Worlds Colliding: Students of Color Negotiating Social and STEM Identities

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: In-Between Space: Teaching and Learning at the Intersections of Race, Space, and Time

Abstract

Undergraduate students of color (SoC) struggle to negotiate STEM experiences, which becomes a barrier to shaping identity and academic success. A qualitative research study was designed using figured worlds (FW) to observe how SoC used language to engage in activities for understanding and negotiating identities. Multiple frameworks were used to highlight the lived experiences of SoC in STEM including identity theory, FW, and intersectionality. Identity in FW demands consideration is given to space, community, and present structures where identity work is produced. In this research, SoC created ideas for new cultural models and built solidarity using multimodal communication. Twitter was useful for co-constructing ideas for new cultural models and critical for gaining agency for navigating STEM.

Author

• Tyanez C. Jones, Iowa State University