skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Humanizing STEM education: an ecological systems framework for educating the whole student
STEM higher education in the U.S. has long been an uninviting space for minoritized individuals, particularly women, persons of color, and international students and scholars. In recent years, the contemporary realities of a global pandemic, sociopolitical divides, and heightened racial tensions, along with elevated levels of mental illness and emotional distress among college students, have intensified the need for an undergraduate STEM education cultureandclimate that recognizes and values the humanity of our students. The purpose of this article is to advance a more humanized undergraduate STEM education and to provide a framework to guide efforts toward achieving that vision. We argue that humanizing approaches recognize and value the complexity of individuals and the cultural capital that they bring to their education, and that this is particularly important for empowering minoritized students who are subordinated in status in STEM higher education. A STEM education that centers students’ humanity gives rise to equity and promotes human well-being and flourishing alongside knowledge acquisition and skill development. We then offer a guiding framework for conceptualizing the broader ecosystem in which undergraduate STEM students are embedded, and use it to outline the individual and collective roles that different stakeholders in the ecosystem can play in humanizing STEM education.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2120001
PAR ID:
10507789
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Editor(s):
Sheila S. Jaswal, Amherst College
Publisher / Repository:
Frontiers in Education
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Education
Volume:
8
ISSN:
2504-284X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; (, Science Education)
    Addressing equity issues in science education requires a reorientation to how science students are advised and how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, particularly science, is viewed. STEM education is often figuratively described as a pipeline containing students who leak out before reaching the nexus of their STEM education/career journey. The authors of this paper argue that STEM education must be viewed from an ecosystems perspective, where students interact with one another, their physical environment and cultural contexts, and other humans who can support them in becoming STEM professionals. Within this STEM ecosystem, many individuals have a pivotal role in supporting students as they learn and develop within the science field. These individuals, particularly advisors, must possess knowledge, beliefs, skills, and dispositions that help students cultivate a sense of belonging, engage them in critical thinking about their academic and career choices, and aid their identity development in learning as becoming in STEM professions. The authors describe who these individuals are, the roles they play, and also provide practical examples, using vignettes, of how advisors can support students of color pursuing science degrees and careers. Finally, recognizing that students' STEM advising ecosystem operates at any grade level or stage of life, the authors have organized the descriptive portion of this study according to the following levels elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and career. 
    more » « less
  2. ; (, Frontiers in Education)
    Pranjol, Zahid (Ed.)
    This perspective article focuses on the exploration and advocacy of approaches to be considered in designing equitable learning experiences for students’ use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and technology through the Universal Design for Learning Framework (UDL) exemplifying chemistry examples that can be applied to any course in STEM. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are causing disruptions within learning in higher education and is also casting a spotlight on systemic inequities particularly affecting minoritized groups broadly and in STEM fields. Particularly, the emergence of AI has focused on inequities toward minoritized students in academic and professional ethics. As the U.S. education system grapples with a nuanced mix of acceptance and hesitation towards AI, the necessity for inclusive and equitable education, impactful learning practices, and innovative strategies has become more pronounced. Promoting equitable approaches for the use of artificial intelligence and technology in STEM learning will be an important milestone in addressing STEM disparities toward minoritized groups and equitable accessibility to evolving technology. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; (, Proceedings of the Annual American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference)
    This work presents the research methods and preliminary results from a pilot study that assesses mentoring approaches used to support racially minoritized students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. There is a national imperative to broaden participation of racially minoritized undergraduates in STEM fields as evidenced by reports and the recent calls for social justice and equity in these fields. In STEM, mentoring has been recognized as a mechanism that can help to support racially minoritized student populations (e.g., persons who identify as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and American Indian/Alaskan Native). Yet for mentors in higher education, minimal examples exist that detail effective mentoring approaches, strategies, and competencies that support the persistence and success of minoritized mentees in STEM. In better understanding mentoring approaches, we can make visible how to better mentor these populations and help to employ more equitable mentoring participation. The research question guiding this study is: What approaches are used by mentors who help racially minoritized undergraduate mentees persist in STEM fields? Mentoring literature and two theoretical frameworks were leveraged to situate these mentoring experiences. Intersectionality theory is used to explore the role of compounding minoritized identities within the power contexts (i.e., structural, hegemonic, disciplinary, and interpersonal) of higher education. Community cultural wealth is also used as a lens to examine six forms of capital (i.e., family, social, navigational, aspirational, resistant, and linguistic) that may be used in mentoring practices with minoritized students. This paper will present the methods and findings from the pilot study, centering on the development of the team’s interview protocol. This work will provide insights about the piloting process of a larger study as well as initial emergent themes about the approaches and experiences of mentors who mentor minoritized undergraduate students in STEM. 
    more » « less
  4. ; (, Proceedings of the Annual American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference)
    Previous research shows that the inherent systemic inequities present in STEM higher education impacts minority participation negatively as evidenced by phenomena like, low sense of belonging, isolation, low self-efficacy, and attrition. Thus, minoritized populations (persons who identify as Black, Latinx, Native Alaskan, Indigenous, or Asian Pacific Islander) have had to overcome many barriers to participation in STEM higher education. In addressing this participation, some research uses deficit frameworks that assume minoritized students lack coping skills (for e.g., how to balance work and classes), and these can be provided for them, for example, through intervention programs. However, there is a general lack of understanding regarding how these students cope from an assets-based lens. This study reports on the coping strategies of 31 minoritized students, and is guided by the research questions: 1) what personal coping mechanisms do minoritized undergraduate students use to navigate STEM fields? and 2) how do mentees leverage assistance from mentors in order to navigate STEM fields? The data was examined through critical race theory and mentoring frameworks. Preliminary results indicate that the participants used various forms of coping strategies including: mentoring, academic support, avoidance/distancing, family, social support, and self-care. These findings can help provide information about mental health resources to support these students, as well as the need for intentional mentoring and advising by faculty and staff. These efforts may have broader implications towards increasing minoritized participation in STEM fields. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)
    Lack of racial diversity has been an ongoing issue in higher education. Recently, the Theory of Racialized Organizations has been used to help explain why, despite many calls for diversity, the demographics of higher education have not changed. Considering this framework, we seek to understand what aspects of the graduate school application process are viewed as barriers by minoritized students for applying. As part of a larger study of undergraduate student knowledge of the graduate school application process, we analyze 515 responses from undergraduate math majors using Mann-Whitney U tests to identify differences in what participants view as a barrier to apply to graduate school by race/ethnicity. We discuss two main results and recommend changes to graduate programs wishing to recruit more minoritized students. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email