This timely volume challenges the ongoing underrepresentation of Latina women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and highlights resilience as a critical communal response to increasing their representation in degree programs and academic posts.
An Asset-Based Approach to Advancing Latina Students in STEM documents the racialized and gendered experiences of Latinas studying and researching in STEM in US colleges, and centers resilience as a critical mechanism in combating deficit narratives. Adopting an asset-based approach, chapters illustrate how Latinas draw on their cultural background as a source of individual and communal strength, and indicate how this cultural wealth must be nurtured and used to inform leadership and policy to motivate, encourage, and support Latinas on the pathway to graduate degrees and successful STEM careers. By highlighting strategies to increase personal resilience and institutional retention of Latina women, the text offers key insights to bolstering diversity in STEM.
This text will primarily appeal to academics, scholars, educators, and researchers in the fields of STEM education. It will also benefit those working in broader areas of higher education and multicultural education, as well as those interested in the advancement of minorities inside and outside of academia.
Elsa M. Gonzalez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Houston, USA.
Frank Fernandez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, USA.
Miranda Wilson earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Houston, USA.
"Introduction: An Asset-Based Approach to Advancing Latina Students in STEM: Increasing Resilience, Participation, and Success Elsa M. Gonzalez and Miranda Wilson PART 1: Examining Literature, Theory, and Data to Inform Policy Chapter 1: Latinas in STEM: A Review of the Literature Using a Psychosociocultural Lens Kristan M. Venegas and Araceli Espinoza-Wade Chapter 2: Developing A Conceptual Framework for Computing Identity Development for Latina Undergraduate Students Sarah L. Rodriguez, Charles Lu, and Daisy Ramirez Chapter 3: The Pathway to the PhD: Latinas as STEM Doctorates from 1975–2010 Frank Fernandez, Hyun Kyoung Ro, Miranda Wilson, and Veronica Crawford Chapter 4: ""Cuida Tu Casa y Deja la Ajena"": Focusing on Retention as a Self-Perpetuating Engine for Recruiting Latina Faculty in STEM Aurora Kamimura Chapter 5: How Many Latinas in STEM Benefit From High-Impact Practices? Examining Participation by Social Class and Immigrant Status Sanga Kim, Selyna Pérez Beverly, and Hyun Kyoung Ro PART 2: Reading (Hearing) Testimonios of Latinas in STEM Chapter 6: Empowering Latina STEM Majors at a Public R1 Doctoral University and Hispanic-Serving Institution in Texas: Strategies for Success Elsa M. Gonzalez, Mauricio Molina, and Sarah Churchill Turner Chapter 7: First-Generation Latina Engineering Students’ Aspirational Counterstories Tamara T. Coronella Chapter 8: Latina Undergraduates in Engineering/Computer Science on the US–Mexico Border: Identity, Social Capital, and Persistence Erika Mein, Helena Muciño Guerra, and Lidia Herrera-Rocha Chapter 9: ""I Learned How to Divide at 25"": A Counter-Narrative of How one Latina’s Agency and Resilience Lead Her Towards an Engineering Pathway Dina Verdín Chapter 10: Leadership through the Lenses of Latinas: Undergraduate College Students in STEM-Related Disciplines at Regional HSIs Hilda Cecilia Contreras Aguirre, Rosa Banda, and Elsa M. Gonzalez Chapter 11: ""There Was Something Missing"": How Latinas Construct Compartmentalized Identities in STEM Ariana L. Garcia, Blanca Rincón, and Juanita K. Hinojosa Afterword: Six Steps Forward for Studying Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEM Frank Fernandez"
Elsa M. Gonzalez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Houston, USA. Frank Fernandez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, USA. Miranda Wilson earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Houston, USA.
