Drawing on ethnographic methods, this study employed a community cultural wealth framework to analyze the successful trajectories of 27 Latinx engineering/computer science students at a research-intensive HSI. Our findings uncovered four types of community cultural wealth leveraged by participants—aspirational, linguistic, social, and navigational—as well as one additional form of capital: positional. The study has implications for institutions and individuals who serve Latinx students in engineering and STEM more broadly.
BeasleyM.FisherM. (2012). Why they leave: The impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, math and engineering majors. Social Psychology of Education, 15, 427–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-012-9185-3
2.
BenedictB. S.VerdínD.BakerR. A.GodwinA.MiltonT. (2018, June23–July27). Uncovering latent diversity: Steps towards understanding “What counts” and “Who belongs” in engineering culture [Conference session]. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Salt Lake City, Utah.
3.
CamachoM. M.LordS. M. (2011). Quebrando fronteras: Trends among Latino and Latina undergraduate engineers. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 10(2), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711402354
4.
CamachoM. M.LordS. M. (2013). Latinos and the exclusionary space of engineering education. Latino Studies, 11(1), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2012.57
5.
DentonM.BorregoM.BoklageA. (2020). Community cultural wealth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education: A systematic review. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(3), 556–580. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20322
6.
EmersonR. M.FretzR. I.ShawL. L. (2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
GarriottP. O.NavarroR. L.FloresL. Y.LeeH.-S.Carrero PinedoA.SlivenskyD.MuñozM.AtilanoR.LinC.-L.GonzalezR.LunaL.LeeB. H. (2019). Surviving and thriving: Voices of Latina/o engineering students at a Hispanic serving institution. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(4), 437–448. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000351
HollandD.SkinnerD.LachicotteW.CainC. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Harvard University Press.
12.
LichtensteinG.ChenH. L.SmithK. A.MaldonadoT. A. (2014). Retention and persistence of women and minorities along the engineering pathway in the United States. In JohriA.OldsB. M. (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of engineering education research (pp. 311–334). Cambridge University Press.
13.
LongL.IIIMejiaJ. A. (2016). Conversations about diversity: Institutional barriers for underrepresented engineering students. Journal of Engineering Education, 105(2), 211–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20114
OngM.Jaumot-PascualN.KoL. T. (2020). Research literature on women of color in undergraduate engineering education: A systematic thematic synthesis. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(3), 581–615. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20345
16.
SamuelsonC.LitzlerE. (2016). Community cultural wealth: An assets-based approach to persistence of engineering students of color. Journal of Engineering Education, 105(1), 93–117. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20110
17.
SeidmanI. (2013). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (4th ed). Teachers College Press.
18.
SimmonsD. R.LordS. M. (2019). Removing invisible barriers and changing mindsets to improve and diversify pathways in engineering. Advances in Engineering Education, 7(2), 22.
19.
StrayhornT.LongL.III,KitchenJ. A.WilliamsM. S.StenzM. E. (2013, June23–26). Academic and social barriers to black and Latino male collegians’ success in engineering and STEM related fields [Paper presentation]. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Atlanta, GA.
20.
True-FunkA.PoleacovschiC.Jones-JohnsonG.FeinsteinS.SmithK.Luster-TeasleyS. (2021). Intersectional engineers: Diversity of gender and race microaggressions and their effects in engineering education. Journal of Management in Engineering, 37(3), 04021002-1–11. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000889
21.
YossoT. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006