Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer: African and Caribbean Immigrants Discussing STEM Motivations and Preventing Generational Decline

• In Event: Invisible No Longer: Understanding the Experiences of Black Immigrants in the U.S. Educational Landscape

Abstract

Black Males continue to experience deficit-based perceptions in [STEM] educational spaces within the U.S., inspiring studies focused on their racialized experiences (Berhane et al. 2020; Fries-Britt et al. 2014). While Black Immigrants are largely aggregated in STEM careers, representation among Caribbean immigrants and Black immigrants who matriculated through a mostly U.S. education system, is scarce in [STEM] literature (Onuma et al., 2020), with even fewer inquiring why Black Immigrant Males (BIMs) enter these respective careers. This study examines BIMs’ motivation for entering STEM fields and theorizes how these motivators could be lost or salvaged across generations. Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Crenshaw, 1995) and intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989), this study reflects on the combined identity of BIMs (e.g. culture, race, and gender) in STEM. Participants were asked for possible solutions or theories for what affects the third-generation decline among immigrants – whereby third generation, immigrants fare worse educationally and financially than their second-generation predecessors (Thomas & Lonibile, 2021) – and their responses were juxtaposed to reasons they entered their respective careers.
Research questions were: 1) What motivated BIMs to enter STEM fields? 2) What are possible reasons/solutions for the decline in immigrants’ success by third generation? Twelve focus group interviews (n= 35) were conducted with 1.5-, 1.75-, and second-generation BIMs from countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Interviews were conducted over Zoom and transcriptions were analyzed using a CRT lens. Data were organized by pre-developed codes and themes (DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2011) while allowing flexibility for other themes to emerge. To improve trustworthiness (Guba & Lincoln, 1985), focus group data were triangulated with participants’ written journal responses discussing how culture affected their STEM motivation and trajectory. Findings revealed culturally-specific reasons for career attainment and theories to repair the third-generation decline. Theme one: “Combatting ‘Acculturation’ and the Impacts of Systemic Racism,” described when BIMs resisted the stereotypes about their capabilities due to their cultural pride. Juxtaposing some of their experiences in all-Black nations, where “everyone was Black,” some believed the continued exposure to racism across generations contributed to a gradual loss of motivation. Theme 2: “Ties to the Soil that Formed Them, Anchored by Parental Sacrifice,” refers to BIMs’ own experiences in third world countries (TWCs), or witnessing their parents’ sacrifices living in the U.S., motivated their career choice. Consequently, participants believed BIMs who are not immersed in their culture, nor witnessed their elders’ plight from TWC’s to the U.S., do not have the same urgency to enter lucrative careers. The final theme “Instilling [Educational] Endurance” comes from BIM’s belief that the emphasis on receiving an education, as they experienced in their upbringing, and subsequently influenced their matriculation, needed to be upheld across generations – but is currently depleting. This study showcases the importance of highlighting the cultural nuances of BIMs. Particularly, the essentialized experiences of BIMs prevent the intricacies of their stories from being shared and cause the erasure of their combined identities that so clearly shape their decisions to enter these fields and resist the discrimination prevalent within them.

Author

• Takeshia Pierre, Tufts University