Postsecondary Underrepresented Minority STEM Students’ Perceptions of Their Science Identity

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Publication Title

Journal of Negro Education

Volume

88

Issue

3

First page number:

249

Last page number:

268

Abstract

In order to increase the access of underrepresented minority (URM) students to STEM careers, we need a better understanding of the students’ science identities—the ways they perceive themselves as being (or not being) scientists. Such knowledge can inform efforts to recruit and retain URM students in STEM. The authors asked postsecondary URM STEM students to describe the characteristics that they (1) have in common and (2) do not have in common with scientists, as well as experiences that made them feel like scientists. In this article, the authors present a composite of a URM STEM student’s science identity—the first of its kind—and discuss the implications of this perceived science identity for the recruitment and retention of URM STEM students.

Keywords

Science identity; Underrepresented minority; STEM

Disciplines

Science and Mathematics Education

Language

English

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