2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans remain underrepresented in degree programs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in postsecondary educational systems (American Society of Engineering Education, 2021) and STEM-related job areas (Kricorian et al., 2020). Although the number of STEM bachelor’s degrees awarded has increased by 62% since 2010, gender, racial, and ethnic representation in related job areas have not (PEW, p. 14).

As one part of a larger NSF project, the Summer Intensive Research Institute (SIRI) was designed to increase diversity in engineering and cyber-physical systems (CPS). For a period of eight weeks, students participate in a range of activities at a historically Hispanic-serving research-intensive university located in the American Southwest and a predominantly white institution in the Midwest. Students participated in activities meant to introduce them to the logistics of applying to graduate school and get them excited about pursuing graduate studies in engineering and persisting in related workforce fields. In addition to activities and workshops, students worked on a CPS-focused research project or experiment with scaffolded support from higher education practitioners and workforce professionals.

Sixteen students participated in this program between the summers of 2021 and 2022. Drawing on the theoretical framework of culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2010), we discuss the potential of SIRI as a context for science identity formation and learning for historically underrepresented minorities pursuing STEM degrees in higher education settings. Data sources include pre- and post-program evaluations and qualitative descriptions of the students’ experiences in the program. Specifically, we examine the nature of the projects students elected to design, how they discursively framed the impact of racial and ethnic diversity in the program, how students described relationships with mentors and faculty supervisors, and the difference these relationships made in how students experienced the program.

Findings from years one and two of the program show that students’ learner identity formation centered on the quality of their interactions with a diverse group of faculty and peers, the meaningful relationships they formed with peers, mentors, and faculty supervisors; high expectations for performance; the alignment of content with their research and career interests; and the varied resources to which students had access and took up as part of their learning.

We conclude with implications for developing culturally responsive STEM programs in higher education contexts.

References:
American Society for Engineering Education. (2021). Profiles of engineering and engineering technology. Washington, DC.

Garibay, J. C. (2015). STEM students’ social agency and views on working for social change: Are STEM disciplines developing socially and civically responsible students? Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice: Teachers College Press.

Kricorian, K., Seu, M., Lopez, D., Ureta, E., & Equils, O. (2020). Factors influencing participation of underrepresented students in STEM fields: matched mentors and mindsets. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 1-9.

Pew Research Center (2021, April). STEM jobs see uneven progress in increasing gender, racial and ethnic diversity.

Salazar, C., Liwanag, A.M., Zheng, J., & Park, J.J. (2022, September 15). Marginality and mattering: Inequality in STEM majors’ relationships with higher education practitioners. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000440.