Latina Parental Involvement: Contributions to Persistence in STEM Fields

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Student/Parent/Teacher Positionality in Science

Abstract

This paper is a subset of a research study which examines the lived experiences of three Latinas (Dalia, Laurita, and Karmen) as related to their educational resilience and persistence generally as well as specifically in STEM fields. Through a sociocultural framework (Lemke, 2001), this research demonstrates that, based on the participants’ experiences, Latino parents are highly engaged in their daughters’ education through establishing a culture of high expectations, in delivering constant emotional support and trust in their daughters’ decision-making processes, and in providing traditionally-conceived and sought-after types of school-based “parental involvement” (Goodall & Vorhaus, 2011). This work challenges deficit perspectives of Latino parental involvement in schooling, highlighting instead sociocultural strengths contributing to Latina girls’ persistence in STEM fields.

Authors

• Katie Brkich, Georgia Southern University

• Gillian Ursula Bayne, Lehman College - CUNY

• Lorena Claeys, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Belinda Bustos Flores, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Alejandro J. Gallard, Georgia Southern University

• Wesley B Pitts, Lehman College - CUNY

• Alma Stevenson, Georgia Southern University

• Beth A. Wassell, Rowan University