Neoliberal Ideology in STEM Pathway Programs

• In Event: 25.042 - (Re)Considering STEM Education for Social Justice and Sustainability

Abstract

Significance: According to a review of literature by Villegas and Irvine (2010), students of color accrue more academic benefits when they attend schools with teachers of color. Access to teachers of color is an issue of equity for students from diverse backgrounds (Zeichner 2009). The demand for teachers of color is especially great in previously homogeneous areas away from large cities. Overall, many areas of the U.S. are experiencing rapid shifts in student demographics (Garcia et al., 2010).
Question: Teacher demographics, however, have remained relatively unchanged. White women still comprise the overwhelming majority of public school teachers (Feistritzer, et al., 2011). To address this issue, teacher education programs (TEPs) have adopted various teacher preparation initiatives, including STEM pathway programs. STEM pathway programs are designed to recruit and retain students of color to teach Science and Technology classes in secondary schools, usually in inner-city schools. Often these programs are joint ventures with local school districts or technology companies and provide students some additional support or advising (Hill, 2003). These programs are often marketed as a way of providing role models for students of color in K-12.
Method: The purpose of this paper is to challenge the uncritical and commonsense acceptance of STEM teacher preparation pathway programs (Apple, 2004). This paper is concerned specifically with STEM teacher pathway programs that target first-generation college students of color, including children of immigrants (Giroux, 2014). One of the major goals of this paper is to interrogate and reveal the inherent neoliberal ideology imbedded in these programs (Aronowitz, 2000; Harvey, 2005).
Results: This paper will show how STEM pathway programs elevate the concepts of “technology” and efficiency as solutions to complex problems, including racial and social inequality. Showing this will explain how STEM pathway programs obscure the underlying oppressive structures in society (Kincheloe & Steinberg, 1997). Moreover, this paper will discuss how STEM programs legitimize “colorblind” or race neutral accountability systems as natural, logical, and universal (McLaren, 2005).
The acceptance of these pathway programs is also predicated on myth of scarcity of well-trained technology workers, which is a principle of the neoliberal ideology (Apple 2015). In the neoliberal logic of the “even playing field,” inequality is a result of a lack of skills and efficiency, rather than on oppressive systemic structures (Darder & Torres, 2004). This paper will conclude with research and policy recommendations for interrupting the hegemonic influence of the neoliberal ideology in pathway programs.

Author

• Ramon Vasquez