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Despite interest and potential in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), neurodivergent (ND) individuals face underrepresentation and marginalization. These individuals experience low rates of degree completion and even higher dropout rates from STEM programs. In the workplace, elevated levels of unemployment among individuals with disabilities underscore the need to address obstacles to persistence in STEM programs and pathways to the workforce. The AIE-STEMPLOS (Access to Innovative Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics-Providing Learning Opportunities and Scholarship) program at Landmark College, launched in 2021, aims to empower ND STEM scholars by leveraging effective mentoring strategies to support degree completion and career development in STEM fields. Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through scholarship funding (S-STEM), the program's primary goals are to support domestic low-income, academically talented ND scholars in Computer Science and Life Science, create a robust culture of mentorship within the STEM department, and strengthen scholarly professional development. We generally refer to students as scholars in this program as that is the language preferred by the NSF. The mentoring component is designed to enhance psychosocial and professional development through faculty, group, and peer mentoring. Employing tools like the Birkman Method, mentor maps and Individual Development Plans (IDP), the program fosters self-understanding and community among scholars. Evaluation methods include qualitative and quantitative assessments, with data showing high satisfaction with mentor-mentee relationships, robust engagement in professional development activities, and significant improvements in scholars' professional outlook and STEM identity. This comprehensive approach integrates faculty mentors, career counselors, and weekly cohort meetings for mentoring and professional development activities. This paper will highlight the faculty and group/ peer mentoring components of the program, demonstrating how inclusive educational strategies can promote diversity within STEM fields.
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This content will become publicly available on February 13, 2026
Exposing and Challenging “Grit” in Physics Education
In STEM education, grit is increasingly the focus of research, with scholars and educators seeking to develop and test interventions that will enhance persistence. As part of the special issue Centering Affect and Emotion Toward Justice and Dignity in Science Education, in this paper, we use interviews with 12 white physics faculty to show that physics culture has taken up the narrative that grit is key to success in the discipline. Using affective technology (Zembylas and Leonardo, 2013), habitus (Bourdieu, 1972/1977) and emotional habitus (Gould et al. 2019) as theoretical anchors, our analysis shows that grit, as described by faculty participants, is part‐and‐parcel of awhite physics habitus. In other words, grit acts to reproduce systems of dominance through the internalization of a set of structures, symbols, and worldviews that produce embodied, affective responses, drawing dominant actors toward particular embodiments of hard work and turning them away from others. Thus, we argue that power in physics is mediated through affect and embodiment. Employing qualitative case study methods, we theorize how whiteness, in part, is reproduced in the discipline—how physics came to and continues to be a discipline where power is concentrated in the bodies of white males. We end by joining with existing calls to refuse grit, building from the work of STEM Scholars of Color who have called attention to the suffering that is endemic to notions of schooling and school science.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2201929
- PAR ID:
- 10589497
- Publisher / Repository:
- Science Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Education
- ISSN:
- 0036-8326
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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