Purpose: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are not known for producing a high number of racial activists. On the contrary, scientific discourse often traffics in race-neutral language and ideologies, all the while producing racist science and technologies. This research explored the relationship between racial activism and academic career intentions of underrepresented and racially minoritized (URM) STEM doctoral students. Research Methods/Approach: We surveyed 301 Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous STEM doctoral students and 96 White and Asian STEM doctoral students. We deploy QuantCrit as a methodological stance to guide our analysis of the racial activism of students and its effect on their interest and intent in pursuing a STEM career. Findings: We found that among URM STEM doctoral students, racial activism positively predicts the likelihood of pursuing careers in academia. After controlling for the other variables in our regression models, racial activism was the strongest predictor based on standardized beta coefficients. Implications: Recent events have reactivated racial activism in academia, highlighting the experiences of URM STEM students and faculty. Yet Latinx faculty have increased minimally, Indigenous faculty numbers are stagnant, and Black faculty numbers in science and engineering are decreasing. Our research suggests that URM STEM doctoral students seek out careers in academia to leverage their commitment to racial activism by producing racially and culturally affirming science and technology for the benefit of society.