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Encouraging STEM Careers among Minoritized High School Students: The Interplay between Socio-Environmental Factors and Other Social Cognitive Career Constructs

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 13

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47257

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Paper Authors

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Rachel E. Durham Notre Dame of Maryland University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0904-5785

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Rachel E. Durham (PhD, Sociology & Demography, Pennsylvania State University) is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University, and a Senior Fellow with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC). With a background in sociology of education, education policy, and demography, her research focuses on graduates’ transition to adulthood, career and college readiness, community schools, and research-practice partnerships.

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Michael L. Falk The Johns Hopkins University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-4259

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Michael Falk is Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education and a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering where he has served on the faculty since 2008 with secondary appointme

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Allison Reigel The Johns Hopkins University

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Alisha Nicole Sparks

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Alisha N. Sparks works to educate and inspire parents to see their roles and responsibilities as a privilege in coordinating the raising and education of their children. Her current work as the Elementary STEM Program Manager with the Center for Educatio

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Margo Williams The Johns Hopkins University

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Emily J. Yanisko American University

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Alexis Daniels The Johns Hopkins University

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Alexis Daniels (EdD Candidate, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University; Center for Educational Outreach, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University)
Correspondence: adanie43@jhu.edu

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Abstract

(paper type: ERM) -- Performance in math, particularly algebra, is a major barrier to student success and participation in STEM among under-represented minority students, particularly Black U.S. high school students. This research applies Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to measure impacts of an afterschool algebra-for-engineering program on math self-efficacy and interest in STEM among high school students in a large urban district. To study the program’s effects, a mixed methods research design was used where schools were assigned to either treatment or control conditions. Students in treatment schools accessed algebra-for-engineering modules, STEM-professional role model videos, and field trips, while students in control schools accessed role model videos and field trips only. Surveys measuring math self-efficacy, and STEM interest, outcome expectations, and choice goals were completed by participants in both conditions at the beginning and end of two separate program years, 2021-22 and 2022-23. Across both years, initial quantitative results show few significant differences between treatment and control students and widely varying participation levels. Qualitative data offer student voice around prior experiences in math and science and the development of postsecondary plans in STEM. In combination, the results suggest that for students who do not initially identify as STEM career-bound, afterschool programming may not necessarily promote preparation for STEM careers due to an accumulation of weak math and science school experiences and other socio-environmental influences. (Keywords: math self-efficacy, engineering, high school, minority students, urban education)

Durham, R. E., & Falk, M. L., & Reigel, A., & Sparks, A. N., & Williams, M., & Yanisko, E. J., & Daniels, A. (2024, June), Encouraging STEM Careers among Minoritized High School Students: The Interplay between Socio-Environmental Factors and Other Social Cognitive Career Constructs Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47257

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