The purpose of this study was to gather feedback from Black female students who are navigating their way through the secondary STEM pathway. The study, modeled on the "Social Cognitive Career Theory" (Lent and Brown, 2006, 2008; Lent et al. 1994, 2000) was used to explore factors that influenced the interest and persistence of Black girls navigating through the STEM pipeline. The researcher identified factors which could lead girls to major in a STEM discipline at the postsecondary level and pursue STEM related careers. Black girls and women continue to have disproportionately low numbers in achieving STEM degrees (National Science Board, 2016). There are numerous policy and research reports that focus on increasing and diversifying the STEM workforce because there is a persistent representation gap among certain subgroups in their educational attainment and employment in STEM-related areas. Although women make up almost 51% of the U.S. population and half of the college-educated workforce, they only hold 25% of STEM jobs overall (Noonan, 2017; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011). Although women have made some forward progress in STEM, gender gaps are still rather large, especially within the engineering and physical science disciplines (Diekman & Fuesting, 2018). In a STEM motivation study, students in college level science courses showed that female students had lower science self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, and STEM interests compared to their male counterparts (Hardin & Longhurst, 2016). Women were awarded 59% of degrees in the biological/biomedical sciences, however they only make up "19%" of degrees in engineering and 18% of computer and information sciences (U.S. Department of Education, NCES 2014). Similar problems exist for other minority groups including Hispanics and African American populations (Funk, & Paker, 2018; Hayden, Ouyang, & Scinski, 2011). In this age of rising global competition, proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are viewed as being increasingly essential in today's workforce. STEM workers propel innovation and competitiveness by generating new ideas, new companies, and new industries (Noonan 2017). Globally, employers are faced with the task of recruiting more individuals into STEM industries (Marginson et al. 2013). Many countries are not producing the amount of STEM professionals that are needed in order to meet the workforce demands (Wilson et al. 2016). In the USA, STEM occupations have increased by 14% since 2008, while other occupations have grown only 1.7% (Noonan 2017). It is projected that the USA will need approximately one million more STEM professionals than it will produce over the next decade to meet this growing demand (The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; PCAST 2012). According to Newsome (2015) the 21st century will be an era that is characterized by a phenomenal exchange of ideas and information. This capacity to exchange and transport information will have a direct impact on productivity in the global marketplace. The rapid expansion of technology and technological services will be required to facilitate the transformation of business and industry. The need to access and use a high volume of information will require constant and consistent upgrades in equipment, processes, and delivery systems. These upgrades will be made yearly and on a continuing basis. The 2013-2014 Office for Civil Rights (2013) data reports that only 10.8% of public school Black girls were enrolled in gifted and talented programs, as compared with 57.3% of White girls. Clearly, there is much work to do in better understanding the many reasons Black girls, in particular, are not represented in STEM (Joseph, 2020). Derived from Bandura's social cognitive theory (1986), this study expands the research and uses the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) framework to explore the way people's behavior and environments can influence one another (Lent 2013). The aim of SCCT is to explain four interrelated aspects of career development: (a) how basic academic and career interests develop, (b) how educational and career choices are made, (c) how academic and career success is obtained, and (d) how satisfaction or well-being in the work environment is experienced (Lent 2013). Correspondingly, the SCCT framework explores four interrelated models of career development, including interest, choice, performance (Lent et al. 1994), and satisfaction (Lent 2013). Within each of the four models of SCCT, three socio-cognitive mechanisms are believed to apply important influences to career development. The socio-cognitive mechanisms include self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and personal goals (Lent et al. 1994). Although SCCT includes four distinct models, the researchers decided to build the instrument around the interest and choice models. Both of these models demonstrated affordances to be used broadly, since students could be asked general, selected response questions about their interests and potential choices, whereas the performance model and the satisfaction model would require more student-specific contexts and extended response items. Centered on the hypothesis that there is a correlation between pre-collegiate experiences of Black girls and their interest and persistence in STEM, the researcher used a quantitative method to determine the factors that promote Black girls interests and persistence through the STEM education pipeline. The participants in this study are African American female students enrolled in two urban charter high schools in Washington, DC. Using a 44-item Likert-scale survey, the researcher analyzed student responses related to interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes and careers. The researcher examined familial, K-12 instruction, K-12 co-curricular and self-efficacy experiences to identify independent variables' impact on STEM interest and persistence. This study will contribute to the growing body of empirical research on the positive contributors that enhance Black female achievement in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics. This research is useful for education leaders and parents by providing recommendations for sociocultural supports and instructional strategies to assist Black female students in their pursuit of a STEM career. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. 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