Encouraged or Weeded Out: Perspectives of Students of Color in the Stem Disciplines on Faculty Interactions

Document Type

Article

Abstract

For this multisite qualitative case study, framed in Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory, we examined mentoring experiences among Students of Color majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at both a predominantly White institution and a historically Black institution. Findings revealed that faculty served as gatekeepers for accessing STEM-related careers for Students of Color. Students of Color at the historically Black college experienced positive mentoring and professional development, whereas those at the predominantly White institution found the faculty unwilling to mentor them professionally and perceived the faculty as “weeding them out” of the STEM field.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0052

Rights

©2025 Project MUSE. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries.

APA Citation

McCoy, D. L., Luedke, C. L., & Winkle-Wagner, R. (2017). Encouraged or Weeded Out: Perspectives of Students of Color in the STEM Disciplines on Faculty Interactions. Journal of College Student Development, 58(5), 657–673.https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0052

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