Navigating STEM Fields: How Historically Marginalized Professionals Construct Disciplinary Identities Through Bourdieu's Theory of Practice

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Identity development and support networks among STEM college students and professionals from non-dominant communities

Abstract

The shortage of STEM professionals and the underrepresentation of certain groups urge us to understand how STEM professional identities are formed. Using Bourdieu's Theory of Practice as a theoretical framework, in this Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, we explore the lived experiences of five professionals from historically oppressed genders in the STEM fields. Our findings demonstrate that STEM identity is formed through complex interactions between individual dispositions and structural field dynamics, with gender-resistant habitus serving as a crucial protective mechanism against systemic bias. This study contributes to the understanding of the reproduction of educational inequalities while revealing possible compensatory identity development. Our study has implications for equitable STEM that support diverse pathways to professional STEM identity formation.

Authors

• Ufomanefe Shola Kayode, Texas Tech University

• Weverton Ataide Pinheiro, Texas Tech University

• Joshua M. Cruz, Texas Tech University

• Fatimah Rabiu, Texas Tech University

• Rachelle M. Pedersen, Texas Tech University

• Isiaka Ayobi Raheem, Texas Tech University

• Adedayo Olatunde Afolabi, Texas Tech University