Differential Access to High School Counseling, Postsecondary Destinations, and STEM Careers
Differential Access to High School Counseling, Postsecondary Destinations, and STEM Careers
复制标题
获得高中咨询、高等教育目的地和 STEM 职业的差异化机会
作者：
Andrea Nikischer;Lois Weis;R. Dominguez
背景/背景政策制定者、学区官员、教师和家长将科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)科目作为促进通向大学和职业STEM的更强大渠道的一种方式。通过这样做，这些不同的群体寻求提高下一代工人的就业前景，增加低收入和少数族裔学生的机会，并增强美国在全球经济中的竞争力。目的/目的探讨在两种不同的学校环境中，咨询部门的工作如何影响学生在高中阶段的STEM参与，并对大学和职业STEM产生重要的潜在影响。高中辅导员在高中和STEM大专课程和高中毕业后的高水平科学和数学课程的关键接入点开展工作。更充分地了解学校辅导员在提高数学和科学成绩以及加强通往STEM的途径方面所发挥的作用越来越重要，特别是考虑到在新的全球经济背景下推动STEM职业生涯。研究设计在本文中，我们深入研究了两所学校的高中辅导办公室的日常工作，这两所学校为明显不同的学生群体提供服务。利用通过为期一年的全面人种学调查收集的数据，我们专注于咨询师的工作如何集体限制和/或增强不同人群与STEM相关的短期和长期结果。我们解决了两个相互关联的研究问题：(1)在两个不同的学校环境中，咨询部门的工作以什么方式和在多大程度上影响了学生在高中的STEM参与？(2)在种族/民族和社会经济地位方面服务于明显不同的学生群体的学校，咨询部门的工作以什么方式和在多大程度上有所不同？结论/建议我们的数据显示，这两所学校的高中生参加STEM的情况截然不同。证据还表明，在帮助学生在大学和职业生涯中获得STEM方面，学校辅导员的工作和作用存在差异。然而，尽管一所学校提供了远比另一所学校更强大的STEM渠道，但在这两种情况下，这两所学校都没有采取具体措施，最大限度地让表现出强烈这一倾向的数学和理科尖子生在大学或职业生涯中获得STEM。尽管可以说，有许多因素对STEM的大学和职业结果做出了贡献，但数据突显了高中辅导员在通往STEM的管道中既不同又同时具有核心作用。
Background/Context Policy makers, school district officials, teachers and parents have embraced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects as a way to promote a stronger pipeline to college and career STEM. In so doing, these varied groups seek to raise job prospects for next-generation workers, increase opportunities for low-income and minority students, and enhance U.S. competitiveness in a global economy. Purpose/Objective In this article we explore the ways in which the work of counseling departments in two different school environments shape students’ STEM participation in high school, with important potential consequences for college and career STEM. High school counselors operate at a critical access point to high-level science and math coursework in high school and STEM postsecondary majors and programs after high school. A fuller understanding of the role that school counselors play in improving math and science outcomes and strengthening pathways to STEM is increasingly important, particularly given the push for STEM careers in new global economic context. Research Design In this article we delve deeply into the day-to-day workings of the high school counseling office in two schools that serve markedly different populations of students. Utilizing data gathered through full ethnographic investigation over a 1-year period, we focus on the ways in which the work of counselors collectively constrain and /or enhance short and long-term STEM-linked outcomes for varying populations. We address two interrelated research questions: (1) In what ways and to what extent does the work of counseling departments in two different school environments shape students’ STEM participation in high school? (2) In what ways and to what extent does the work of the counseling departments differ in schools that serve markedly different populations of students in terms of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status? Conclusions/Recommendations Our data reveal stark differences between students’ high school STEM participation at the two schools. Evidence also points to differences in the work and role of school counselors in aiding students to access STEM in college and career. However, in spite of the fact that one school offers a far more robust pipeline to STEM than does the other, in neither case do the schools take concrete steps to maximize access to STEM in college or career for their top math and science students who express strong inclination in this direction. Although it is arguably the case that a number of factors contribute to STEM college and career outcomes, data highlight the differential yet simultaneously central role of high school counselors in the pipeline to STEM.