2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

This research is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-2005790.

Introduction

This research applies Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory to understand the persistence of racially underrepresented minority (URM) youth in STEM pathways. URM youth aspire to STEM careers at the same rate as White peers [1], but Black and Latinx students leave STEM disciplines at nearly twice the rate of White students [2]. As a result, the STEM workforce does not reflect the country’s diversity. Literature reveals key socioenvironmental factors in the exosystem (STEM curriculum, qualified STEM teachers), the mesosystem (mentorship opportunities, family and peer support), and the microsystem (STEM interest, math self-efficacy, STEM outcome expectations and choice goals, and math achievement) that contribute to low-persistence of URM youth in STEM education and careers. However, few studies investigate this problem in a pre-college population, analyze interaction across levels of the system, and emphasize marginalized students’ lived experiences through phenomenological, inductive approaches.

Methodology

This study examines socioenvironmental experiences that shape persistence in a year-long after-school algebra-for-engineering program, interest in STEM careers, and post-secondary plans. Interviews from three cohorts (n = 25) between 2021 and 2024 in a large urban district addressed the following research questions: RQ1) How do students describe experiences in school-based math and science coursework? RQ2) What are students’ plans for postsecondary STEM pathways? RQ3) What are differences between high- and low-persisting students in the algebra-for-engineering program regarding mesosystem and microsystem factors?

Results

Interviews revealed an accumulation of weak math and science school experiences yet overall high math self-efficacy, STEM interest, and strong family support. Most students described ambitions to attend college and focus on “getting good grades” at present, yet participant post-secondary plans ranged considerably between firm, burgeoning, and vague. High-persistence students differed most starkly from low-persistence students regarding mentorship opportunities (namely pragmatic support), STEM identities (consolidated identities across home, school, and extracurriculars), and coordinated school-based post-secondary planning. Notably, students with these supportive mesosystem factors clustered at two of nine schools. Low-persistence students described weak bonds with teachers or understaffing, limited peer support, haphazard curriculum, and delayed or altogether absent advising. This study highlights emergent themes as well as outliers (i.e. students with high-persistence yet weak mesosystem supports) who navigate structural, school-based tensions (“y'all, how did we all just pass this with no teacher?”).

Conclusions

These qualitative findings help illuminate surprising quantitative findings from the same project: comparing treatment and control groups, the algebra-for-engineering program had no significant effects on math self-efficacy, STEM interest, or STEM outcome expectations [4]. However, students in the treatment group had significantly higher levels of STEM choice goals. This study explores how those post-secondary goals develop, pointing to modifiable socio-environmental factors relevant to urban program developers, school administrators, and policy makers interested in supporting flourishing STEM ecosystems. (Keywords: Pre-college, Engineering, Race/Ethnicity, Socio-economic Status)

References
[1] M. B. Spencer, “Phenomenology and ecological systems theory: Development of diverse groups,” in Handbook of Child Psychology: Theoretical Models of Human Development, 6th ed. R. M. Lerner & W. Damon, Eds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006, pp. 829–893).

[2] M. Edwin, D. J. Prescod and J. Bryan, “Profiles of high school students’ STEM career aspirations,” Career Development Quarterly, vol. 67, no. 3, pp. 255–263, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12194

[3] R. Durham et al. “Encouraging STEM careers among minoritized high school students: The interplay between socio-environmental factors and other social cognitive career constructs” in American Society for Engineering Education: Proceedings of the Future of Engineering Education, Portland, OR, USA, June 23-26, 2024, to be published.