Stuck in the Pipeline: A Critical Review of STEM Workforce Literature

Metcalf, Heather

doi:10.5070/d462000681

Cited by 60 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…These data indicate that the popularized “pipeline” framework has not led to noticeable gains in representation within engineering for Latinas/os. Indeed, scholars have challenged the pipeline metaphor on grounds that it minimizes important contextual influences on STEM participation and that characterizing students as “leaks” is a form of victim-blaming that ignores the “pushing out” of women and people of color in STEM (Clark Blickenstaff, 2005; Cannady, Greenwald, & Harris, 2014; Metcalf, 2010; Miller & Wai, 2015). Pipeline frameworks also tend to focus on unidimensional aspects of representation (e.g., African Americans in STEM) in favor of intersecting axes of oppression (e.g., Latinas in engineering; Espinosa, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving and thriving: Voices of Latina/o engineering students at a Hispanic serving institution.

Garriott

Navarro

Flores

et al. 2019

Journal of Counseling Psychology

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This study examined factors that played a role in Latina/o undergraduate students' persistence in engineering at a Hispanic serving institution (HSI; N ϭ 10) using the consensual qualitative research method (CQR;Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Data analyses resulted in five domains: institutional conditions, additive intersectional burdens, personal and cultural wealth, coping skills, and engineering identity. Participants described how they persisted in the face of stressors, citing specific coping skills they developed over time as well as general personal and cultural strengths they carried with them into their pursuit of engineering. Although the structures of the students' institution were generally described as supportive, Latina participants reported experiences with gendered racism that created added barriers to their persistence in engineering. Supportive institutional conditions, personal and cultural assets, and adaptive coping strategies appeared to facilitate the development of a strong engineering identity, which helped to solidify students' sense of belonging, pride, and commitment to complete their degree. Results highlight the need to address intersecting experiences of privilege and oppression to promote access and equity for Latinas/os in engineering. Public Significance StatementLatinas in engineering experience intersectional forms of marginalization that must be attended to in the development of interventions to support their success. Hispanic serving institutions and Latina/o students have unique strengths that may be leveraged to promote Latinas/os' persistence in engineering. Findings from this study offer practical interventions for educators and career counselors to facilitate inclusive engineering communities for Latina/o engineering students.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving and thriving: Voices of Latina/o engineering students at a Hispanic serving institution.

Garriott

Navarro

Flores

et al. 2019

Journal of Counseling Psychology

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“…Specifically, females, those from families with lower income and education levels, and non-Asian racial minorities are the least likely to be represented in a STEM graduate program. As important, this underrepresentation in STEM education is magnified during the transition between the undergraduate and graduate programs as this transition represents the departure from STEM in higher education among underrepresented groups (Chapa & De La Rosa, 2006; Gàndara, 2006; Metcalf, 2010; NCES, 2007; NSF, 2009a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trends tracked by NSF (1996, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2008, 2009a, 2009b) over 20 years (1987/88 to 2008) in STEM were clear: (a) non-Asian minority groups were underrepresented in STEM fields at the bachelor's and graduate levels; (b) this underrepresentation increased between undergraduate and graduate levels; and (c) whereas females comprised the majority of STEM bachelor's degrees they lost this advantage in graduate STEM programs. The rise in underrepresentation between the undergraduate and graduate levels is often conceptualized as “leaks in the STEM pipeline” where the key losses take place between bachelor's degree attainment and enrollment in a STEM graduate program (ACE, 2006; Blickenstaff, 2005; Chapa & De La Rosa, 2006; Gàndara, 2006; Metcalf, 2010). Overall, men earned three-quarters of all STEM doctorates in 1988 and continued to earn about two thirds of these degrees in 2008.…”

Section: Stem Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underrepresented students in STEM: The transition from undergraduate to graduate programs.

Myers¹,

Pavel²

2011

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

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We used longitudinal tracking data from Cohorts I and II of the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program to test whether this intervention program and being a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) undergraduate major helped underrepresented students transition into STEM graduate degree programs in 2006 -2007. We found that being a GMS Scholar increased the odds of being currently enrolled in a graduate program and in a STEM graduate field, regardless of whether the student was a STEM undergraduate major. We also found that STEM undergraduate majors were more likely to transition into these graduate degree programs, and that being an undergraduate STEM major was especially beneficial to GMS Scholars. These findings varied considerably across underrepresented groups. We found that undergraduate intervention programs can both retain and insert underrepresented students at the STEM graduate level, thus potentially adding needed diversity at these educational levels.

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“…During this period, studies tended to locate differences in STEM declaration and persistence within an individual's characteristics, such as their interest or ability (e.g., Goldrick-Rab, 2006;Faulkner, 2009;Cech et al, 2011). In addition, many of these studies used the pipeline model, which focused on how individuals and groups moved through education into careers (Metcalf, 2010). More recently, scholars have found that individual variables, such as aptitude and interest, do not alone account for STEM declaration and persistence (Acker and Feuerverger, 1996;Seymour, 1999;Margolis, et al, 2000;Summers and Hrabowski, 2006;Sax, 2008;Hill, et al, 2010;Shapiro and Sax, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Professional Engineering Organizations on Women and Underrepresented Minority Students’ Fit

et al. 2022

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Our work focuses on women and underrepresented minority (URM) students’ cultural models of engineering success (CMES) or beliefs about doing well in engineering. Because of its consequential effect on persistence, we pay special attention to the fit domain of CMES—student feelings of belonging in their engineering program. We examine 1) how student fit is affected by participatory social capital (i.e., participation in professional engineering organizations [PEOs] that have as part of their mission a goal to assist students in their STEM education and careers), as well as 2) the factors that affect students’ decisions to participate in PEOs. Due to the traditional prioritization of majority norms in engineering programs, women and URM students’ CMES may conflict with the cultures manifested in engineering departments. Analysis of interviews with 55 women and URM engineering students shows that PEOs, particularly gender- and race-focused PEOs, affect students’ feelings of fit. PEOs affect student fit positively and primarily through expressive social capital—emotional support wherein students feel they fit in because PEOs provide a sense of community and opportunities to be around successful women and URM engineers. PEOs also allow students to build instrumental social capital, such as academic and professional skills, including networking and knowledge development. Encouragement from others and their desire to be around people like themselves played a central role in students joining PEOs. However, students identified time, financial, and fit issues that discouraged them from participating in PEOs. This investigation illuminates how socially distant others from PEOs affect student fit, extending previous work which uncovered how more proximal others affect fit as well as previous work finding that URM students participating in PEOs were more likely to persist in their engineering program. Research, theory, and practice applications are presented.

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Stuck in the Pipeline: A Critical Review of STEM Workforce Literature

Cited by 60 publications

References 13 publications

Surviving and thriving: Voices of Latina/o engineering students at a Hispanic serving institution.

Surviving and thriving: Voices of Latina/o engineering students at a Hispanic serving institution.

Underrepresented students in STEM: The transition from undergraduate to graduate programs.

The Influence of Professional Engineering Organizations on Women and Underrepresented Minority Students’ Fit

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