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1. Supporting First-Generation Refugee Families’ STEM Aspirations and College Navigation

   Judson, E; Ibrahim, M (March 2024, NARST)

   The challenges faced by first-generation students, particularly within refugee communities, can be formidable as they aspire to attend an American university and pursue a professional career. These challenges include uncertainties in navigating the path from high school to college, limited awareness of various STEM career fields, and a lack of acquaintances who have successfully navigated similar paths. Complexities such as high school graduation and university admission requirements, coupled with few higher education connections, contribute to the frustrations experienced by parents and students. To address these issues, we present the results of a project aimed at promoting STEM aspirations, and enhancing the understanding of college navigation among refugee families residing in the United States. The project focused on parents and their children in grades 7-12 and was a collaboration between a large public university and leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations (ECBOs) representing local Burundian, Congolese, and Syrian communities. Results indicate the project positively affected students and parents’ STEM capital and college social capital, as well as students’ expectations regarding how fulfilling a STEM career might be. 

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2. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Aspirations Among Refugee Families: A Comparative, Multiethnic, Qualitative Analysis

   https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110593  

   Hailu, Meseret F; Hovsepian, Setrag; Ibrahim, Mohammed; Atieh, Bruno; Mohamed, Saida; Chhetri, Nalini; Judson, Eugene (November 2024, Social Sciences)

   In this original research manuscript, we examined how gender, race, and ethnic heritage shape the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related and higher education aspirations of different communities of refugee youth and families participating in university–community organization partnerships. Families from various ethnic-based community organizations in Arizona (serving Bhutanese, Burundian, Congolese, Somali, and Syrian people) participated in this study. Using social cognitive career theory as our conceptual framework and a qualitative research approach, we conducted interviews and focus groups with 27 families over two years to better understand their experiences. We found that the youth and families in our study experienced the following: (1) a recognition of the value of STEM education; (2) the value of consistent support from parents and community members; and (3) appreciation for the practical interventions provided by the university–community partnership. Additionally, families communicated conflicting perceptions of the salience of race and gender. We concluded by discussing the implications of the study findings for higher education scholarship and practice. 

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3. Navigating STEM Major and Transfer Destination Choices: Community College Student Experiences through the Lens of Practice Theory

   https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521231182119  

   Holland_Zahner, Dana_G (June 2023, Community College Review)

   Objective/Research Question: This research explores how community college students, who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and aspire to vertical transfer in STEM make choices about majors and transfer destinations. The question is important to advancing equity in STEM, which continues to perpetuate disparities in attainment for minoritized, first-generation, and financially disadvantaged students, who disproportionately enter higher education in community colleges. Methods: Using a longitudinal, qualitative research design, the study relied on semi-structured interviewing to generate in-depth evidence about student experiences. Results: Findings showed that career goals were uniformly influential to students, yet career information was unevenly available or comprehensible during community college. Students’ choices about what to major in and where to transfer were iterative and intertwined, with these choices deeply connected to students’ families and lifetime priorities. Delays in student decision-making tended to have less to do with uncertain individual preferences than to lack of information about a specific STEM major and its alignment with possible future degrees, transfer destinations, and career pathways, as well as contingencies associated with the transfer admission process. Conclusions/Contributions: This research demonstrated STEM-specific nuance in how underrepresented community college students navigate major, career, and transfer destination decision-making as well as the influence of family and location-based priorities in student choices. Future research should investigate how to best provide directional support for students’ major and transfer destination decisions, including major-to-career awareness and the academic and personal dimensions of transfer. 

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4. Examining STEM Diagnostic Exam Scores and Self-efficacy as Predictors of Three-year STEM Psychological and Career Outcomes

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--34614  

   Bradford, Brittany; Beier, Margaret; McSpedon, Megan; Wolf, Michael (June 2020, American Society for Engineering Education)

   In this research-based paper, we explore the relationships among Rice University STEM students’ high school preparation, psychological characteristics, and career aspirations. Although greater high school preparation in STEM coursework predicts higher STEM retention and performance in college [1], objective academic preparation and college performance do not fully explain STEM retention decisions, and the students who leave STEM are often not the lowest performing students [2]. Certain psychosocial experiences may also influence students’ STEM decisions. We explored the predictive validity of 1) a STEM diagnostic exam as an objective measure of high school science and math preparation and 2) self-efficacy as a psychological measure on long-term (three years later) STEM career aspirations and STEM identity of underprepared Rice STEM students. University administrators use diagnostic exam scores (along with other evidence of high school underpreparation) to identify students who might benefit from additional support. Using linear regression to explore the link between diagnostic exam scores and self-efficacy, exam scores predicted self-efficacy a semester after students’ first semester in college; exam scores were also marginally correlated with self-efficacy three years later. Early STEM career aspirations predicted later career aspirations, accounting for 21.3% of the variance of career outcome expectations three years later (β=.462, p=.006). Scores on the math diagnostic exam accounted for an additional 10.1% of the variance in students’ three-year STEM career aspirations (p=.041). Self-efficacy after students’ first semester did not predict future STEM aspirations. Early STEM identity explained 28.8% of the variance in three-year STEM identity (p=.001). Math diagnostic exam scores accounted for only marginal incremental variance after STEM identity, and self-efficacy after students’ first semester did not predict three-year STEM aspirations. Overall, we found that the diagnostic exam provided incremental predictive validity in STEM career aspirations after students’ sixth semester of college, indicating that early STEM preparation has long-lasting ramifications for students’ STEM career intentions. Our next steps include examining whether students’ diagnostic exam scores predict STEM graduation rates and final GPAs for science and math versus engineering majors. 

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5. Matriarchs Matter: Family Influences to Scientific Thinking of Women of Color in the Community College

   Yap, Melo-Jean (March 2020, IAFOR International Conference on Education official conference proceedings)

   In the University of California system, community college transfer students comprise of 48% of graduates with STEM bachelor’s degrees. This demonstrates that two-year colleges help pave the career pathways of community college students, many of which are students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM fields. To cultivate the potential of women of color in pursuing STEM fields in the community college, focusing on their standpoint will empower them in centering their own perspectives in their own retention and success. Learning more about their standpoint also highlights their knowledge production as future producers of knowledge in the STEM fields. To obtain the influences to their scientific thinking development, 35 women of color STEM majors answered a social network questionnaire by nominating these influences. Social network analysis was used to analyze their influential social networks. Results demonstrate that family members have the highest frequency of influence to scientific thinking, regardless of educational attainment at the high school or lower levels. These relatives also heavily consist of matriarchal figures, such as mothers and grandmothers, especially as influences to scientific observation and scientific justification. These findings signify the importance of family in cultivating intellect, whether or not the relatives obtained college degrees or higher. Significance also supports emphasis on the students’ standpoint in self-determining their own success, and creates a campus culture that celebrates family-inclusiveness. Creating campus programming that caters to students’ strong relationships with their families may promote even more persistence in their STEM career trajectories. 

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