Sierra Buford
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Angela Ebreo
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Diversity Research & Policy Program / Education
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Authors: Sierra Buford, Angela Ebreo, Angela Ebreo
Abstract
African American, Latinx, Native American, and other racial minorities are and continue to be underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The National Science Foundation has implemented several initiatives, including the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) to address this problem. Michigan LSAMP (MI-LSAMP) increases URMs’ graduation in STEM fields and subsequent participation in the STEM workforce. MI-LSAMP provides STEM educational supportive and adjunctive services to fuel underrepresented minority students’ (URMs) interest in STEM and their academic and professional success. The overall MI-LSAMP research program focuses on understanding how multilevel (.e.g, individual, campus, program) strengths influence students’ STEM-related career plans and educational goals, especially as they relate to postsecondary degree attainment and advanced graduate or professional studies. As part of the research program, my study will use the Bowman Strength-Based Model (2011) to understand how social identity (more specifically, caregiver identity) operates as a personal strength. Student caregivers face challenges in attaining their career and educational outcomes due to their dual roles as parents and students (Moreau & Kerner, 2012) yet institutions may not be providing much support to accommodate their needs. Using a semi-structured interview protocol, a PhD researcher interviewed seven students who began participating in MI-LSAMP prior to fall 2022 . I plan to use responses to questions from the sections related to “Identity in STEM,†“Sense of Belonging and Intent to Persist In STEM,†and “Academic Challenges In STEM.†In this poster, I report on a preliminary phase of the study – memoing and code development. I memo’ed the interview transcripts for two purposes: to develop definitions of student outcomes and to identify factors outside of the Bowman strengths-based model that I think are important to understanding caregiver identities. I identified two career outcomes (explicit commitment to earning a degree as a STEM major and to pursuit of a graduate degree) and three educational outcomes (transfer to a different institution, degree plans, and declaration of a major). My findings will be discussed in terms of my next research steps and their implication for educational practice or policy.
