人们普遍承认，在美国许多STEM领域中，有色人种和有色人种的人数不足。这Roots of STEMproject set out to understand this underrepresentation. We began by interviewing over 300 self-selected female and male college seniors from diverse racial backgrounds who either majored in STEM (majors), started out in a STEM major but later switched to a non-STEM major (leavers), or considered a STEM major but decided against it. The interviews included questions related to STEM course instruction, professor care, and sense of belonging (among many others).
What we found
We asked a simple question: Do you think your STEM instructors cared about you and your learning? Only 73% of majors and 57% of leavers answered “yes” to this question. Upon further analysis, we found that white women majors felt much more care from their instructors (80%) than women of color (59%). For comparison, about 75% of male majors, regardless of race, reported feeling their professors cared. We also found that students majoring in biological sciences, which have better representation of women, felt more cared for than their peers in the physical sciences. Among leavers, this disciplinary gap amounted to a nearly 40% difference!
We found that white women majors felt much more care from their instructors (80%) than women of color (59%). For comparison, about 75% of male majors, regardless of race, reported feeling their professors cared.
When asked about encounters with lecture-based and active-learning teaching approaches in their STEM courses, we found that students encountered lecture more frequently than active-learning approaches, despite active learning being the preferred style for students irrespective of gender or racial background. We found that students encountering more active-learning approaches were also more likely to feel cared about by their STEM professors.
Those in lecture-based courses were slightly less likely to feel they belonged compared to those who reported encountering more active-learning environments. Additionally, over 40% of those who felt a lack of professor care also felt they didn’t belong in STEM.
移动的佛rward
许多研究常常无意间，将代表性不足的责任归咎于人口不足的人群。我们在他们的建议中看到了这一点，通常关注代表性不足的学生所缺乏的内容。这种“赤字模型”方法通过个人特征的角度而不是STEM部门的文化系统或组织实践来观察问题。
If we want to change STEM representation for the better, we must address what can be changed within a system instead of placing the burden for change on underrepresented students conforming to a culture that was not necessarily designed with them in mind.
我们的发现不仅与个人有关，还与高等教育中STEM部门的文化体系有关。如果我们想改善STEM表示形式，我们必须解决系统内可以更改的内容（例如教授的态度和教学风格），而不是为改变代表性不足的学生构成不一定与他们设计的文化的负担那样负担心里。
We recommend retention efforts shift away from deficit perspectives and move towards more culture-based effort in order to increase representation in STEM. Only then, can STEM education become an equally welcoming environment for all.
注释