Latina Undergraduate Students in STEM: The Role of Religious Beliefs and STEM Identity

Abstract

This phenomenological research study explored how Latina college students in STEM made meaning of and developed their STEM identities, particularly focusing on the role that religious beliefs played in shaping STEM identity. Findings reveal that Latina students believed that their STEM identities and religious beliefs reinforced each other. STEM identity was developed based on the need to balance discrepancies between their religious beliefs and the concepts that they were learning in class. At times, students found it difficult to reconcile these beliefs and attempted to separate their religious identities and beliefs from their STEM knowledge.