An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming

Understanding the experiences of successful diverse science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty can facilitate the development of programming that counteracts barriers and weaknesses from multiple angles. The challenges that students and professionals report can be broadly identified a...

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Main Authors: Theresa Pesl Murphrey, Carmen R. Carter, E. Gloria C. Regisford, Laura E. Carson, Karen Butler-Purry, Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell, Asha Ganesan, Audra Richburg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.767476/full
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author Theresa Pesl Murphrey
Carmen R. Carter
E. Gloria C. Regisford
Laura E. Carson
Karen Butler-Purry
Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell
Asha Ganesan
Audra Richburg
author_facet Theresa Pesl Murphrey
Carmen R. Carter
E. Gloria C. Regisford
Laura E. Carson
Karen Butler-Purry
Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell
Asha Ganesan
Audra Richburg
author_sort Theresa Pesl Murphrey
collection DOAJ
description Understanding the experiences of successful diverse science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty can facilitate the development of programming that counteracts barriers and weaknesses from multiple angles. The challenges that students and professionals report can be broadly identified as either identity-based or institutional. The lack of diversity in STEM fields in academia can result in narrow viewpoints, limited student diversity, and missed opportunities to address today’s societal challenges. It is clear that we must consider programming that has positively impacted successful STEM faculty in academia in order to create effective programming to recruit and retain future diverse STEM faculty. Our phenomenological study sought to add to the literature related to the role that socialization plays in preparing individuals for success in faculty roles by conducting in-depth interviews with early-career STEM faculty members in under-represented groups. The phenomena under investigation were experiences leading to early-career STEM faculty members’ successful career pathways. Seven early-career STEM faculty from multiple institutions described unique paths to their current faculty position with some commonalities, including participation in undergraduate or postdoc research and having some industry experience. The suggestions, advice, and guidance offered by the participants fell into categories that, while mirrored in the literature, serve as useful markers for administrators developing programming. We organized our findings using the conceptual framework of socialization and the associated competencies for our context. As we strive to encourage and build diverse representation in populations of STEM academicians, these collective findings are invaluable. Findings confirm that programming directly impacts the success of early-career STEM faculty, and it is the success of these individuals that will enable diversity and inclusion to expand in STEM. Programs, interventions, and additional efforts for graduate students can also benefit from close examination of these experiences.
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spelling doaj.art-89d8ce7369a94a71865c0eb189d2c54f2022-12-22T00:26:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2022-05-01710.3389/feduc.2022.767476767476An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for ProgrammingTheresa Pesl Murphrey0Carmen R. Carter1E. Gloria C. Regisford2Laura E. Carson3Karen Butler-Purry4Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell5Asha Ganesan6Audra Richburg7Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesOffice of Academic Affairs, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, United StatesBiology, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, United StatesCooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, United StatesOffice of Graduate and Professional Studies, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesPsychological and Brain Sciences and Africana Studies Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesPsychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesAgricultural Leadership, Education and Communications, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesUnderstanding the experiences of successful diverse science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty can facilitate the development of programming that counteracts barriers and weaknesses from multiple angles. The challenges that students and professionals report can be broadly identified as either identity-based or institutional. The lack of diversity in STEM fields in academia can result in narrow viewpoints, limited student diversity, and missed opportunities to address today’s societal challenges. It is clear that we must consider programming that has positively impacted successful STEM faculty in academia in order to create effective programming to recruit and retain future diverse STEM faculty. Our phenomenological study sought to add to the literature related to the role that socialization plays in preparing individuals for success in faculty roles by conducting in-depth interviews with early-career STEM faculty members in under-represented groups. The phenomena under investigation were experiences leading to early-career STEM faculty members’ successful career pathways. Seven early-career STEM faculty from multiple institutions described unique paths to their current faculty position with some commonalities, including participation in undergraduate or postdoc research and having some industry experience. The suggestions, advice, and guidance offered by the participants fell into categories that, while mirrored in the literature, serve as useful markers for administrators developing programming. We organized our findings using the conceptual framework of socialization and the associated competencies for our context. As we strive to encourage and build diverse representation in populations of STEM academicians, these collective findings are invaluable. Findings confirm that programming directly impacts the success of early-career STEM faculty, and it is the success of these individuals that will enable diversity and inclusion to expand in STEM. Programs, interventions, and additional efforts for graduate students can also benefit from close examination of these experiences.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.767476/fullunderrepresented minoritiesSTEM doctoral studentsminority studentsearly-career faculty successprogramming strategiespathways
spellingShingle Theresa Pesl Murphrey
Carmen R. Carter
E. Gloria C. Regisford
Laura E. Carson
Karen Butler-Purry
Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell
Asha Ganesan
Audra Richburg
An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
Frontiers in Education
underrepresented minorities
STEM doctoral students
minority students
early-career faculty success
programming strategies
pathways
title An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
title_full An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
title_fullStr An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
title_full_unstemmed An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
title_short An Examination of the Paths of Successful Diverse STEM Faculty: Insight for Programming
title_sort examination of the paths of successful diverse stem faculty insight for programming
topic underrepresented minorities
STEM doctoral students
minority students
early-career faculty success
programming strategies
pathways
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.767476/full
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