Working Overtime to Graduate: An Examination of How Campus Climates Influence Black Students' Pursuit of STEM Degrees

• In Event: 35.039 - Campus Climate and STEM Department Climate Must Be Simultaneously Addressed for Underrepresented Minority (URM) Students to Succeed in STEM

Abstract

There exists a compelling body of research identifying how an institution’s campus climate can influence underrepresentation of different student groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly for black students. Recent studies suggest that campus climates must be conceptualized not so much as a singular feature of an institution, but varying by the departments and degree programs within it. That is, campus climates can vary depending upon the academic position of a student as not all departments have similar histories and practices of equity and inclusion. Additionally, more information is needed to explore how campus climates can influence the interrelated aspects of students’ lives, specifically their academic and social progress as well as their mental health. The current study puts these three aspects of students’ lives in conversation to explore the experiences of almost 800 black students who completed undergraduate degrees at 28 highly selective colleges and universities. In order to examine how campus climates can vary by degree programs, three student groups are compared to one another: black students who entered and finished their STEM degrees (n= 106), black students who transferred out and finished non-STEM degrees (n= 124), and black students who finished non-STEM degrees and never formally entered a STEM degree program (n=566). A series of linear and logistic regression models include academic and social experiences before and during college, stereotype threat measures, campus climate and sense of belonging measures, and student background characteristics to identity how the campus climate and other experiences influence (1) whether students finished a STEM degree or not, (2) decisions to leave STEM programs, and (3) their overall academic performance. From these models I find that institutions’ campus climates are arguably the most impactful feature of black students’ lives while pursuing their degrees, regardless of field of study. Black students who experience more racially hostile campus climates and less sense of belonging on campus are more likely to leave STEM degree programs and do poorer academically. However, the analyses uncovers a seemingly paradoxical finding that black students who were pressured more by stereotype threat situations and felt more of a performance burden had higher not lower GPAs. Subsequent analyses explored additional measures of students’ mental health and found that students under high levels of psychological distress also performed better than their peers not under such stress. These analyses also suggest that these disturbing findings are a result of John Henryism, whereby black students are working so hard to gain a sense of control in highly competitive and stressful situations as a result of hostile campus climates and stereotype threat situations that they reach a breaking point and their academic progress declines. The current study extends our understanding of how academic, social, and mental health change as a result of our institutions’ campus climates, and how these changes reflect differences among degree programs. How institutions can combat these pernicious aspects of their climates, particularly for underrepresented students in STEM programs is discussed.

Author

• William Carson Byrd, University of Louisville