CAREER: Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions

Elsa Gonzalez; Emma Perez

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41971
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41971
Download Count: 609

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Paper Authors

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Elsa Gonzalez University of Houston

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Dr. Elsa Gonzalez currently serves as Program Director at the National Sciences Foundation for the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) program and for the Excellence Awards in Science and Engineering (EASE). She is Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the University of Houston.
Dr. Gonzalez is the Regional Editor of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), and Board Member of the Journal of Hispanic in Higher Education. She is the author of over hundred publications, her research interests include issues in higher education such as underrepresented students, Latinx students, access, resilience, retention, and graduation in STEM fields; HSI institutions; higher education leadership and methodological issues in cross-language qualitative methodology.
She was selected as Energy Fellow for the UH Energy initiative of the University of Houston and nominated by the AERA – Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender SIG, for the Mid-Career Award, in April 2018,
Previously, she held faculty positions in TAMU-Corpus Christi and Texas A&M University. She received her MBA from the National University of Mexico (UNAM), and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University (College Station).
Dr. Gonzalez has professional and academic leadership experience as bilingual scholar in higher education institutions in Mexico, Spain, USA, and China. In 2020, she was awarded from the National Science Foundation (NSF) – with a CAREER grant award for her project: CAREER: Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in HSIs. She is the author of the book "An Asset-Based Approach to Advancing Latina Students in STEM: Increasing Resilience, Participation, and Success".

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Emma Perez University of Houston

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Dr. Emma Claudia Perez is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Project Manager in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Houston. In this role, she coordinates the design, execution, and management of the project "Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions." Dr. Perez received her PhD in behavioral neuroscience during which she co-founded the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter at the University of Houston. Her personal experience and expertise as a Latina in sciences thus support the project as she assists in advancing knowledge and understanding of the Latina student population.

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Abstract

Scientific investigation requires the perspectives of a diverse group of people (Achieving the Promise of a Diverse STEM Workforce, 2019), a requirement in agreement with social justice advocacy for equal representation of ethnic and racial groups. Yet, women, Latinx, Black, and Indigenous groups, continue to lag behind in STEM representation (NCSES, 2021). Among Latinx students, Latinas enroll in college at higher rates than Latinos but are less likely to earn a STEM degree than their male counterpart (Excelencia in Education, 2015), pointing to the importance of intersectional identity. Nonetheless, there are Latina students that go on to complete their STEM degrees. The goals of the proposed research are thus to understand the experiences and strategies of persisting undergraduate Latinas in STEM.

The proposed research is guided by a resilience framework. Resilience, broadly defined as success despite risk or the ability to overcome adversity from a social perspective, is influenced by internal and external factors, such as a viable community (Greene et al., 2004). Such a framework can be applied to Latinas pursuing STEM degrees because their unique experiences (first-generation student and/or citizen, recent descendants of immigrants, etc.) influence their professional trajectories. Latinas have demonstrated qualities that are associated with persistence in STEM majors such as strength through moral obligation to family (Contreras Aguirre et al., 2020), self-efficacy (Gonzalez, Contreras Aguirre, & Myers, 2020) and looking forward to future financial autonomy (Chlup et al., 2018). Therefore, the proposed work utilizes an emerging model of resilience for Latina/o students in higher education (Gonzalez, 2020), particularly in STEM (Gonzalez, Fernandez, & Wilson, 2021). We ask: How do experiences in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas influence resilience of Latina students in the STEM field? What strategies promote resilience among Latina STEM majors in HSIs in Texas?

Participants are 17 Latina undergraduate STEM majors (juniors and seniors) in a Texas HSI. Qualitative research methodology and analyses are employed. Open ended, semi-structured interviews are conducted and recorded for audio. Through inductive analysis, audio text are sorted and organized using content analysis and constant comparison method (Gonzalez & Forister, 2020; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This project is funded by the NSF Division of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Preliminary findings demonstrate that Latina students’ experiences and strategies at a Texas HSI are integrated with their cultural background. Some experiences included social support that influenced their retention in STEM. Participants also discussed obstacles in the form of opportunities for success, suggesting that resilience was a driving force in their STEM education persistence as research has shown (Gonzalez, Fernandez, & Wilson, 2021). Upcoming data collection and preliminary findings indicate the importance of qualitative methodology and the asset-based perspective employed because it allows one to delve into the experiences and thus amplify the voices of successful Latinas in STEM. Moreover, this research has the potential to illuminate strategies used by other marginalized groups in STEM contexts.

Citation
Format

Gonzalez, E., & Perez, E. (2022, August), CAREER: Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41971

TY - CPAPER
AB - Scientific investigation requires the perspectives of a diverse group of people (Achieving the Promise of a Diverse STEM Workforce, 2019), a requirement in agreement with social justice advocacy for equal representation of ethnic and racial groups. Yet, women, Latinx, Black, and Indigenous groups, continue to lag behind in STEM representation (NCSES, 2021). Among Latinx students, Latinas enroll in college at higher rates than Latinos but are less likely to earn a STEM degree than their male counterpart (Excelencia in Education, 2015), pointing to the importance of intersectional identity. Nonetheless, there are Latina students that go on to complete their STEM degrees. The goals of the proposed research are thus to understand the experiences and strategies of persisting undergraduate Latinas in STEM.

The proposed research is guided by a resilience framework. Resilience, broadly defined as success despite risk or the ability to overcome adversity from a social perspective, is influenced by internal and external factors, such as a viable community (Greene et al., 2004). Such a framework can be applied to Latinas pursuing STEM degrees because their unique experiences (first-generation student and/or citizen, recent descendants of immigrants, etc.) influence their professional trajectories. Latinas have demonstrated qualities that are associated with persistence in STEM majors such as strength through moral obligation to family (Contreras Aguirre et al., 2020), self-efficacy (Gonzalez, Contreras Aguirre, & Myers, 2020) and looking forward to future financial autonomy (Chlup et al., 2018). Therefore, the proposed work utilizes an emerging model of resilience for Latina/o students in higher education (Gonzalez, 2020), particularly in STEM (Gonzalez, Fernandez, & Wilson, 2021). We ask: How do experiences in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas influence resilience of Latina students in the STEM field? What strategies promote resilience among Latina STEM majors in HSIs in Texas?

Participants are 17 Latina undergraduate STEM majors (juniors and seniors) in a Texas HSI. Qualitative research methodology and analyses are employed. Open ended, semi-structured interviews are conducted and recorded for audio. Through inductive analysis, audio text are sorted and organized using content analysis and constant comparison method (Gonzalez & Forister, 2020; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This project is funded by the NSF Division of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Preliminary findings demonstrate that Latina students’ experiences and strategies at a Texas HSI are integrated with their cultural background. Some experiences included social support that influenced their retention in STEM. Participants also discussed obstacles in the form of opportunities for success, suggesting that resilience was a driving force in their STEM education persistence as research has shown (Gonzalez, Fernandez, & Wilson, 2021). Upcoming data collection and preliminary findings indicate the importance of qualitative methodology and the asset-based perspective employed because it allows one to delve into the experiences and thus amplify the voices of successful Latinas in STEM. Moreover, this research has the potential to illuminate strategies used by other marginalized groups in STEM contexts.
AU - Elsa Gonzalez
AU - Emma Perez
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - CAREER: Broadening Participation in STEM: A Qualitative Analysis of Resilience Experiences and Strategies of Latina STEM Majors in Hispanic Serving Institutions
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41971
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41971
ER -