The Role of Institutional Agents in Providing Institutional Support to Latinx Students in STEM

Case study results featuring four Latinx STEM faculty members illustrate the forms of institutional support professors can provide to increase the number of Latinx students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The findings highlight three areas of university faculty agency to integrate Latinx students into the cultural and discursive world of STEM: recruitment, admissions, and program development; professional networking; and brokering support for Latinx within the university and across systems. Recommendations are provided for faculty who wish to act as institutional agents and the need for future research into the institutional culture of Hispanic Serving Institutions is identified.