I was pleased to read fellow-blogger Marybeth Gasman’s most recent piece on the misrepresentation of Blacks in American history texts and classrooms. Like Dr. Gasman, I too have pondered the portrayal of Black students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as the research approach taken by social scientists who study diverse populations in postsecondary STEM education.
In her blog entry, Dr. Gasman points to Dr. James D. Anderson’s book, The Education of Blacks in the South, which depicts Blacks as leaders and shapers of society as opposed to victims of racism and oppression. My own reflection has me thinking about the way culture, diversity and difference is taught to our youth; it is indeed no wonder that many adults isolate underrepresented groups as necessitating a pejorative lens.
Such a lens not only means that Blacks are portrayed as victims. It also means that only a select few Black scientists are heralded as pioneers. As a recent NPR story reminded me, it is still the case that social institutions (like schools) point to individual Black inventors, activists and peacekeepers as representatives of a race instead of representatives of a movement.
While it is certainly important to recognize prominent and influential historical figures, mainstream education nonetheless fails to construct Black history as a movement of people who faced great struggle on a day-to-day basis and who held up and supported individual historical figures in ways you or I can only begin to imagine.
Much of the empirical research on women, racial/ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and other underrepresented populations follows this same line of deficit thinking in that scholars have mostly focused on the barriers that students face in pursuit of STEM degrees and credentials. While it is certainly necessary to first identify the challenges experienced by students before prescribing practical interventions, it is of equal importance to identify the strengths and successes of diverse students in STEM.
A recent volume of New Directions for Institutional Research, Students of Color in STEM, is a good example of social scientists examining the successful experiences of minorities pursuing scientific fields. The volume’s editors (Shawn Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Christopher Newman of the University of California, Los Angeles) express the need for research that counterbalances deficit-oriented perspectives with achievement-focused ones.
Such a call to action seems simple enough: Examine those practices that have the potential to promote undergraduate learning and persistence in STEM, make necessary modifications where needed, and continue to monitor progress via program assessment and other forms of evaluation.
