“We Are Driving in Circles”: Culturally (Un)Responsive Leadership for Equitable STEM Pathways Through a “Semilla to Flor” Framework

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Pathway to Success for Marginalized Students (Table 5)

Abstract

This study interrogates the alignment of culturally responsive practices and mindset among the leadership of a large federally-funded grant meant to intentionally serve Latinx STEM students at postsecondary institutions. The “Semilla to Flor” framework, developed by a DEI-Justice group working in coordination with the grant, is enacted to examine the experiences of project coordinators with the PI and Co-PIs. The “Semilla to Flor” framework brings visibility to anti-deficit narratives surrounding Latinx students pursuing STEM pathways by nurturing the following six principles with institutional agents: (a) intentionality, (b) cultural responsiveness, (c) equity-mindedness (d) asset-based framing, (e) boundary brokering, and (f) reflexivity. Findings demonstrate both the enactment of and challenges to functioning within a culturally responsive mindset. Implications of this study may serve as a model to facilitate a justice mindset shift for institutional agents working to achieve equitable STEM pathways for Latinx students and disrupt the perpetuation of systems of inequality.

Authors

• Janet Rocha, Arizona State University

• Lucy Arellano, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Margarita Anahi Rodriguez, University of California - Santa Barbara

• M. Magdalena Jimenez Aguilar, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Carlos A Fitch, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Maritza Ordaz, University of California - Santa Barbara