"Hop to It," a week-long herpetology-focused summer STEM camp for rising fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade girls, provided young females with authentic, hands-on science experiences, allowing them to develop the habits of thought and processes of action used by STEM field experts while also engaging and sustaining their interest in the…

Despite the mental and physical benefits of visiting natural areas, and increases in outdoor activity participation among U.S. youth overall in the past decade, outdoor access is skewed toward nonurban, nonminority populations. This environmental justice issue is particularly pronounced for minority youth in urban areas, such as the Los Angeles…

Historically, the canary served to warn coal miners of the presence of dangerous gases. When the canary stopped singing or was found dead, the miners knew a serious problem required immediate attention. Like canaries, racialized youth in inner city schools are a litmus test for the health of the entire educational system in the United States. They…

In the global phenomenon of widening participation policy in higher education, lower retention rates for students from less advantaged socio-economic circumstances have potential to undermine the social inclusion agenda of HE. This might be an issue in Europe but is not necessarily the case elsewhere. In this paper we consider statistical data on…

An understudied topic is the social experiences of college Latinos. In this study, six men shared their experience of brotherhood or "hermandad". Individual interviews yielded qualitative data that were subjected to inductive coding resulting in seven descriptive themes conveying the essence of brotherhood. The findings and implications…

One of the recommendations of The Pathways Commission report was to increase the number of diverse entrants into the accounting profession. While the Commission's recommendation is commendable, the lack of diversity in the accounting profession is not a new problem. Hence, the accounting profession has attempted to address the underrepresentation…

A cohort program to increase retention of under-represented groups in chemistry was developed at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University. In particular, this program chose to emphasize early career mentoring and early access to research. This goal was chosen because research has been repeatedly shown to increase scientific identity…

Urban school leaders are under increasing pressure--in some cases, under threat of federal investigation (US Department of Education, 2014)--to use alternative models of non-punitive discipline, known generally as positive discipline practices such as restorative discipline (American Psychological Association, 2008; Anfinson, Autumn, Lehr,…

This qualitative case study examined the experiences of twenty-five African American students in STEM majors, at different junctures in their program of study. The students were interviewed in focus groups guided by a semi-structured interview protocol. Several themes emerged to describe the dynamic factors that both weakened and strengthened…

As America's K-12 student population continues to become more diverse, it is important that the ethnic background of the teacher population reflect this change. A crucial aspect of this diversification effort includes black male teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the experiences and perspectives of African American male…

As Christian faith-based institutions of higher education strive to uphold Christian values, there is a need to be intentional in identifying and developing future leaders. This study was viewed through the lens that women are underrepresented in senior-level positions in Christian institutions, they have unique leadership attributes to offer, and…

Women earn bachelor's degrees in engineering at a rate of less than 17% at public universities in California. The purpose of this study was to understand how women experience undergraduate engineering programs at public universities. To understand this lack of attainment, a qualitative methodology and Feminist Poststructuralist perspective were…

Traditionally, many of the problems experienced by Black girls were overshadowed by the ongoing crises facing Black Males. Although important, the focus on Blackness and masculinity often implicitly leaves young Black girls on the sidelines and fails to recognize their unique obstacles. Fortunately, there has been a new surge of social concern…

Black students are negatively affected by disproportionality in school discipline practices, special education identification, and over-restrictive special education placement. Critical race theory is an operative framework that can be applied to increase understanding of such disproportionality (Blanchett, 2011). Through the use of qualitative…

Disproportionality in special education has been examined from various perspectives over a 50-year period. English Language Learner (ELL) students have been included in the discussion among researchers in the past two decades as a disproportionate number of ELL students are referred to special education. Though the problem of disproportionality…