Racial and Ethnic Minority Students' Success in STEM Education by Samuel D. Museus et al. (review)

The experiences of racial and ethnic minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have become an important element to increasing the scientific and technology workforce in this country. This monograph by Samuel D. Museus, Robert T. Palmer, Ryan J. Davis, and Dina C. Maramba seeks to continue this ongoing conversation and to answer the question of what can be done to promote these students' successes.

The book does a great job of bringing together the K-16 literature and offers practical examples of activities at various institutions aimed at improving minority student's achievements in the STEM fields. The authors also take care not to lump the experiences of all racial and ethnic minority students together but to provide distinct information on all the races. They take this a step further whenever possible, such as further distinguishing the ethnic groups within the Asian and Pacific Islanders as well as the Hispanic students. By doing this, they are able to illustrate the similarities and uniqueness among and between races and ethnicities—a major strength of this work.

The book is organized into four chapters. The first sets the context by providing the current demographic trends, current state of minority students in STEM, and key definitions used in the study. The authors argue that by increasing the number of diverse students in STEM fields, American competitiveness in a global market could increase and benefit the country economically.

The chapter provides an in-depth overview of America's changing workforce, and a focus on the financial and social benefits of increasing the success rates of students, specifically minority students, in STEM fields. They identify the factors contributing to the learning needs of various student groups and argue that success rates can be improved only by adapting current educational pedagogy. They are able to show in the chapter that racism and racial oppression in the form of disparity, inequity, and Eurocentric stereotyping hinder every stage of the STEM circuit.

The second chapter focuses on the factors discussed in the K-12 literature that enhance the success of racial and ethnic minority students in the STEM circuit. These factors include school-district funding, academic tracking into remedial and AP classes, unqualified teachers, and teacher expectations that have led to the current under-representation of minority students in STEM. The authors then turn their attention to practices that can reverse the trend. The chapter takes this idea further, exploring current K-12 initiatives at the district and institutional level aimed at improving the students' successes.

The next chapter tackles the problem with colleges and universities. The authors consider whether the changing landscape on colorblind meritocracy and affirmative action have helped or hurt minority students' success in the STEM field. The economic influences affecting college (cost, financial aid, job prospects) are also extensively reviewed. The discussion then focuses on minority-serving and selective institutions, and the STEM climates and culture with attention to the role that faculty, academic advisors, and peers play in racial and ethnic minority students' success in STEM fields. In parallel to the previous chapter, the authors conclude by highlighting various initiatives at the higher education level that have cultivated a positive and productive environment conducive to minority students' success.

To fully tap into the human potential available, the authors provide a wealth of timely information for policymakers and practitioners in the final chapter. By creating an illustrated model, they analyze and synthesize key concepts from which they draw implications for future research. Specifically, the chapter highlights five implications intended to help educators create and provide STEM-focused opportunities for students. They link success for greater numbers of students to early exposure and culturally supportive help for cultural and racial minorities. Promoting global leadership and technological innovation, this investment in time, energy, and resources will advance America...