Eric.ed.gov – The Underrepresentation of African American Female Students in STEM Fields: Implications for Classroom Teachers

African American women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields (Catsambis, 1994). The socialization and “under-education” of African American female students engenders ideas of inferiority, while the presence of an inferior race, sex and class, in one body, may produce an ideology of mediocrity. Data findings from NCES (national center for education statistics), College Board, the 2008-2009 Baccalaureate and beyond longitudinal study reaffirm African American girls’ weakness in math and science (NCES, 2009, 2011; College Board, 2011). To prevent African American female students from accepting societal beliefs that blame disparities in math and science on racial or gender inferiorities, recommendations encourage teachers to re-educate this group of girls by employing culturally relevant teaching practices that will undermine gender and racial biases within the classroom. (Contains 4 tables.)