STEM Journeys: A Cross-Case Analysis of STEM Scholarship Student Experiences Across Three Regional Higher Education Contexts

• In Event: Centering Equity and Belonging: Transforming Outcomes Across Higher Education

Abstract

This cross-case research examines how students receiving National Science Foundation S-STEM scholarships navigate STEM pathways in three distinct higher education contexts in the Northeast, Northwest, and Southeast. Through interviews with S-STEM scholarship recipients, we center student voices in a qualitative study of how regional, cultural, curricular, and institutional factors shape the STEM education experiences of students at the community college and transfer students from the community college to university level. Patterns of student agency, meaning making, and community formation are highlighted within and across three regions having different geographic, economic, and higher education contexts. Findings reveal student strategies for belonging and persistence in STEM pathways are both common and unique to the three settings, enhancing understanding of student STEM education.

Authors

• Maria L. Espino, University of California - Los Angeles

• Elizabeth Meza, University of Washington - Seattle

• Debra D. Bragg, Bragg & Associates, Inc

• Will Tyson, University of South Florida