Inclusive STEM Education: Theoretical Framework for Examining the Experienes of Women Students of Color in STEM Education

Abstract

Women students of color (WSOC) continue to be excluded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, despite efforts to promote diversity. The existing research to develop inclusive STEM education adopts a deficit approach and fails to address the intersectionality of gender, race and class. By not addressing this intersectionality, research has failed to consider the effects of racial privilege for white women and the unique experiences of each woman of color. In contrast, my research will take an antideficit approach and value the intersectionality of each student. The objective of this study is to examine the experiences of WSOC in their secondary STEM education according to the intersection of race, gender and class. This research is also guided by the following questions: (1) What are WSOC's social and academic experiences of STEM-related courses, and in-class and extracurricular activities? (2) What support systems and barriers do WSOC recognize in their schools pertaining to STEM, if any? (3) How are their experience, support systems and barriers unique yet similar according to their intersectionality? This paper develops the theoretical approach that guides my research. To better understand how WSOC are racialized and gendered in the settler state, I adopt Critical Race Theory (CRT) approach. In the education setting, it describes how schools, as a state funded institute, act as a site of reinforcement of this oppression. I also incorporate poststructualist work on identity and power to refine how WSOC are situated in the STEM education setting. The research will adopt the Counter-Storytelling as a methodology which emphasizes the importance of telling the stories of people, whose experiences are not often told to expose, analyze and challenge the majoritarian stories of racial privilege.