Identifying the Community Cultural Wealth of Successful Black Science Students through Participatory Action Research

黑人学生继续攻读本科理科学位课程的比率低于所有其他种族和民族。黑人学生在科学项目中面临的许多障碍已经被发现。然而，先前研究的一个主要缺陷是缺乏对黑人学生在科学上取得成功的优势的关注。要解决黑人学生在理科领域的流失问题，关键是不仅要了解他们面临的障碍，还要了解在学业上取得成功的黑人学生完成本科理科学位的机制。这个IUSE探索和设计研究项目将使用参与式行动研究方法来调查在学术上取得成功的黑人本科理科专业的优势。研究成果将被广泛传播，以提高人们对黑人学生社区文化财富的认识，这些财富是他们用来取得教育成功的知识、技能、能力和人脉。这项定性研究将有助于为检验关于黑人学生社区文化财富的假设奠定基础，从而有助于全国需要研究本科STEM教育中的关键问题。本研究项目的总体目标是了解黑人学生在获得本科理科学位方面的坚持性。为了实现这一目标，一个由教师和本科生研究人员组成的团队将合作检查黑人学生在本科理科专业取得成功的机制。这个项目的目的是：(1)调查黑人科学专业学生使用的资本、知识、技能、能力和人脉；(2)提高教职员工对成功的黑人学生所利用的社区文化资本的认识。黑人科学专业用来取得成功的资本将以一所博士大学(佐治亚大学)和一所主要授予副学士学位的学院(东佐治亚州立学院)为特色。研究成果将被用来创建一个由学生主导的研讨会，以提高教师对黑人学生给他们的理科专业带来的首都的认识。预计这种意识将有助于教职员工更好地支持黑人学生坚持不懈地获得本科理科学位。这种意识也可能有助于为所有学生提供更有效的教职员工支持。研讨会还将帮助解决隐性偏见，即人们对某些群体的无意识态度和刻板印象。该项目旨在通过描述黑人学生为其本科理科专业带来的社区文化财富，并确定提高对这一资本的认识的行动，来为多样化的、具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力队伍做出贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Black students persist in undergraduate science degree programs at a lower rate than all other racial and ethnic groups. Many of the barriers that Black students face in science programs have been identified. However, a major shortcoming of prior research is a lack of focus on the strengths that Black students use to succeed in science. To address attrition of Black students in science, it is critical to understand not only the barriers they face, but also the mechanisms by which academically successful Black students complete undergraduate science degrees. This IUSE Exploration and Design research project will use a participatory action research approach to investigate the strengths of academically successful Black undergraduate science majors. Research results will be widely-disseminated to raise awareness of Black students' community cultural wealth, which is the knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts that they use for educational success. This qualitative study will help to build a foundation for testing hypotheses about Black students' community cultural wealth, thus contributing to the national need to study critical issues in undergraduate STEM education.The overall goal of this research project is to understand the persistence of Black students in earning undergraduate science degrees. To achieve this goal, a team of faculty and undergraduate researchers will collaborate to examine the mechanisms Black students use to succeed in their undergraduate science majors. The aims of this project are to: (1) investigate the capital, knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts used by Black science majors; and (2) raise faculty awareness of the community cultural capital that successful Black students draw upon. The capital that Black science majors use to succeed will be characterized at a doctoral university (University of Georgia) and a college that primarily awards associate degrees (East Georgia State College). Research results will be used to create a student-led workshop for raising faculty awareness of the capital Black students bring to their science majors. It is expected that this awareness will help faculty to better support Black students' persistence in earning undergraduate science degrees. This awareness may also contribute to more effective faculty support for all students. The workshop will also help address implicit bias, the unconscious attitudes and stereotypical opinions people have against certain groups of people. This project seeks to contribute to a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce by characterizing the community cultural wealth that Black students bring to their undergraduate science majors and by determining actions for raising awareness of this capital.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.