2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Encouraging STEM Careers among Minoritized High School Students: The Interplay between Socio-Environmental Factors and Other Social Cognitive Career Constructs

Presented at Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 13

(paper type: ERM) -- Performance in math, particularly algebra, is a major barrier to student success and participation in STEM among under-represented minority students, particularly Black U.S. high school students. This research applies Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to measure impacts of an afterschool algebra-for-engineering program on math self-efficacy and interest in STEM among high school students in a large urban district. To study the program’s effects, a mixed methods research design was used where schools were assigned to either treatment or control conditions. Students in treatment schools accessed algebra-for-engineering modules, STEM-professional role model videos, and field trips, while students in control schools accessed role model videos and field trips only. Surveys measuring math self-efficacy, and STEM interest, outcome expectations, and choice goals were completed by participants in both conditions at the beginning and end of two separate program years, 2021-22 and 2022-23. Across both years, initial quantitative results show few significant differences between treatment and control students and widely varying participation levels. Qualitative data offer student voice around prior experiences in math and science and the development of postsecondary plans in STEM. In combination, the results suggest that for students who do not initially identify as STEM career-bound, afterschool programming may not necessarily promote preparation for STEM careers due to an accumulation of weak math and science school experiences and other socio-environmental influences. (Keywords: math self-efficacy, engineering, high school, minority students, urban education)

Authors

Dr. Rachel E. Durham http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0904-5785 Notre Dame of Maryland University [biography]

Rachel E. Durham (PhD, Sociology & Demography, Pennsylvania State University) is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University, and a Senior Fellow with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC). With a background in sociology of education, education policy, and demography, her research focuses on graduates’ transition to adulthood, career and college readiness, community schools, and research-practice partnerships.
Prof. Michael L. Falk http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-4259 The Johns Hopkins University [biography]

Michael Falk is Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education and a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering where he has served on the faculty since 2008 with secondary appointme
Alexis Daniels The Johns Hopkins University [biography]

Alexis Daniels (EdD Candidate, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University; Center for Educational Outreach, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University)
Correspondence: adanie43@jhu.edu
Allison Reigel The Johns Hopkins University
Ms. Alisha Nicole Sparks The Johns Hopkins University [biography]

Alisha Sparks serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Educational Outreach within the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
She works to ensure and further the excellence, quality, and impact of the Baltimore PK-12 STEM Educational Outreach programs. Alisha has a B.S. in Mathematics from Voorhees College and a M.A. in Instructional Systems Development from UMBC. She has her Maryland State Department of Education Advanced Professional Certificate in Mathematics for Grades 7 – 12 with an Administrator I Supervisor and Assistant Principal Endorsement. She previously worked at Baltimore City Public Schools in the Office of Enrollment, Choice, and Transfers and taught math at Digital Harbor High School. She also coordinated the summer program for Baltimore Freedom Schools and was the Director of the K-12 Programs at the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) managing several NSF grants there.
Margo K Williams The Johns Hopkins University [biography]

Margo Williams is an Instructional Design Manager at Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering. She supports a portfolio of engineering and applied science courses and programs within the Whiting School, including BOAST over all five years of program testing, implementation, and refinement over multiple learning management systems (Blackboard, Blackboard Ultra, and Schoology). She holds a B.A. in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and a graduate certificate in Instructional Systems Development and an M.S. in Human Centered Computing from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Dr. Emily J. Yanisko American University

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