Potential engineers: A systematic literature review exploring Black children's access to and experiences with STEM

Abstract

Background: As engineering remains central to the US economy, it is imperative that the innovators of this field reflect the world in which we live.Despite decades of concerted effort to broaden participation in engineering, representation continues to lack.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide education researchers and practitioners with a clear understanding of barriers to the participation of Black American children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Our interest is driven by the role that precollege STEM experiences play in children's likelihood of becoming potential engineering students. Scope/Method: We conducted a systematic literature review of 41 articles focused on Black children in precollege STEM contexts. Each article underwent individual review to gain deeper insight into key contextual factors that enable and constrain these potential engineers. Results: We situate our research findings in Perna's college choice model to highlight the key factors that may influence one's career and college decisions. The contextual factors are associated with the (1) social, economic, and policy context (e.g., racism, sexism, and classism); (2) STEM educational and community context (i.e., social perceptions and access); and (3) the local support context (i.e., teachers and family).Conclusions: Our results represent the early workings of a "glass ceiling" above the heads of potential engineering students. The underrepresentation of Black Americans who thrive in engineering is a byproduct of the lack of accessibility to quality and advanced learning experiences that too often plague K-12 schools and communities that serve high populations of Black Americans. Such findings have implications for research and practice.

STEM Outreach to Underresourced Schools: A Model for Inclusive Student Engagement

“…STEM outreach events are also known to provide opportunities for students to interact with professional scientists in the STEM college and career pipeline, further personifying and informing young students about STEM careers. This "early access, exposure, and exploration of opportunities" during elementary and secondary education has been shown to predict students' career paths (Daugherty et al, 2014;DeJarnette, 2012;Mc-Clure et al, 2017;London et al, 2021).…”

“…Even before college, racially minoritized students, including Black, Hispanic, and low socioeconomic status students, are less likely to maintain an interest in, or aspire to STEM careers during the high school years (Saw et al, 2018). Researchers attribute this underrepresentation in part to a lack of access to STEM exposure and experiences during the students' K-12 years (Flynn, 2016;London et al, 2021). African American students are often inadequately prepared in STEM, often excluded from school STEM enrichment opportunities during the K-12 years, through gate-keeping requirements such as academic achievement, student tracking and teacher biases (National Research Council, 2011;Farinde and Lewis, 2012;Eisenhart et al, 2015;Avendano et al, 2019).…”

Freedom dreaming to STEM: A conceptual model for Black youth’s racial and STEM identity development through social media

“…From a young age, Black youth contend with negative messages about their race through exposure to negative media portrayals and discriminatory treatment ( Adams-Bass et al, 2014 ; Seaton, 2020 ). Black children similarly attend to representations of STEM early in development and begin to discern who is represented in STEM professions ( Aladé et al, 2020 ; London et al, 2021 ). Black Americans continue to be underrepresented in the STEM workforce ( Rivers, 2017 ; Graf et al, 2018 ), which limits the visibility of Black STEM representatives in Black youths’ offline contexts.…”

Broadening Participation in Engineering as a Sociopolitical Phenomenon: A Systems Perspective

“…Herein, we use Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) to organize insights from literature, interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs), and the collective sensemaking of our author team. Existing literature was incorporated through a series of review papers (Boyd-Sinkler et al, 2022;Holloman et al, 2018;Holloman et al, 2021a;Holloman et al, 2021b;London et al, 2020;London et al, 2021;Pee et al, 2019) and the interviews focused on the beliefs, insights, experiences, and recommendations of 40 SMEs involved in Broadening Participation efforts. To visually illustrate these insights, we propose a conceptual model of knowledge production and problem-solving (as opposed to research and practice) that encourages systems thinking and enables a more holistic understanding of Broadening Participation.…”