Struggling for a Future Self in STEM: How Recent College Graduates Negotiate Transitions Into Careers and Graduate Education

• In Event: Beyond the Degree: Outcomes and Costs Associated With College

Abstract

This study explores recent STEM graduates’ post-college transitions, focusing on how individuals struggle to position themselves within the STEM workforce or graduate education, and how this process influences their intentions to remain in STEM (Allen & Eisenhart, 2017). This paper draws on longitudinal semi-structured interviews with 62 recent STEM graduates from three diverse public regional universities. Applying the lens of sociocultural practice theory (Holland et al., 1998; Holland & Lave, 2009) to recent graduates’ experiences provides insight into their struggles to define their future selves within, and sometimes against, STEM institutional and disciplinary structures. Findings highlight how dominant historical, economic or social narratives are manifested within local contexts to shape individuals’ STEM trajectories.

Author

• Heather L. Thiry, University of Colorado - Boulder