The underrepresentation of Black women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) has led to considerable efforts to improve participation and retention, with the understanding that Black women are a significantly untapped resource for STEM innovation and advancement (National Science Board, 2012). While academic motivation has received more attention regarding Black women’s STEM retention (Leath et al., 2018), social and psychological processes are crucial to understanding how students navigate university contexts (Patton & Croom 2017; Schreiner 2010). The deleterious influence of racism and sexism on Black women in STEM is evident (e.g., Johnson, 2011; Litzler et al., 2014); yet, not all Black women who experience such marginalization choose to opt out of STEM pathways or evidence poor college adjustment. What is less clear is under what conditions individual and institutional factors operate as protective and supportive resources to facilitate Black women’s STEM retention. Lack of such knowledge is an important problem because, without it, educational interventions to retain Black women in STEM may be misguided and ineffective.
The current project will investigate how to recruit, support, and retain Black women in STEM pathways to help build and sustain transformative educational opportunities for Black women at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Specifically, we will:
- focus on social and psychological wellbeing as empirically neglected influences on Black women’s STEM retention
- investigate key moderators of the relationships between Black women’s perceptions of institutional climate and STEM persistence
- explore how Black college women cultivate networks of personal and institutional support to offset marginalization and thrive
This project has received support from the Spencer Foundation and the National Science Foundation.