




Today’s increasingly and incredibly technology-based society is driven by the fast paced developments in the field of STEM. Even so, the diversity of individuals involved in achieving and creating these milestones remains at a bare minimum. While it is universally known that attaining higher education can be a foundation for lifelong prosperity, higher education accessibility is not universal. This discrepancy is noticeably magnified in the domain of STEM education. The lack of diversity in STEM continues to persist due to insufficient information and resources available to underrepresented minorities to flourish as STEM students.
Through my session, I shared ideas with my colleagues on how they can be proactive in serving underserved student populations by devising programs with inclusive messaging and promoting a culture of equal opportunity. As a result of attending my session, my fellow student affairs professionals were able to walk away with tangible ideas to contribute to the STEM student retention and help remove some of the barriers in the way of traditionally minoritized groups and enable them to prosper. This directly fit in with NASPA Region IV-WE 2022 conference's theme of “WEnvision Our Future” because disparities in STEM education continue to be dictated by historically established barriers and stereotypes which alienate and deter students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a STEM higher education. My session was well-attended and over 90% of attendants expressed finding the session to be helpful or very helpful.
Goals/Objectives
Participants will gain an understanding of barriers that minoritized students face when looking to pursue a collegiate STEM education
Participants will develop skills and strategies to improve admission and retention of minoritized college students in STEM majors.
Learning Outcomes
Participants were able to identify minoritized student populations in STEM
Participants were able to point to different capitals that contirbute to the achievement gap of minoritized student populations
Participants were able to synthesize individual-level techniques to minimize the achievement gap for minoritized student populations in STEM
Participants were able to synthesize institution-level techniques to minimize the achievement gap for minoritized student populations in STEM