It's Not My Party: A Critical Analysis of Women and Minority Opposition towards STEM.

The civil rights era promised an invitation for equity and equality in education was on its way. The invitation was lost in the mail or it is a party that the “marginalized” do not want to attend. In 2004, the National Science Board (NSB) identified a critical shortage of workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields that will be needed by the year 2020. It was stated that the percentage of women choosing math and science courses dropped by four percent from 1993 to 1999. Absent is the mention of the development of social and cultural capital of gendered, minority, or traditionally marginalized students. Further, there has not been an appreciable increase of women and minority participation in STEM. Why has the invitation’s acceptance rate been so low? The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical analysis of how the general disregard for students’ lived experiences contributes to the silencing of expression of women and under-represented groups. In this paper, I examine progressive and scientific discourses from the vantage point of critical social theory, theories of ideology/worldviews, and an extended InputEnvironment-Output model. I then present a case for why a focus on social and cultural capital would enhance participation in STEM. The hope and possibilities for the future is a return to civil rights era concerns that enhances student educational expression and engagement in a meaningful way.