"Here, Our Professors Believe in Us": How Institutions Cultivate Equity-Oriented STEM Transfer Culture

• In Event: Transfer Student Success in Higher Education

Abstract

This study explores the characteristics of equity-oriented institutional values and beliefs around STEM transfer and how these are enacted in everyday relationships, interactions, programs, and practices. Interviews with students, faculty, and administrators at four institutions reveal the integral role of small but meaningful inclusive practices, such as microaffirmations, in conveying institutional values of equity and diversity and in fostering students’ STEM identities and strengthening their commitment to transfer.

Authors

• Heather L. Thiry, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Raquel Harper, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Dana Holland, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Heidi G. Loshbaugh, University of Colorado - Boulder