ERIC Number: EJ1085783
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Dec
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2151-2612
EISSN: N/A
High-Achieving Black Students, Biculturalism, and Out-of-School STEM Learning Experiences: Exploring Some Unintended Consequences
McGee, Ebony O.
Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, v6 n2 p20-41 Dec 2013
In this article, the author discusses the complex challenges of high-achieving Black students who are successful in becoming immersed in predominately White STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) spaces and how such immersion can exacerbate their experiences of racial stereotyping and other forms of racial bias. The author illustrates these complex racialized experiences through the story of Maurice, a high-achieving high school mathematics student who successfully negotiated the White spaces he occupied yet did not indicate interest in pursuing a STEM-related career. Although Maurice developed sophisticated bicultural competencies that allowed STEM professionals and educators to view him positively, he decided that compromising his own racial, cultural, and individual identities to pursue a STEM college major and career was too costly. The discussion in general highlights how racial and ethnic stereotyping which is endemic throughout STEM education and careers can push mathematically competent Black students out of the STEM pipeline prematurely.
Descriptors: Learning Experience, STEM Education, High Achievement, Out of School Youth, African American Students, Racial Bias, Racial Identification, Case Studies, Student Experience, Coping, High School Students, Biculturalism, Phenomenology, Racial Relations, Interviews
Journal of Urban Mathematics Education. Georgia State University, College of Education and Human Development, MSE, 30 Pryor Street Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30303. Tel: 404-413-8409; Fax: 404-413-8063; e-mail: jumeinfo@gsu.edu; Web site: http://ed-osprey.gsu.edu/ojs/index.php/jume
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A