Dr. Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux AIR Symposium on Using … Participation and... · Broadening Participation in STEM ... “Fix the Student” Perspective . ... •Alter curriculum and

Dr. Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux AIR Symposium on Using Research to Inform Policies and Practices in STEM Education September 26, 2013

THE GOOD NEWS. Let’s start with…

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Num

ber o

f STE

M B

ache

lor’s

Deg

rees

Black Latino American Indian/Alaskan Native

STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Underrepresented Minority Men, 1990-2011

Source: IPEDS Completions Survey, 1990-2011.

STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Women by Race/Ethnicity, 1990-2011

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Num

ber o

f STE

M B

ache

lor’s

Deg

rees

Black Latina American Indian/Alaskan Native White Asian/Pacific Islander


STEM Doctorates Awarded to Underrepresented Minority Men, 1990-2011

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Num

ber o

f STE

M D

octo

rate

s

Black Latino American Indian/Alaskan Native Source: IPEDS Completions Survey, 1990-2011.

STEM Doctorates Awarded to Women by Race/Ethnicity, 1990-2011

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Num

ber o

f STEM Doctorates

Black Latina American Indian/Alaskan Native White Asian/Pacific Islander


UNDEREPRESENTATION REMAINS A PROBLEM.

However…

URM Men White Women Asian Women URM Women U.S. Population 14.5% 32.4% 2.5% 14.5% All Bachelor's Degrees 6.8% 36.3% 3.6% 11.8% STEM B.S. Degrees 7.2% 29.9% 4.8% 10.6% NS&E B.S. Degrees 7.8% 23.1% 5.0% 6.3% NS&E Doctorates 4.9% 25.9% 5.2% 4.5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Percent Share of STEM Bachelor’s Degrees Earned by Underrepresented Groups, 2010

Source: NSF, 2013.

Percent Share of Bachelor’s Degrees by Gender and Race/Ethnicity in All Fields and Biological Sciences, 2010

37%

4% 6%

6%

<1%

4%

57% Female

29%

3% 3%

4%

<1%

3%

41% Male

26%

7% 2%

3%

<1%

3% 35%

10%

5% 5%

<1%

4%

59% Female

43% Male

All Fields Biological sciences

Source: NSF, 2013.

White Asian/Pacific Islander Black Latina/o American Indian/Alaskan Native Other/Unknown

Percent Share of Bachelor’s Degrees by Gender and Race/Ethnicity in All Fields and Chemistry, 2010

37%

4% 6%

6%

<1%

4%

57% Female

29%

3% 3%

4%

<1%

3%

50% Male 50%

Female

43% Male

All Fields Chemistry

34%

7%

3% 3%

<1%

3%

30%

8%

5% 4%

<1%

3%

Source: NSF, 2013.


Percent Share of Bachelor’s Degrees by Gender and Race/Ethnicity in All Fields and Electrical Engineering, 2010

37%

4% 6%

6%

<1%

4%

57% Female

29%

3% 3%

4%

<1%

3%

90% Male

10% Female

43% Male

All Fields Electrical Engineering

5% 2%

1%

1%

<1%

1%

55%

14%

6%

8%

<1% 6%

Source: NSF, 2013.


0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Perc

enta

ge o

f Deg

rees

Ear

ned

by A

fric

an A

mer

ican

s

Mathematics and statistics Physical sciences Engineering

Share of Bachelor’s Degrees in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering earned by African Americans, 1990-2010


Broadening Participation in STEM

•  Decades of efforts to broaden participation in STEM have yielded slow, but measurable change.

•  Progress has been uneven across STEM disciplines and institutions, and for various populations.

•  Do we need to alter our approach? If so, how?

THE APPROACH TO BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME.

Well, what have we tried?

Evolving Approaches to Broadening Participation in STEM

Why are women and minorities underrepresented among STEM degree holders and in the STEM

workforce?

Unprepared

Uninterested

Uninformed

“Fix the Student” Perspective


Unprepared

• Remediate “knowledge gaps” in math and science

• Close the math and science achievement gap

• Complete more advanced STEM coursework

• Engage in research and hone research skills

Uninterested

• Develop positive attitudes toward science

• Change perceptions of scientists and engineers by finding role models/mentors

• Find connections between science and engineering to daily life

Uninformed

• Become more knowledgeable about STEM career opportunities

• Increase awareness of and application to graduate and research funding opportunities

“Fix the Student” Perspective



workforce?

“Strengthen Minority Institutions” Perspective

Lack the capacity to provide STEM

education

Lack of resources and inadequate

research infrastructure

Inst

itutio

ns


Lack Capacity to offer STEM Education

• Expand STEM academic program offerings

• Establish dual-degree programs with research institutions

• Improve teaching quality through training and professional development

• Reform STEM curriculum to increase retention

Lack of Resources and Inadequate Research Infrastructure

• Acquire external funding to improve research facilities

• Obtain grants to provide research opportunities for faculty and students

• Form partnerships with research universities

• Partner with industry and research institutions to provide research experiences to students

• Enhance research capabilities of faculty

“Strengthen Minority Institutions” Perspective



workforce?

“Supporting Individuals” Perspective

Unsupported


Unsupported

• Encourage women and minorities to pursue STEM

• Provide underrepresented students with academic enhancement and support

• Identify mentors to provide support and guidance with career planning, publishing, and research

• Provide financial support for undergraduate and graduate education

• Encourage and facilitate community-building for underrepresented students in STEM

“Supporting Individuals” Perspective



workforce?

“Institutional Transformation” Perspective

Exclusionary environment for STEM within higher education institutions

Traditional ways of teaching and doing science

discourage women and minorities

Institutions lack role-models

Bias and discrimination

“Chi

lly C

limat

e”


Warming Up the “Chilly Climate”

• Understand the barriers that prevent women and minorities from pursuing and succeeding in STEM within specific institutional context

• Make diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in STEM a priority among faculty, staff, and administrators

• Alter curriculum and teaching approaches to retain women and minorities

• Aggressively recruit and retain minority and women STEM faculty

• Develop, implement, and enforce policies to lessen role of discrimination and biases in admissions, hiring, and promotion/tenure processes

“Institutional Transformation” Perspective

TOWARD A MORE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH.

So, what ought to change?

Broadening Participation in STEM: A Slow, Complex Process

Fix the Student Create Opportunity +

Strengthen Minority-Serving Institutions +

Supporting Individuals +

Institutional Transformation

A More Comprehensive Approach?

Experiences of URMs

and Women in STEM

Create Opportunity

Strengthen Minority-Serving

Institutions

Supporting Individuals

Institutional Transformation

Why take an Ecological Approach? •  Social science research demonstrates that educational

environments and the interactions with and within that environment can promote and/or inhibit student learning and development.

Key Questions

•  How do students relate to and interact with their environment (e.g., campus, social, cultural, sociopolitical, etc.)?

•  What factors impact these interactions?

•  And, how do these relationships impact STEM outcomes?

Elements of Ecological Systems Theory

Participation and Outcomes in STEM

Context

Process Person

Based on Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983

What Accounts for Different STEM-Related Outcomes among Students in Seemingly Similar Environments?

Variability in Outcomes are a Function of Context and the Person: •  Quality, nature, and frequency of interactions with faculty and peers

vary for different students.

•  Different students elicit particular responses from peers, faculty, and others.

•  Students derive different meanings from their environment and their interactions with that environment.

•  Students differ in their views of their agency in relation to their environment.

Based on Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1999, 2005.

Ecological Model of College Student Development (Renn)

Dept.

Mesosystem

Micro- system

friend group

Exosystem

Macrosystem

federal policy

cultural expectations

social forces

historical trends

Microsystem: An academic, residential, extracurricular, or social setting. Ex: Class, department, lab.

Mesosystem: Web of interconnected microsystems. Ex: Campus culture, home life, friend group Some microsystems are

are consonant, which tend to favor development; other microsystems are dissonant with inconsistent messages, which don’t favor development.

Exosystem: Web of settings that affect a person, some of which do not contain the person. Ex: Parents’ workplace, federal policies.

Macrosystem: Overall pattern of systems of a culture. Ex: Racial/ethnic and gender stereotypes, societal perceptions of science and scientists.

class parent’s

job

Adapted from (Renn,2004)

(Active) Person

labor market

Going Forward…

Key Questions •  How do students relate to and interact with

their environment (e.g., campus, social, cultural, sociopolitical, etc.)?

•  What factors impact these interactions?

•  And, how do these relationships impact STEM outcomes?

Documents

Dr. Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux AIR Symposium on Using … Participation and... · Broadening Participation in STEM ... “Fix the Student” Perspective . ... •Alter curriculum and