Sense of Belonging and Community Building within a STEM Intervention Program: A Focus on Latino Male Undergraduates’ Experiences (original) (raw)

Where Successful Latino/A Undergraduates Find Community At A Predominantly White Research University

2009

The Research Institute for STEM Education conducts mixed-methods research seeking to identify the factors contributing to successful completion of an engineering degree by underrepresented and under-served minority students at a predominately white, research institution. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Rather than treat these students as a homogenous population, we disaggregate students by different racial/ ethnic groups and by different life experiences as we uncover the obstacles encountered and the strategies employed to surpass them. Using a semi-structured, quasi-longitudinal interview protocol inspired by previous ethnographic or qualitative studies of college students, we asked 165 nonmajority undergraduate engineering students to share their lived experiences as minority students in undergraduate engineering programs at this institution. Invitations to participate were extended to students in their sophomore, junior, or senior years and wer...

Retaining Latino Males in Community Colleges: A Structural Model Explaining Sense of Belonging through Socio-Academic Integration

Due to the American compulsory educational system's structured inequalities and the stratification mechanisms embedded within it, Latino students' academic performance and higher education participation and persistence are problematic. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that facilitate sense of belonging among Latino male students who are enrolled in community colleges. Additionally, this study will examine how these experiences influenced their persistence. We integrate Tinto's (1993) constructs of academic and social integration , with Deil-Amen's (2011) socio-academic integration construct to inform this study. Results indicate that socio-academic integration had the most contribution to sense of belonging. Policy implications suggest academic and student affairs of a community college could increase the sense of belonging among Latino males by focusing on socio-academic integration.

Belonging in Engineering for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous Students: Promising Results From an Educational Intervention in an Introductory Programming Course

IEEE Transactions on Education

This study demonstrates the efficacy of an ecological belonging intervention in a first-year engineering programming course to increase belonging for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous (BLI) students and close academic equity gaps. Background: Introductory programming courses are often challenging for students and can shape belonging in engineering. BLI students may be particularly susceptible to interpreting struggle as confirmation that they do not belong in predominantly white spaces, which can negatively influence academic outcomes. Research Questions: "What are the effects of an ecological belonging intervention on BLI students' feelings of belonging within their first-year engineering course?" and "What are the effects of an ecological belonging intervention on BLI students' performance on a weekly computer programming assignment?" Methodology: The intervention was implemented with 691 students in Spring 2022 and was designed to normalize the struggle to address threats to belonging and close equity gaps in BLI students' academic performance. A pre-/post-semester survey measuring belonging was analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, and pass/fail academic records were analyzed using logistic regression. Findings: The targeted belonging intervention for BLI engineering students can help to address issues of isolation and

Race and gender differences in how sense of belonging influences decisions to major in STEM

Background: Women and students of color are widely underrepresented in most STEM fields. In order to investigate this underrepresentation, we interviewed 201 college seniors, primarily women and people of color, who either majored in STEM or started but dropped a STEM major. Here we discuss one section of the longer interview that focused on students' sense of belonging, which has been found to be related to retention. In our analysis, we examine the intersections of race and gender with students' sense of belonging, a topic largely absent from the current literature. Results: We found that white men were most likely to report a sense of belonging whereas women of color were the least likely. Further, we found that representation within one's STEM sub-discipline, namely biology versus the physical sciences, impacts sense of belonging for women. Four key factors were found to contribute to sense of belonging for all students interviewed: interpersonal relationships, perceived competence, personal interest, and science identity. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students who remain in STEM majors report a greater sense of belonging than those who leave STEM. Additionally, we found that students from underrepresented groups are less likely to feel they belong. These findings highlight structural and cultural features of universities, as well as STEM curricula and pedagogy, that continue to privilege white males.

A Critical Paradox?: Predictors of Latino students' sense of belonging in college

2009

Data from the Diverse Democracy Project Study, a national longitudinal study of 1st-year students enrolled in 4-year public research universities who were followed into their 2nd year of college, were used to explore background characteristics and college experiences associated with Latino students’ sense of belonging. A frame- work including perceptual and behavioral dimensions of campus climate was used to organize the analysis. The direct or indirect effects of positive diversity experiences, perceptions of a hostile racial/ethnic climate, other perceptions and behaviors regarding college experiences, and immigrant status on sense of belonging were examined. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that measures of positive diversity experiences and engagement in the campus community were positively associated with sense of belonging and with perceptions of a hostile racial/ethnic climate. Being a 2nd-generation immigrant was negatively and indirectly related to sense of belonging. These findings indicate that Latino students find a sense of belonging in a more complex, paradoxical way than traditional theories of college transition would imply. Effectively measuring relationships among campus climate indicators for various racial/ethnic groups may require more sophisticated methodological approaches.

Sense of belonging among women of color in science, technology, engineering, and math majors: Investigating the contributions of campus racial climate perceptions …

2007

This study examined the relationship between campus racial climate perceptions and other college environments to sense of belonging among undergraduate women of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. The conceptual framework combined two college impact models, model of undergraduate socialization and Astin's (1991) input-environment-outcome model, with a transformative perspective (Mertens, 2005) to examine sense of belonging among women of color in STEM majors. Data came from the 2004 National Study of Living-Learning Programs, and included 1,722 women in undergraduate STEM majors from 29 institutions in the U.S. identifying as Black/African American, Asian Pacific American, Latina, American Indian, Multiracial/Multiethnic, and White/Caucasian. Results from two-way ANOVAs revealed that women of color reported a less strong sense of belonging than White/Caucasian women and had more interactions with diverse peers than White/Caucasian women. In addition, Black/African American women perceived a less positive campus racial climate than women from other racial/ethnic groups. Significant predictors in a hierarchical multiple regression analysis for sense of belonging (29% variance explained) included race/ethnicity, perceptions of academically and socially supportive climates in the residence hall, perceptions of a positive campus racial climate, academic self-confidence, academic class year, socializing with friends from home, and participation in a STEM-related living-learning program. Partial correlation analyses indicated that perceptions of a positive campus racial climate were significantly correlated to sense of belonging for Black/African American, Multiracial/Multiethnic, and Asian Pacific American women. Findings supported the application of college impact theories with a transformative perspective to the experiences of women of color in STEM. The regression model supported the salience of campus racial climate perceptions to sense of belonging for women in STEM; however the relationship between STEM living-learning programs and sense of belonging requires further study. Results identified the salience of the campus racial climate and sense of belonging for women of color in STEM, the significance of the residence hall climate to sense of belonging, and the need for racial/ethnic diversity among STEM living-learning program participants. Results are important given the growing enrollments of women of color in higher education and the need to expand access to STEM careers.

Institutional Barriers to Black and Latino Male Collegians’ Success in Engineering and Related STEM Fields

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

Dr. Long's research interests include: (a) students' technology use, (b) diversity and inclusion, as well as (c) student retention and success, with a particular focus on students in STEM fields. He has conducted and published research with the Movement Lab and Center for Higher Education Enterprise (CHEE) at OSU. Dr. Long has assisted with research, funded by NSF, to study factors that broaden minority student participation and success in STEM fields, (award ID: 1132141). Dr. Long has taught undergraduates in the First-Year Engineering Program and Department of Mechanical Engineering at OSU and served as a facilitator for both the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) and Young Scholars Program (YSP) at OSU. Furthermore, he has worked in industry at Toyota through participation in INROADS and he has a high record of service with organizations such as the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and National Society of Black Engineers

Work in progress - academic and social barriers to Black and Latino male collegians in engineering

2009

Using a constructivist approach, in-depth qualitative interviews with 49 men were analyzed to identify academic and social barriers to their success in engineering. Three themes were identified: "Invisible Man" syndrome in the classroom, lack of support with few same-race peers and faculty, and difficulty translating curriculum into personal interests. Findings have implications for broadening STEM participation.