Intellectual Merit: This symposium will convene researchers in education and the social sciences with practicing STEM professionals to review, explore, and respond to research on identity factors linked to minority male success in science and mathematics. The following topics will be addressed: (1) the impact of minority male gender identity on interest and engagement in science and mathematics, with particular interest in how conceptions of manhood and masculinity are relevant; (2) gender role socialization and implications for teaching and learning of science and mathematics content for minority men and boys; (3) institutional and organizational models and programs (e.g., school design, same-sex classroom) and pathways that influence minority men and boys' interest and entry into science and math majors and careers; and (4) shared interests and goals (e.g., evidence-based initiatives), and collaboration opportunities for researchers and STEM practitioners.
Broader Impacts: This symposium will serve as a catalyst for focusing on and developing a knowledge base around the educational opportunities and challenges of many minority men and boys. Manuscripts from the symposium will be distributed in a special issue of a major journal focusing on minority men and boys in math and science, as well as through an edited book with national distribution. The symposium will be a significant forum to inspire collaborations and networks among similarly interested researchers and STEM practitioners to potentially development future NSF research grant proposals.
PI / Co-PI: James Earl Davis / T. Elon Dancy Intellectual Merit: This symposium successfully convened together a group of 30 social science researchers, practicing STEM professionals, and graduate students who are uniquely committed to advancing males of color within the STEM disciplines. The objectives of this project were to generate, review, and respond to research on identity factors linked to minority males’ success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These goals were accomplished by soliciting six commissioned papers that focused on current knowledge as well as emerging empirical and theoretical research in the field. These papers were presented at the symposium followed by peer-reviewed commentary and critique from respected researchers and STEM practitioners. Respondents’ comments preceded discussion by the collective of symposium participants. The following themes were captured, compiled, and reflect the core findings of the symposium. First, the impact of minority male gender identity on interest and engagement in STEM was addressed by Dr. Ebony McGee’s paper entitled Risk and Protective Trajectories in Mathematically Talented Black Male Students: Snapshots from K through Eighth Grade and Dr. Lloyd Lee’s paper Diné Nish (I am Diné): Native American Cultural Identity, Masculinities, and Maturation. McGee’s qualitative study revealed internal and external protective factors that contribute significantly to Black males’ success in mathematics. Based on these findings, she recommended creating accelerated compensatory summer schools programs, interdisciplinary STEM curricula in early school years, and the implementation of student-led STEM campaigns within their communities. Lee reviewed how the history of colonization and the impact of economic disadvantage continue to influence Native American males’ masculinities and maturation by casting them into an undervalued social and political role thus disrupting their educational access and identity formation. Second, gender role socialization and implications for teaching and learning STEM content to minority males was explored by Dr. Terrell Strayhorn in his paper Factors Influencing Black Males’ Preparation for College and Success in STEM Majors: A Mixed Methods Study and by Dr. Odis Johnson is his manuscript Race-Gender Inequality Across Residential and School Contexts: Implications for Mathematics, Science, and Reading Performance of Black and Latino Males. Strayhorn identified that sense of belonging was among the most significant factor influencing Black males’ academic success in STEM fields as well as their college preparation. Johnson’s paper examined race and gender inequalities across school and non-school contexts (e.g., neighborhood effects) and revealed the implications these factors have toward Black male identity and academic performance. Third, instructional and organizational models, programs, and pathways that influence minority males’ interest and entry into STEM majors and careers were suggested by Dr. Edward Fergus in his study Resilience Skills and Attitudes Among Black and Latino Boys: Setting the Stage for Achievement and by Dr. Robert Teranishi is his paper Minority Males and STEM: A Focus on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Fergus investigated the structure, processes, and practices of single-sex schools serving Black and Latino males and revealed that behavioral, relational, and cognitive engagement were the largest contributors to academic achievement. Teranishi revealed that Asian American and Pacific Islander students, one the most heterogeneous ethnic groups with profound disparities between degree attainment, participating in the Asian STEM Achievement Project were to earning more credits, had higher GPAs, and were more likely to earn a degree. Broader Impact: In bringing together the expertise of social science and educational researchers and STEM practitioners, we built a growing collaborative knowledge base. Additionally, we began to establish the parameters to more effectively use research to inform practice and policy for the improvement of access, participation, and success among males of color within the STEM disciplines at all points of entry, from elementary to post-secondary settings. STEM-based practitioners were critical in providing perspectives about how research findings can be connected to actual program and policy settings that promote success in STEM for males of color, such as same-sex classrooms and schools, afterschool activities, math and science developmental programs along the pipeline, and in communities, higher education and industry. The six studies prepared and presented during the symposium contribute to the literature on this critical issue of educational success and mobility for this vulnerable population. Several journals have been identified for submissions as well as the compilation of an edited volume. Currently, the findings and broader themes are being aggregated and assembled into proposals for presentations at the American Educational Research Association’s 2015 annual conference. Finally, over the course of the symposium our shared interests emerged and several goals were identified for future cross-discipline collaborations and the creation of evidence-based initiatives, namely four working groups each set to submit future proposals to NSF and a list of volunteer reviewers for NSF grant proposal panels that has been submitted to the NSF Program Officer.
