A Counterstory to Deficit Narratives of “Underperformance” of Demographically Minoritized Students in General Chemistry

Abstract

Educational debts in STEM are issues that continue to plague the field by filtering out potential STEM graduates early in their college career, often associated with the assumption that some students are naturally gifted, while others are destined to change career paths. This study aims to present how the application of QuantCrit principles helps unearth a counterstory for traditional explanations of underperformance of Black and Latine students in General Chemistry I. The study found that the biggest driver of performance differences among Black and Latine students in General Chemistry I was the attendance and participation in the in-classroom component of the curriculum. Additionally, the study found that black students had lower attendance rates in the course despite engaging in the online portion at high rates. To explore potential explanations for the lower attendance of black students the results from a campus wide climate survey were investigated. These results highlight the importance of implementing QuantCrit principles to uncover counterstories and address educational debt in STEM, particularly for Black and Latine students.