STEM High Achievers That Care: Black and Latino College Students Reengineering Their Careers Toward Justice

• In Event: 60.036 - Contesting STEM Cultures: Scientific Desires

Abstract

The issue of the recruitment and retention of US citizens in STEM educational and career trajectories is often marked by themes of global competitiveness and market capitalism, rather than a sense of moral and social responsibility (notable exception: the medical field). Despite this, the majority of the Black and Latino high-achieving college STEM students in this study are strategically planning long-term career goals that evidence a sense of altruism. Their STEM career goals explicitly included a sense of responsibility to help their communities and to reduce inequities both in our own society as well as the rest of the world. This qualitative study presents these students’ unique perspectives which counter the dominant messages frequently promulgated within the world of STEM.

Authors

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• Lydia Bentley, Vanderbilt University