Motivating Native Americans in STEM: Belonging Mediates the Impact of Goal Affordance and Congruity

• In Event: Centering Understudied Populations and Contexts in Motivation Research

Abstract

Native Americans remain highly underrepresented in STEM; partly due to the misalignment between personal values (e.g., giving back) and self-oriented nature of STEM careers. We evaluated 77 Native American STEM students’ goal endorsements (agentic and communal), perceptions of STEM, sense of belonging and intentions to pursue STEM careers at baseline (T1) and 6-month follow-up (T2). Controlling for students’ T1 belonging and intentions, perceptions of STEM roles significantly predicted their sense of belonging and consequent career intentions. Students who perceived STEM careers provided more opportunities to fulfill agentic goals but did not highly value these goals reported a lower sense of belonging and were less likely to stay in STEM. Implications for interventions targeting Native students’ STEM motivation are discussed.

Authors

• Juliet Mariam Nyanamba, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• Fanyi Yu, Texas A&M University
  Presenting Author

• Paul R. Hernandez, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brittany Anderson, AISES
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathy DeerInWater, American Indian Science & Engineering Society
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mica Estrada, University of California - San Francisco
  Non-Presenting Author

• K. Kanoho Hosoda, University of California - San Francisco
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natalia Maldonado
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tiffany D. Smith, AISES
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lilibeth Flores, San Diego State University
  Non-Presenting Author