This is an out-of-class activity completed by HSTEM students in response to the reading materials provided. Here, an HSTEM student’s responses to this activity are shown as a sample of what an HSTEM instructor may expect.

Materials

1. Ebony McGee, “Black Genius, Asian Fail”:The Detriment of Stereotype Lift and Stereotype Threat in High-Achieving Asian and Black STEM Students. AERA Open, 2018 12 pgs)
2. Overrepresented? I’m always the only Hmong scientist in the room (3 pgs)
3. LGBT+ scientists give their views on their workplaces Nature Magazine, Oct. 2020 (4 pgs)
4. Does Gender Matter? Ben Barres Nature magazine, July 2006 (4 pgs)
5. Making space in STEM for people with disabilities (5 pgs)
6. Blanca E. Rincón, Sarah Rodriguez, “Latinx Students Charting Their Own STEM Pathways: How Community Cultural Wealth Informs Their STEM Identities”, 2021 (13 pgs)
7. Giving Back or Giving Up: Native American Student Experiences in Science & Engineering (2014), (13 pgs)

Jigsaw Reading (read and complete summary, reflection, and quote pulling for just the group assigned to you.)

1. Jigsaw Group 1
   • Body? What Body? Considering Physical Ability and Disability In STEM Disciplines, American Society for Engineering Education 2017 (15 pgs)
   • STEM Climate for Students with Disabilities – Higher Education Today (2pgs)
   • Review 5 scientist profiles from the following website: Celebrating scientists with disabilities | Royal Society *Note, for each profile chosen, write 1-2 sentences about something that you learned and/or resonated with you.
2. Jigsaw Group 2
   • Latino STEM Scholars, Barriers, and Mental Health. A Review of the Literature Journal of Hispanic Education. (14 pgs)
   • The Emerging STEM Paths and Science Identities of Hispanic/Latinx College Students: Examining the Impact of Multiple Undergraduate Research Experiences (9 pgs) The Emerging STEM Paths and Science Identities of Hispanic/Latinx College Students: Examining the Impact of Multiple Undergraduate Research Experiences
3. Jigsaw Group 3
   • Asian American Women in STEM in the lab with “White Men Named John” Science Education 2021:105:33-57 (25 pgs)
4. Jigsaw Group 4
   • Understanding the Science Experiences of Successful Women of Color: Science Identity as an Analytic Lens Journal of Research in Science Teaching 2007 44:8 pp. 1187-1212 (25 pgs)

Beginning of Module Work

Please complete these to help build your academic foundation and prepare for active participation during our discussion.

Part 1: Summary

Please capture, using bullet points, your top 2-3 key points for each article.

“Black Genius, Asian Fail”

• High incidence of impostor syndrome among high-achieving Black STEM students
• Despite their belief that Asians are less likely to experience this syndrome, research
  indicates higher rates of impostor syndrome among Asian students.
• The “model minority” myth is applied to Asians.
• The terms “Black genius” and “Asian fail” are introduced, reflecting classroom labels for
  high-achieving Black students and those not meeting perceived Asian standards.
• Faculty members play a significant role, either instigating or passively approving
  stereotyping, contributing to systemic and institutional perpetuation of the problem.
• Both groups experience stress and strain in response to the stereotype threats even
  though they differ.

Overrepresented?

• Many different types of Asians are all placed into one category.
• Research indicates higher academic achievement among Asians, so many people look
  at the data and conclude that Asian Americans are well represented in STEM.
• The author is constantly treated as the “spokesperson” for the Hmong community and
  it draws attention away from their work as a neuroscientist.

LGBT+ Scientists

• Many institutions and funding agencies do not collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity and do not have conversations on the topic
• Supportive employers show respect for the work and credentials, but often they do not
  do so for members of the LGBTQ+ community

Does Gender Matter?

• There is little evidence to support the idea that gender differences in math abilities exist and the lack of advancement of women in science is due to internal factors
• Many women who do make it in science do not acknowledge the challenges they faced on the way to the top.
• Female leadership in science is important for creating a more welcoming and supportive environment towards women.
• Words of encouragement are important at a young age to foster self confidence.

Making Space in STEM

• ADA standards apply only to the elements of a building that are fixed or built in, like ramps, bathrooms, and elevators. They don’t consider the accessibility of other things a researcher might use, such as chairs or some scientific equipment.
• Many places do not accommodate for the excuse that it is expensive, but accommodating researchers with disabilities does not need to be an entire renovation project that costs 2 million dollars. Instead, things such as clear signage, a new stool, and different knobs on cabinets could make a difference.

Latinx Students Charting Their Own STEM Pathways

• Latinx students face structural inequities, including attending under-resourced K-12 schools and having less access to rigorous math and science courses
• The study advocates for an asset-based (anti-deficit) framework in STEM education
• Latinx students utilize cultural assets, drawing on familial knowledge, community support, and personal motivations to nurture their STEM interests.
• Latinx students drew on family, peers, and their home communities and aspired to give back to their communities, resisted oppression, and bridged linguistic barriers to navigate STEM majors and develop culturally grounded STEM identities.

Giving Back or Giving Up

• Underrepresentation of Native Americans in STEM may limit social mobility and increase racial economic disparities due to the lucrative and prestigious nature of STEM occupations.
• The history of exploitation of Native people and lands in science and engineering, especially in medical research and the energy industry, highlights the need to promote active participation of Native students in these professions.
• According to goal congruence theory, Native American students who have communal work goals may feel a lack of emphasis placed on communal work goals in STEM majors and therefore be less likely to stay in the field.

Asian American Women in STEM in the lab

• Female students experience microaggressions in the lab, and in order to succeed in the field they are expected to become accustomed to hearing it.
• When Asian American women experience a positive stereotype threat, even if it is positive, they experience diminished motivation to engage in the learning process and high pressure to conform to a stereotype.
• Asian American women’s experiences are more affected by the negative stereotype that women are low performers in science compared to the positive stereotype that Asians naturally excelled in science.
• In order to be viewed as legitimate scientists women are told to assimilate and modify their behavior to “fit in”

Part 2: Reflection

A common theme among the core readings that I focused on was that many minority groups are lacking support in the STEM community as well as support back during childhood. Teachers are at risk of pushing biases and stereotypes onto students, so it is expremely important that they are aware of the problems that even pushing positive stereotypes onto students has. In “LGBT+ scientists give their views on their workplaces,” they mentioned that words of encouragement are extremely important at a young age to foster self-confidence. Having support when children are beginning to find the subjects that they most enjoy is very important.

The jigsaw reading stuck with me because it put into words a lot of what I felt and experienced, such as needing to be assertive to be heard. Furthermore the idea of not living up to a stereotype has been very apparent in my life. Occasionally if I “failed” at something or did not do well on a test, I have some friends who would say, “that’s not very Asian of you.” It was meant to be a funny and light-hearted joke, but it didn’t feel that way. My first thought is always that I am a failure, and a common response that I give is, “I’m only half.” When I felt that I could not live up to a specific stereotype standard my instinct was to push that side of me away so that people in hopes that people would be less dissapointed.