Consequential Education of Young Latina Inventors: Narratives of Developing Inventor Identities

• In Event: Creating Equity-Oriented Learning Environments

Abstract

Recent scholarship calls for more diversity among inventors in the United States. The Latinx individuals are underrepresented as inventors. Through narrative methodology, we analyzed how the life experiences of three Latina students who participated on a high school invention team contributed to their identity development as inventors. We also explored the different types of cultural capital the young inventors drew on throughout the development of their identities. Findings revealed that the development of an inventor’s identity is multifaceted, as the participants were influenced by individual, axiological, and sociocultural contexts. We also extended previous theories by identifying two additional types of cultural capital the participants drew on throughout the development of their inventor identities: risk taking capital and hustle capital.

Authors

• Cristina Lucia Saenz, University of Central Florida
  Presenting Author

• Audra Skukauskaite, University of Central Florida
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie R. Couch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Presenting Author