Middle school Black girls in the Chicagoland area encounter challenges when engaging in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) learning and developing individual STEM identities. Black girls with good grades in STEM courses are reluctant to pursue STEM careers because of the negative stereotypes they face in school (King & Pringle,…

Science Olympiad (SO) is a team-oriented STEM competition that offers students the opportunity to participate in a wide range of STEM topics attracting students with varying STEM interests. This hermeneutic phenomenological cross-case study explored the experiences of 12 SO coaches with experience coaching middle school and/or high school teams.…

This paper examines how male preservice teachers pursuing an elementary or middle level education certification perceive barriers and supports in their chosen major and future profession. To answer this question, the authors used a convenience sample of male undergraduate students at a mid-sized, private, liberal arts college. Sixteen male…

The Center for Gifted Education (Center) at William & Mary has provided diverse enrichment programs for high-ability students since 1988. With an aspiration to serve financially disadvantaged students, the Center developed and hosted a summer residential enrichment program in STEM areas. Camp Launch, for low-income, high-ability middle school…

Career indecision is a substantial challenge for multicultural adolescents in South Korea. This study investigated the role of acculturation stress in adolescents and their parents in multicultural families on career decisions in South Korea. Perceived career barriers by adolescents and career-related behaviors of their parents were included as…

Career development and professional identity remain critical areas that need addressing for young girls of color. Currently, racial-ethnic minorities continue to face disparities educationally and economically. Girls of color, in particular, are subjected to "double jeopardy" as they navigate a world still ridden with racial and gender…

Background: The shift in recent years towards the lifespan concept of career development, which views career behaviour as occurring in stages beginning in childhood and continuing throughout life, has meant that it has become increasingly important to assist learners in fulfilling their career goals. There is, however, a scarcity of research on…

This study explored the impact of attending an Inclusive STEM-focused High School (ISHS) by interviewing 30 students from ISHSs and matched comparison high schools 2 years after graduation. Interviewees were students who in 12th grade reported being first-generation college goers, strongly interest in a STEM career, and planning to go directly to…

Today we are faced with a shortage of qualified candidates for the growing computer science occupations that are among the fastest growing fields in our nation. A current shortage of students in the educational pipeline coupled with a lack of diversity in the field is impacting our technological growth and expansion. It has been suggested that it…

As policymakers endeavor to address the teacher shortage as a whole, they should also consider the research around teacher diversity and explore policies that aim to increase the achievement of minority students. This issue of "coNCepts" examines the diversity gap in North Carolina and highlights the need for a strategic solution that…

Education policymakers and leaders often say that the opinions and observations of teachers are among the most important information to help explain and understand what is happening in schools. Teachers' voices can inject a sense of classroom and school-level realism into those discussions and add clarity and credibility to issues that are often…

Using an extended model of social cognitive career theory, this study investigated ways in which African American middle school adolescents perceive racism and the associations among various aspects of perceptions of racism, other background factors, and math-based career interests, efficacy, and outcome expectations. Results indicated that…