(Un)Hidden Figures: A Synthesis of Research Examining the Intersectional Experiences of Black Women and Girls in STEM Education

Ireland, Danyelle Tauryce; Freeman, Kimberley E.; Winston-Proctor, Cynthia E.; DeLaine, Kendra; Lowe, Stacey McDonald; Woodson, Kamilah M.

doi:10.3102/0091732x18759072

Cited by 222 publications

(189 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…This call to awaken the voices of Black girls to speak STEM casts light on the lives and challenges that they face as STEM learners-from their perspectives. This study also contributes to the literature on Black girls and the social identities and psychological processes associated with the simultaneous racialized and gendered experiences in STEM educational settings (Ireland et al, 2018). Furthermore, our research reimagined the conceptual lens, methodology, and methods used to explore and present the STEM learning experiences of Black girls with authenticity, thus answering a call to account for the dynamicism, complexity, and uniqueness of those experiences across learning contexts (Tefera, Powers, & Fischman, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Black girls speak STEM: Counterstories of informal and formal learning experiences

2018

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This study presents the interpretations and perceptions of Black girls who participated in I AM STEM—a community‐based informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program. Using narrative inquiry, participants generated detailed accounts of their informal and formal STEM learning experiences. Critical race methodology informed this research to portray the dynamic and complex experiences of girls of color, whose stories have historically been silenced and misrepresented. The data sources for this qualitative study included individual interviews, student reflection journals, samples of student work, and researcher memos, which were triangulated to produce six robust counterstories. Excerpts of the counterstories are presented in this article. The major findings of this research revealed that I AM STEM ignited an interest in STEM learning through field trips and direct engagement in scientific phenomena that allowed the girls to become agentic in continuing their engagement in STEM activities throughout the year. This call to awaken the voices of Black girls to speak casts light on their experiences and challenges as STEM learners—from their perspectives. The findings confirm that when credence and counterspaces are given to Black girls, they are poised to reveal their luster toward STEM learning. This study provided a space for Black girls to reflect on their STEM learning experiences, formulate new understandings, and make connections between the informal and formal learning environments within the context of their everyday lives, thus offering a more holistic approach to STEM learning that occurs across settings and over a lifetime.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Black girls speak STEM: Counterstories of informal and formal learning experiences

2018

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“…Further unpacking these constructs through PVEST explores the nexus between being and becoming as they relate to the development of a STEM identity and STEM retention and matriculation for Black women. The use of PVEST also adheres to and facilitates in meeting the call for investigating the psychology of intersectionality for Black women and girls in STEM, that is the “the mental process and behavioral choices associated with the meaning and consequences of holding multiple coconstructing categories of social group membership” (Ireland et al, , p. 231).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

#BlackGirlMagic: The identity conceptualization of Black women in undergraduate STEM education

2018

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Much of the research in science education that explores the influence of a racial and gendered identity on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement for Black women situate their identities primarily as responses to the oppression and struggles they face in STEM. In this study, we use Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory as a strengths‐based approach to investigate 10 undergraduate Black women’s perceptions of race and gender on their STEM identity development and engagement. The qualitative analysis of interview and journal data revealed these women enter STEM experiences cognizant of their race and gender identities, naming them in isolation and intersectionally as a potential risk or as being protective, positive, and empowering for their STEM engagement. These findings illuminate the importance of Black women self‐authoring their identities in STEM contexts, both in naming what is salient and defining what those names mean, and have implications for STEM retention and matriculation efforts.

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“…Intersectionality is a theoretical and methodological framework for investigating why, how, and in what situations students from multiple intersecting marginalized groups have different experiences. Intersectionality can inform student experiences and outcomes across multiple axes of power and privilege in STEM fields (Crenshaw, ; Ireland et al, ; Nash, ). For example, Black women face marginalization from White men, White women, and Black men in their physics education (Dortch & Patel, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equity in college physics student learning: A critical quantitative intersectionality investigation

Dusen

Nissen

2019

J Res Sci Teach

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We investigated the intersectional nature of race/racism and gender/sexism in broad scale inequities in physics student learning using a critical quantitative intersectionality. To provide transparency and create a nuanced picture of learning, we problematized the measurement of equity by using two competing operationalizations of equity: Equity of Individuality and Equality of Learning. These two models led to conflicting conclusions. The analyses used hierarchical linear models to examine student's conceptual learning as measured by gains in scores on research-based assessments administered as pretests and posttests. The data came from the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes' (LASSO) national database and included data from 13,857 students in 187 firstsemester college physics courses. Findings showed differences in student gains across gender and race. Large gender differences existed for White and Hispanic students but not for Asian, Black, and Pacific Islander students. The models predicted larger gains for students in collaborative learning than in lecture-based courses. The Equity of Individuality operationalization indicated that collaborative instruction improved equity because all groups learned more with collaborative learning. The Equality of Learning operationalization indicated that collaborative instruction did not improve equity because differences between groups were unaffected. We discuss the implications of these mixed findings and identify

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(Un)Hidden Figures: A Synthesis of Research Examining the Intersectional Experiences of Black Women and Girls in STEM Education

Cited by 222 publications

References 82 publications

Black girls speak STEM: Counterstories of informal and formal learning experiences

Black girls speak STEM: Counterstories of informal and formal learning experiences

#BlackGirlMagic: The identity conceptualization of Black women in undergraduate STEM education

Equity in college physics student learning: A critical quantitative intersectionality investigation

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