Constructing Educational Possibilities for Latina English Learners to Persist in Undergraduate STEM Programs (Poster 8)

• In Event: Sunday Poster Session 9:35 am
  In Poster Session: College Student Access, Trajectories, and Transitions Poster Session (Division J, Section 2a)

Abstract

Using an interpretive phenomenological design, we interviewed 15 Latina English Learners (ELs) who were pursuing or just graduated with a STEM degree at four universities to explore and understand how Latina ELs persist through undergraduate STEM programs. We also seek to understand the cultural wealth, assets, resources and strengths that have helped Latina EL students to persist in STEM programs. Guided by Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model, we describe the findings that highlight the six cultural capitals that Latina EL students bring to their experiences in STEM: aspirational capital, linguistic capital, familial capital, social capital, navigational capital, and resistant capital.

Authors

• Qi Shi, Loyola University Maryland

• Karen Phillips, Loyola University Maryland