Latino and black students leave STEM majors at higher rates. Researchers suggest bias in engineering and technology hinders academic success.
By Morgan Smith Morgan Smith Education reporter focused on campus life at colleges and universities in the Washington area Email Bio Follow May 3 at 9:00 AM Lab classes have always left Shason Briscoe wracked with anxiety.
For years, college administrators have worked to attract minority students like Briscoe — especially Latino and black students — to science and technology fields. But the retention of those students presents another hurdle. Black and Latino college students transfer or drop out of STEM programs — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — at higher rates than their white peers, according to a recent study published in the journal Education Researcher.
Dropout rates varied among the groups, too. About 20 percent of Latino and 26 percent of black STEM majors left their institutions without earning a degree, while 13 percent of white STEM majors dropped out, according to the study. “If there’s demonstrated, strong interest in STEM among black and Latino youth, why would you see higher departure rates for these students?” the professor said. “It’s not about interest or academic ability. So what causes this?”
Deana Crouser, a 28-year-old senior at the University of Washington studying oceanography, is one of the few Latino students in her program. Crouser said feelings of exclusion and microaggressions — defined as indirect, subtle and unintentional forms of discrimination — made it hard to concentrate on her work.
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