña

(2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). SAGE.

52.

Samuelson

C. C.

, & Litzler

(2016). Community cultural wealth: An asset-based approach to persistence of engineering students of color. Journal of Engineering Education, 105 1, 93—117.

53.

Smith

F. M.

, & Hausafus

C. O.

(1998). Relationship of family support and ethnic minority students’ achievement in science and mathematics. Science Education, 82 1, 111—125.

54.

Stanton-Salazar

R. D.

(2011). A social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. Youth & Society, 43 3, 1066—1109.

55.

Strayhorn

T. L.

(2010). Undergraduate research participation and STEM graduate degree aspirations among students of color. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2010 148, 85—93.

56.

Talley

K. G.

, & Martinez Ortiz

(2017). Women's interest development and motivations to persist as college students in STEM: A mixed-methods analysis of views and voices from a Hispanic-serving institution. International Journal of STEM Education, 4 1, 1—24.

57.

Valencia

R. R.

, & Black

M. S.

(2002). “Mexican Americans don't value education!”—On the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1 2, 81—103.

58.

Vega

(2016). “Why not me?”: College enrollment and persistence of high-achieving first-generation Latino college students. National Association of School Psychologists School Psychology Forum: Research in Practice, 10 3, 307—320.

59.

Villenas

, & Deyhle

(1999). Critical race theory and ethnographies challenging the stereotypes: Latino families, schooling, resilience and resistance. Curriculum Inquiry, 29 4, 413—445.

60.

Villenas

, & Moreno

(2001). To valerse por si misma between race, capitalism, and patriarchy: Latina mother-daughter pedagogies in North Carolina. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14 5, 671—687.

61.

Yosso

T. J.

(2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8 1, 69—91.