A Systematic Review of Barriers to Accessing Undergraduate Research for STEM Students: Problematizing Under-Researched Factors for Students of Color

Sophie Pierszalowski,Lindsay Marlow,Jana Bouwma-Gearhart

doi:10.3390/socsci10090328

Sophie Pierszalowski, Lindsay Marlow + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090328

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Abstract

While the benefits of undergraduate research experiences for students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups have been well explored, more research is needed to better understand how students of color access these experiences. We summarize a non-structured review of literature that highlights barriers to success that students of color face in relation to STEM programming at the postsecondary level. Building from this, we report on a structured review of barriers to accessing undergraduate research. We discuss implications of the relative lack of research on access to undergraduate research for students of color at postsecondary institutions. We consider how barriers for the success and persistence of students of color in postsecondary STEM, overall, may manifest as barriers to accessing the undergraduate research experiences argued to help reduce these barriers. With the hope of guiding future relevant action, we put forth recommendations for researchers and practitioners.

Highlights

In 2012, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)argued for the need for an additional one million science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals in the US, equivalent to an increase of 34% each year of undergraduate STEM degree conferrals (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 2012)
Research has shown that students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in STEM experience stereotype threat, or anxiety that arises when one expects to be evaluated based on negative stereotypes; such threat has a positive, significant effect on attrition from postsecondary STEM programs (Beasley and Fischer 2012; Brown et al 2005)
Given the limited research informing our larger goal of investigating barriers to accessing undergraduate research for STEM students of color, we first conducted a preliminary, non-structured literature review concerning the following research question: What barriers exist for students of color trying to earn STEM undergraduate degrees? A barrier was conceptualized as something that contributed negatively to an undergraduate student’s success and persistence

Summary

Introduction

Argued for the need for an additional one million science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals in the US, equivalent to an increase of 34% each year of undergraduate STEM degree conferrals (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 2012). This larger STEM workforce is needed to maintain a reputation for excellence in science and technology in the US, as well as meet the nation’s evolving needs around increasingly complex socioscientific problems (Hewitt et al 2019). Research has shown that students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in STEM experience stereotype threat, or anxiety that arises when one expects to be evaluated based on negative stereotypes; such threat has a positive, significant effect on attrition from postsecondary STEM programs

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