STEM Achievement and Participation among Mexican-Origin Students across Latino/a Destinations

Ackert Elizabeth S, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program and supported by SBE's Sociology program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Robert Crosnoe at the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist investigating STEM experiences among Mexican-origin students in K-12 education in new and established Latino/a destinations. By focusing on the fast-growing and disadvantaged Mexican-origin student population, this research addresses racial/ethnic inequality in STEM participation. The study will identify aspects of communities and schools that help or hinder positive STEM experiences among Mexican-origin students, which can inform policy interventions to increase participation in STEM fields among this underrepresented group. This research thus seeks to broaden STEM participation in a growing and vulnerable population in U.S. schools while supporting the career development of a scholar dedicated to this goal. This project focuses on the ways in which K-12 schools in both traditional and emerging Latino/a destinations in the U.S. shape Mexican-origin student experiences in STEM with three primary objectives: 1) To determine whether Mexican-origin students attending schools in new destinations have lower STEM participation and achievement than Mexican-origin students in established communities; 2) To investigate whether systematic differences in school contexts across Latino/a destinations explain such STEM disparities between Mexican-origin students in new versus established destinations, and; 3) To examine whether variability in school contexts within new and established Latino/a destinations moderates links between destinations and STEM participation and achievement among Mexican-origin students. The Postdoctoral Fellow will pursue these goals with quantitative analyses of datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. This research will draw from and contribute to disciplinary fields including sociology, demography, and education. This work will advance inquiry into STEM outcomes among underrepresented groups and will contribute to debates about immigrant-receiving contexts and incorporation among the Mexican-origin population. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.