Pursuing Purpose in STEM and Beyond

Abstract

People of African and Latinx descent are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a result of systematic marginalization and bias. While there is a great deal of research that investigates the problems underlying underrepresentation, there is less research that centers the perspectives of African and Latinx people about what they believe was influential and supportive as they moved in and out of STEM education and career spaces. This study focuses on a group of 23 adult participants of Latinx and African descent who completed internships with the Institute on Climate and Planets (ICP), a NASA-based science youth research program in operation between 1994-2004. Participants work in STEM, STEM-related and non-STEM fields. The study utilizes interviews and an education and career journey visual mapping exercise to elicit perspectives on any role the ICP program had in their journey. The study also explores identified influences, supports, challenges and experiences across education and career journeys. The study utilizes purpose and love as strengths-based theoretical guideposts to understand the development and support that takes place within participant journeys. Using a thematic narrative analysis, the study identified several themes. Families played an important and proactive role in affirming participants' abilities to achieve and cultivating a value of education and high expectations. Nonfamilial influential relationships were characterized by authenticity, commitment to a strengths-based view of the participant and to supporting the participant’s success and wellness. For many students ICP offered a supportive relational context to engage in meaningful real-world STEM work. They described it as related to enriched efficacy, confidence, and aspirations, as well as career capital that expanded education and career opportunities. Findings also reveal ways that participants push against the sociocultural boundaries of STEM and non-STEM professions and institutions to enact purpose and expand their institutional impact.