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Building capital: supporting students of color in STEM degree attainment

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Building capital: supporting students of color in STEM degree attainment

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Building Capital: Supporting Students of Color in STEM Degree Attainment
by
Angela In-He Brockelsby

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2022

© Copyright by Angela In-He Brockelsby 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Angela In-He Brockelsby certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Esther Kim
Douglas Lynch
Patricia Tobey, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
Due to institutional and systemic barriers, few BIPOC students transfer from community
colleges to 4-year institutions with aspirations to attain a STEM degree. This descriptive case
study utilizes the community cultural wealth framework, funds of knowledge, and the role
institutional agents play during and after the transfer and transition process for community
college students pursuing STEM degree attainment at a 4-year institution. This study examined
14 students' experiences through interviews and document analysis of how they overcame the
process and what types of capital, tools, and strategies helped them past those barriers towards
STEM degree attainment.

Keywords: community cultural wealth, STEM, institutional agents, community college

v
Dedication
To my dearest husband William James Brockelsby and our two beautiful children Adam William
Brockelsby and Eleanor Olivia Brockelsby. Without your endless love, patience, and unwavering
support, I would not have made it to the finish line.

To my mother, Hannah, and my grandmother, you are both the strongest and most selfless
women I know, and I am thankful for your love and resilience.

To Adam and Eleanor, may you study and work diligently and live a life of purpose, fun, and
happiness. You both can do anything you set your mind to. To you both and William: I love you
with all my heart.

vi

Acknowledgments
Thank you to my family, faculty members, cohort 15, and others who have helped me
throughout my educational journey. Without you all, this would not have been possible.
Thank you to Dr. Patricia Tobey for helping me in getting to the finish line. Our
conversations, along with your advice and support, have been appreciated, and I am grateful to
have you as my dissertation chair.
Thank you to Dr. Douglas Lynch and Dr. Esther Kim for giving me diverse perspectives
to help me through this journey. Your insights, guidance, and courses helped me throughout my
time at Rossier.
Thank you to my cohort 15 colleagues and friends. This community of learners, leaders,
and change agents has made this one of the most rewarding times of my life thus far. I am so
grateful to have met and learned from each of you. As we close this chapter in our life, let us
continue to Fight On together.
Finally, to the students who gave their time and shared their stories and experiences, this
dissertation is dedicated to your resilience and perseverance. You all are bright lights and our
future.

vii

Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... xii
Chapter One: Introduction to the Study .......................................................................................... 1
Context and Background of the Problem ............................................................................ 1
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions .................................................................. 2
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 3
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 5
Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................. 6
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 7
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .......................................................................................... 8
State of STEM Workforce and Education .......................................................................... 8
Community College and Pathways to Baccalaureate Completion ................................... 15
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 21
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 36
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 36
Overview of Design .......................................................................................................... 37
Research Setting ................................................................................................................ 40

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The Researcher .................................................................................................................. 41
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 42
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 43
Instrumentation ................................................................................................................. 44
Data Collection Procedures ............................................................................................... 45
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 46
Credibility and Trustworthiness ........................................................................................ 49
Ethical Implications .......................................................................................................... 49
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 50
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 52
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 52
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 66
Findings Research Question One ...................................................................................... 66
Discussion Research Question One .................................................................................. 93
Findings Research Question Two ..................................................................................... 94
Discussion Research Question Two ................................................................................ 113
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 113
Chapter Five: Recommendations ................................................................................................ 116
Recommendations for Future Research .......................................................................... 127
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 128
References ................................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 150
Appendix B: Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix (Qualitative) ...................................... 155

ix

Appendix C: Recruitment Email Communication ...................................................................... 156
Appendix D: Information Sheet for Exempt Research ............................................................... 158
Appendix E: Qualitative Codebook ............................................................................................ 161

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Data Sources ................................................................................................................... 38
Table 2: Participants Interviewed for the Study (N = 14) ............................................................. 53
Table A1: Demographic and Interview Questions Social and Cultural Capital and
Institutional Agents ..................................................................................................................... 151
Appendix B: Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix (Qualitative) ...................................... 155
Appendix E: Qualitative Codebook ............................................................................................ 161

xi

List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 23
Figure 2: Stanford d.School Design Thinking Process ............................................................... 123
Figure 3: Liberatory Design Thinking Process ........................................................................... 124
Figure 4: Design for Equity in Higher Education Model ........................................................... 126

xii

List of Abbreviations
4IR Fourth Industrial Revolution

ACS American Community Survey

AI Artificial Intelligence

BIPOC Black, Indigenous, and people of color

CCW Community Cultural Wealth

CRT Critical Race Theory

DEHE Design for Equity in Higher Education

FK Funds of Knowledge

GDP Gross Domestic Product

IHE Institutions of Higher Education

IoT Internet of Things

SES Socioeconomic Status

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

STW Skilled Technical Workforce

VUCA Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous
1

Chapter One: Introduction to the Study
Disproportionately low rates of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are attributable to cultural,
structural, and institutional barriers creating deficit opportunities for BIPOC within a socially
stratified society (Tsui, 2007). By 2027, 49% of students graduating from high school will be
students of color (Association of American Colleges and Universities [AACU], 2015a). In the
era of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), a highly educated
workforce is necessary to navigate the cross-sectors of digital, physical, and biological systems
(Schwab, 2017). The 4IR will necessitate students in the United States to excel in science,
technology, and analytics (Matheson, 2019). According to Zilberman and Ice (2021), STEM
occupations will grow two times faster than all occupations by 2029. However, in 2018–19,
8.5% of Black, 14% of Hispanic, and .5% of American Indian/Alaska Native students graduated
from a post-secondary institution with a STEM degree or certificate compared to 60.2% of White
students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Higher education in the United States
is falling behind in meeting the postsecondary learning and skills needed to function in the 4IR
and failing to serve all its citizens (AACU, 2015b).
Context and Background of the Problem
The historical and social contexts of race have long been a factor in the cost of
“disadvantages” (Kahlenberg, 2010, p. 167). According to the Association of American Colleges
and Universities (AACU, 2015), all education levels in the United States reinforce inequities,
especially for minority and low-income students. The disparities in educational opportunity,
student success, and degree completion stratify by racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomic
status (SES; Witham et al., 2015). In Pre-K through high school, minority students and students
2

from low SES experience inequities in college readiness. Proficiency in eighth-grade math skews
below grade level disproportionately towards minority students, with 86% of Blacks, 79% of
Latinos, and 79% of American Indians not meeting the standards necessary for college readiness
in STEM majors (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2015b). The National
Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2011) recognize historical, societal, and
institutional inequities create a multi-faceted problem affecting the BIPOC population with no
straight pathway or pipeline to STEM careers within the educational continuum.
The future workforce will navigate a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous
(VUCA) world, and organizations need digital leaders to drive cultures of innovation, creative
problem solving, and continuous improvement (Bawany, 2020). Schwab and Davis (2018) stated
that 4IR will exacerbate inequalities and create unintended negative consequences for the most
vulnerable populations, the natural environment, and future generations if advancements are not
human-led and human-centered. For the United States to remain globally competitive in the 4IR,
an equitable and inclusive environment in IHE must prepare all students with technological,
social, emotional, and higher cognitive skills to navigate the unknown.
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions
Overall, BIPOC students in STEM majors are lagging behind Whites and Asians, causing
their underrepresentation in the STEM workforce (Crisp et al., 2009; Tsui, 2007). The National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016) stated that 10% of community college
students obtain a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field within 6 years of enrollment.
The purpose of this study was to examine how BIPOC students use different types of
capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Yosso, 2005)
and institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) to navigate the transfer process from
3

community college to 4-year institutions integrating multiple frameworks including critical race
theory (CRT) (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995), funds of knowledge (FK;
González et al., 1995; González & Moll, 2002; Moll et al., 2013; Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011), and
community cultural wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005).
Laanan and Jain (2016) proposed examining the different types of individuals’ capital
within the context of community colleges and universities, examining transfer capital, academic
experiences, institutional characteristics, and social experiences to advance the study of transfer
success in higher education. Bensimon et al. (2019) suggested various types of capital and
institutional agents have contributed to successful transitions from community college to a 4-year
university for students of color pursuing STEM degrees. The study also explored how
institutions can support BIPOC students in their transition to their STEM majors. The following
research questions guided this qualitative methods study using interviews through a critical
paradigm lens:
1. How do students of color use their experiences to navigate the transfer process into
STEM majors from community college to a selective public research institution?
2. What types of tools and strategies do students of color use to successfully navigate
the transfer and transition process into their STEM majors from community college to
a selective public research institution?
Importance of the Study
Educational reform is necessary to increase the rates of BIPOC in the STEM workforce,
with a national effort focusing on recognizing the problem as urgent, addressing the issue
through “sustained, comprehensive, intensive, coordinated, and informed” measures (Medicine
et al., 2011, pp. 7–8). Change is necessary to address the imbalance of BIPOC in STEM careers.
4

The STEM Opportunities Act of 2019 focuses on increasing participation and trajectories of
BIPOC and women at higher education institutions and federal science agencies, but Carnevale
et al. (2021) stress that more must be done, including using new approaches to recruitment,
enrollment, counseling, and graduating. To succeed in STEM, BIPOC students need focused
attention on “preparation, access and motivation, financial aid, academic support, and social
integration” (Medicine et al., 2011, p. 5). Combating factors that lower their transfer rates
requires a multi-prong approach that addresses the whole student, including financial, social,
cognitive, and human capital factors. While increasing their representation in STEM majors and
careers focuses on colleges, foundations, and lawmakers, limited research exists regarding
improving outcomes of BIPOC transfer students using CRT, FK, CCW, and institutional agents
for the 4IR.
To meet the needs of the 4IR, IHE needs to focus on commitments to “equity and
inclusive excellence” (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2015a, p. 3). The
economic implications of not attaining educational equity can amount to the United States losing
out on annual society gains of $956 billion, decreasing its economic standing (Carnevale et al.,
2021). Carnevale et al. (2021a) posited that the United States is losing more by “not achieving
equal educational outcomes” and “society is losing out on considerable economic potential,”
including “increased tax revenue and gross domestic product (GDP); decreased spending on
criminal justice, public health, and public assistance programs; and smaller gaps in earnings”
(pp. 8–9). Educational equity for BIPOC and increased education attainment would benefit
society more than the initial public costs while decreasing earnings and cumulative savings gaps
(Carnevale et al., 2021a). By addressing persistent educational opportunity gaps, student success,
5

and degree attainment among BIPOC students, the United States can continue to position itself
as a global power and not fall behind rising economies such as China and India.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
Community cultural wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005), FK (González et al., 1995; Moll et al.,
2013), and the concept of institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997) were used as the
theoretical frameworks to ground and analyze the problem of lack of BIPOC transfer students in
STEM majors as it relates to meeting the workforce demands of the 4IR. Both CCW and FK
extend Pierre Bourdieu’s (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) theories on social and
cultural capital through the CRT lens, flipping deficit thinking to a nurturing and empowering
model (González et al., 1995; Yosso, 2005). The CCW framework highlights the “knowledge,
skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by Communities of Color to survive and resist
macro and micro-forms of oppression” (Yosso, 2005, p. 77). In addition, CCW goes beyond
cultural capital by looking at aspirational, navigational, linguistic, familial, social, and resistant
capital to better equip Communities of Color with positive approaches and highlight strengths
from within the community (Yosso, 2005).
Both CCW and FK address the barriers and facilitators faced by BIPOC students in the
transfer process from two-year to 4-year institutions into STEM majors through a positive
reinforcing set of shared experiences and a culturally responsive pedagogy (Kiyama & Rios-
Aguilar, 2018). Identifying knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts of those who have
succeeded despite societal, institutional, and individual discrimination gives control back to the
oppressed and change communities of color's narratives of achievements. Navigating IHE from
entry to completion is not a one-size-fits-all approach, especially for diverse cultures. Identifying
methods from various cultures and communities is necessary to create equitable and inclusive
6

environments for all related to access and student success. 4IR will only exponentially
exacerbate the social class and economic divide if access, inclusivity, and student success are not
the main focal point for research-intensive IHE.
Definition of Terms
The following definitions provide a clear understanding of their use and relevancy to this
study.
BIPOC: Acronym standing for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
Color blindness: The belief that people should treat people as equals regardless of race or
color, keeping race neutral in decision making. (Delgado et al., 2012).
Counternarrative: Legal scholars such as Bell and Delgado used storytelling and
narratives to illustrate how race and racism affect people of color in the United States against the
dominant narratives (Dixson & Rousseau, 2005). Solórzano and Yosso (2002) defined a counter-
story as a method to tell the stories of those in society's margins who may not have voices.
Solórzano and Yosso (2002) use this tool to challenge majoritarian narratives.
Critical race theory (CRT): Delgado et al. (2012) defined CRT as a radical legal
movement used to change how race, racism, and power affect different systemic and institutional
structures.
Institutional agent: Stanton-Salazar (1997) defines institutional agents as “individuals
who have the capacity and commitment to transmit directly or negotiate the transmission of
institutional resources and opportunities (p. 6).
Interest convergence: Legal scholar Derrick Bell (1980) coined this term to identify how
majority groups allow advances for racial justice when it is in the best interest of their majority
and not truly for advancing social justice (Delgado et al., 2012).
7

Intersectionality: Crenshaw (1989, 1991) defined intersectionality as a belief that
different individuals and classes share traits or interests which overlap. For example, Black
women may face discrimination based on race, sex, and class (Crenshaw, 1989).
Transfer shock: A severe drop in grades and performance upon transferring from one
institution to another in the first semester of the transition period, typically from a community
college to a 4-year institution (Hills, 1965).
Organization of the Study
The dissertation follows a traditional five-chapter model, with Chapter One focusing on
the introduction and background of the study. Chapter Two reviews and highlights literature
relevant to the study, including the current STEM workforce, community college and
baccalaureate completion, and the conceptual framework. Chapter Three focuses on research
methodology, including the qualitative method and the rationale for sample, data gathering
process, and data analysis. Chapter Four concentrates on the findings from the study, and
Chapter Five details the proposed recommendations based on the results.
8

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
This chapter examines the current state of the United States STEM workforce, including
the uneven progress of racial and ethnic diversity within the workforce and STEM degree
attainment for BIPOC populations (Burke, 2022; Fry et al., 2021). As STEM careers become
more prevalent, a diverse, educated workforce (Hunt et al., 2015) is necessary to account for
demographic shifts in the population (Frey, 2018). The literature review also provides insight
into community colleges' role (Bailey et al., 2015; Boggs, 2010; Casner-Lotto & Wisell, 2019;
Cohen et al., 2014; Porter, 2017) in BIPOC populations pursuing baccalaureate completion and
institutional and systemic barriers hindering progress. This chapter explores barriers for BIPOC
students seeking to transfer from community college to 4-year institutions (Berger & Malaney,
2011; Fink et al., 2017; Shapiro et al., 2017; Umbach et al., 2019). Furthermore, it also examines
how STEM degree programs create additional barriers for BIPOC populations seeking degree
attainment (Abu-Esba, 2018; Demel, 2019; Jackson & Laanan, 2015; Olson & Labov, 2012).
Finally, the chapter ends with a literature review of a conceptual framework involving multiple
theories and frameworks, including CRT in Education (Ladson-Billings, 1998, 2006), funds of
knowledge (González et al., 1995; Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011), and the concepts of CCW (Yosso,
2005) and institutional agents (Bensimon et al., 2019; Dowd et al., 2013).
State of STEM Workforce and Education
The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2022 report updates Congress and the
president biennially on the state of science and engineering in the United States within a global
context with information regarding STEM education and labor workforce, research and
development, and science and technology capabilities. The 2022 report stated that Blacks,
Hispanics, and Native American or Alaska Natives continue to be underrepresented in the STEM
9

workforce relative to their proportion within the United States population (Burke, 2022). The
Pew Research Center’s analysis of federal employment and education data also reported in 2021
that “Black and Hispanic adults are less likely to earn degrees in STEM than other degree fields”
and “continue to make up a lower share of STEM graduates relative to their share of the adult
population” (Fry et al., 2021, p. 4). However, STEM jobs continue to grow exponentially greater
than other fields even with the advent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which
caused a global pandemic in 2020, affecting all aspects of life around the world and accelerating
the use of technology to enable remote working options in the workforce.
Era of Exponential Growth
While COVID-19 greatly affected labor markets altered by consumer and business
behavior, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics saw moderate to strong gains in STEM-related
fields, including growth in physical and life sciences, engineering, pharmaceutical, medical, and
IT and computer-related fields (Ice et al., 2021). Projected growth from 2019 to 2029 indicates
acceleration from 4.1% to 8.4% in physical and life science and engineering fields and as high as
5.4% to 19% in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (Ice et al., 2021). Increased
teleworking and stronger demand for computer-related manufacturing and computer systems
design and related services are projected to grow even faster at 19.1% and 26.1%, respectively
(Ice et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic also affected unemployment rates across the United States
with short-term increases as the contagious virus caused employers and businesses to pivot and
adjust how they operated during the pandemic. While unemployment rates spiked in some
occupations, such as the hospitality and service industry, unemployment rates also differed for
some, with the STEM-related labor force faring better with a 6% increase in unemployment rates
10

compared to 11% or more in other non-STEM-related positions (National Science Board &
National Science Foundation, 2021).
In addition to the acceleration of STEM career growth in the workforce, the National
Science Foundation and National Science Board also updated their traditional definition of
STEM with a new expanded definition to accommodate new advancements and innovations. The
Science and Engineering Indicators report now accounts for STEM workers in middle-skill
occupations and a skilled technical workforce (STW) who are STEM workers without a
bachelor’s degree in a STEM or STEM-related field (National Science Board & National
Science Foundation, 2021). With the new expanded definition of what qualifies as being part of
the STEM workforce, the United States now has over 36 million individuals who work in a
STEM field, which equates to 23% of the total Unite States workforce who require STEM
knowledge and qualifications to perform their jobs (Burke, 2022).
By 2030, 75 to 375 million workers will switch occupations around the world due to the
impact of automation, and many will work alongside robotic counterparts (Manyika et al., 2017).
Christensen (2016) and Bawany (2019) suggested that disruptive innovations such as AI, Internet
of Things (IoT), advanced robotics, quantum computing, blockchain technology, 3-D printing,
genetic engineering (CRISPR), nanotechnology, and biotechnology will impact and change the
nature of work and the way people live. Exponential growth in the STEM workforce and
increased employment opportunities should benefit the United States and global economy, but
representation in the STEM workforce is far from gender-balanced nor racially and ethnically
diverse.
11

Representation in the STEM Workforce
With over 36 million workers in the STEM labor force in the United States, the lack of
diversity and representation of certain demographic groups negatively impacts productivity and
innovation with underutilization of talent within the overall population (Bell et al., 2019; Hsieh
et al., 2019; National Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021). Lack of
representation of various genders, races, or ethnicities relative to the overall population can also
hinder the capacity to build the science and engineering workforce (Hamrick, 2021; National
Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021). The participation of different
demographic groups varies depending on occupation within the STEM field, educational
attainment, salary differences, and domestic or foreign-born talent (Hsieh et al., 2019; National
Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021).
In 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS),
9% of Asians and 65% of Whites accounted for most of the STEM workforce (National Science
Board & National Science Foundation, 2021). Women contributed to 34% of the STEM
workforce relative to nearly half of the employed United States population (Burke, 2022).
Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives represented only 23%, with the greatest
discrepancies or lack of representation among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher in a
STEM field (Burke, 2022; National Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021). Only
9% of Black or African American and 14% of Hispanic or Latino workers were employed in
STEM fields, with 7% Black or African American and 8% Hispanic or Latinos having a
bachelor’s degree or higher in a STEM major (National Science Board & National Science
Foundation, 2021).
12

Discrepancies in salary differences were also prevalent, dependent on gender and race or
ethnicity. Women were paid $29,000 less than men in 2019 in median salary in science and
engineering (S&E) fields (National Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021). Black
or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native employees who
had their highest degree in an S&E field also had the lowest median salaries ranging from
$60,000–65,000 for a STEM position compared to $95,000–104,000 median salaries for White
and Asians (Hamrick, 2021; National Science Board & National Science Foundation, 2021).
Salary discrepancies compounded the intersectionality of identities, including gender and race or
ethnicity, with Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino women earning $30,000–
40,000 less than White or Asian men in STEM jobs in 2019 (Fry et al., 2021; Hanson, 2013;
Martínez & Gayfield, 2019; Paul et al., 2018). Along with a major imbalance of salary
distribution among BIPOC populations and women, Asian and White foreign-born workers were
more prevalent in S&E and S&E-related fields (National Science Board & National Science
Foundation, 2021).
Another common theme in the distribution of STEM workers in the S&E and S&E-
related fields was the rate of foreign-born workers, with 19% of the STEM workforce in 2019
attributed to foreign workers from India and China and 45% of foreign-born STEM workers
having obtained doctoral-level degrees in S&E fields (Burke, 2022). While the United States
benefit from foreign-born talent in the STEM workforce, many foreign-born workers are limited
in their ability to work in the United States as they are required to have an H-1B or F-1 and J-1
visas to remain in the United States (National Science Board & National Science Foundation,
2021). Expected stay rates of foreign-born workers vary, causing instability in workers with high
levels of education in STEM fields and do not change the underrepresentation of BIPOC
13

populations in the United States with STEM degrees in all levels of educational degree
attainment.
Pathways to STEM jobs vary depending on occupation with career technical education,
degree attainment, and certification and licensure training (National Science Board & National
Science Foundation, 2021). Not all STEM careers require a 2-year or 4-year degree; however,
the highest paying S&E and S&E-related occupations require higher levels of education,
including a baccalaureate degree (National Science Board & National Science Foundation,
2021).
Underrepresentation in STEM Degree Attainment
Carnevale et al. (2021) stated that the desire to improve STEM education and outcomes
was a national security challenge in 1957 and is still a threat to the nation's premier status in
commerce, industry, technology, and scientific innovation today. Improving BIPOC
representation in STEM fields can align with the racial/ethnic diversity of the United States
population as BIPOC populations continue to grow (Carnevale et al., 2021; Frey, 2018).
Attaining a bachelor's degree or higher in a STEM field can pay dividends for future earnings.
Students who obtain a STEM bachelor's degree will earn $50,710 more than an individual who
graduates from high school but decides not to attend either a community college or 4-year
institution and enter directly into the workforce. As students graduate with STEM degrees, the
importance of finding employment in a related occupation will also affect their potential earnings
(Carnevale et al., 2021b; Carnevale et al., 2015; Melguizo & Wolniak, 2012).
According to Levin et al. (2018), education is an “investment with a long-term horizon”
(p. 172). The average median salary for a job in a STEM field in 2020 is $89,780 (U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, 2021a). The average median wage of jobs with only a high school diploma
14

earns nearly $50,000 less a year than those with a 2-year or 4-year degree (Carnevale et al.,
2015; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021b). Levin et al. (2018) observed lifetime present
value earnings gains from college in nine studies, with median earnings reaching $423,800.
Investment in higher education can benefit those seeking higher future earnings, with STEM
degrees producing more potential earnings than other degree programs. Carnevale et al. (2015)
also state that median wages grow more significantly throughout employment, but differences
vary among majors, with STEM wages increasing by 50% throughout their careers. A job in a
STEM field can be lucrative, especially for those with a 4-year degree or higher.
However, the core foundations for STEM majors rely on proficiency in mathematics and
science curricula starting in elementary and secondary education. According to Burke (2022), the
United States ranks 25th of 37 in mathematics within the Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) countries and 7th out of 27 in science literacy. The nation is
lagging with especially low international rankings in mathematics. Burke (2022) also stated that
BIPOC students persistently lag White and Asians in mathematics scores in fourth grade, with
the greatest difference occurring in eighth-grade scores with a 24–32-point difference. As
BIPOC students transition from high school to post-secondary education or directly into the
STEM workforce, underrepresentation is prevalent in S&E majors and degree recipients.
According to Burke (2022), of the over one million degrees awarded in 2019 in S&E fields,
Blacks were underrepresented in all degree levels, with only 8% of baccalaureate and doctoral
degrees. Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives were also underrepresented but fared
better in associate degree levels (Burke, 2022). White students continue to obtain most degrees in
S&E and STEM fields at all degree levels, causing an imbalance of representation of Whites in
the STEM workforce relative to their population in the country (Burke, 2022).
15

As the United States continues to diversify with a rapidly growing Hispanic, Asian,
multiracial, and Black population, Frey (2018) argued the nation’s demographic landscape is
changing, and the STEM workforce needs to represent these changes by increasing BIPOC
representation. Otherwise, the nation will lose its competitive global standing in the STEM
fields, including research and development and science and technologies capabilities (Burke,
2022). As of 2020, China outpaces the United States in shares of international patents granted to
inventors, research publications, and output and is closing the gap in gross domestic expenditures
on global research and development (Burke, 2022). To remain competitive in STEM, the United
States must produce more workers with varying levels of degree attainment in STEM majors and
training, including increasing BIPOC students obtaining STEM degrees. However, historically
BIPOC populations’ educational obtainment trajectories vary, with most going through the
community college route yet not earning degrees (Bailey et al., 2015; Boggs, 2010; Cohen et al.,
2014).
Community College and Pathways to Baccalaureate Completion
The junior college role evolved since 1901 when Joliet Junior College served as the first
public community college, a feeder institution for the University of Chicago (O’Banion, 2019).
Community colleges are integral to “society’s commitment to educational opportunity” and a
“foundation for economic growth and upward mobility” (Bailey et al., 2015, p. 1). Community
colleges are diverse and inclusive regardless of “age, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status,
and degree of disability” (Boggs, 2010, p. 2). Open-access policies, geographic location, and
financial accessibility allow “virtually every American” to access higher education in the United
States (Cohen et al., 2014; O’Banion, 2019). In fall 2018, over 1,300 2-year institutions existed
16

in the United States, educating 5.7 million of the 16.6 million undergraduate students enrolled in
a degree-granting postsecondary institution (Hussar et al., 2020).
In addition to access to higher education, community colleges are integral in preparing
the United States workforce, including allied health services and technical professionals,
occupational education and training, and upskilling (Boggs, 2010; O’Banion, 2019). According
to Carnevale et al. (2020), certificate and associate degree programs are occupationally focused
and designed to prepare students for the workforce as part of the community and technical
college curricula. Community colleges were also key in providing upskilling and new skills
during the Great Recession of 2008–2010 (O’Banion, 2019). More than half of students enrolled
in certificate or associate degree programs were BIPOC, with 62% of Hispanic/Latinos and 56%
of Black/African Americans enrolled (Carnevale et al., 2020).
BIPOC Enrollment in Community College
Today, community colleges play an essential role in undergraduate enrollment for BIPOC
communities by serving many students from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations and
lower SES (Cohen et al., 2014; O’Banion, 2019). According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, in 2018, 51% of students attending a 2-year public, 61% of students at 2-year private
non-profit, and 65% of students at 2-year private for-profit institutions were from BIPOC
populations (Hussar et al., 2020). Community colleges are integral in expanding access at low
costs (Bailey et al., 2015; Cohen et al., 2014). However, maximizing course enrollment for
“completion of high-quality programs of study” has not been a high priority, with “cafeteria-
style” and “self-service models” prevalent in community colleges today (Bailey et al., 2015, p. 2-
3).
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While open access allows BIPOC communities increased access to education, community
colleges face higher rates of dropouts, stop-outs, and swirling students, creating issues for
retention and graduation rates (Cohen et al., 2014). In 2018, 12% of Black, 22% of Hispanic,
and .9% of American Indian/Alaska Native students earned an associate degree even though the
BIPOC populations contributed to more than half of community college enrollments (de Brey et
al., 2021; Hussar et al., 2020). Attributions of these low success rates include structural and
motivational barriers. Developmental (remedial) coursework in math and English to move onto
college-level courses, obligations such as work or family, part-time attendance, dysfunctional
advising, loss of credits, and academically underprepared students all play a role in low
retention, persistence, and graduation rates (American Association of Community Colleges,
2012; Bailey et al., 2015; Brock, 2011).
Barriers to Transfer and Degree Completion
Most students who begin at the community college aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree
(Wyner et al., 2016). In 2011, nearly 80% of 2 million students entering community college
indicated intent to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree (Horn & Skomsvold, 2011; Xu et al.,
2018). However, data from the National Student Clearinghouse (2016) show only 31.5%
transferred to a 4-year institution within 6 years of first enrolling at a community college. Due to
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, transfer and student mobility show a significant decline,
including in all directions of transfer pathways, with a national decline of 8.1% of transfer
student enrollment (Causey et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects
BIPOC students, excluding Asians, with general losses in enrollment and numbers of transfer
students (Causey et al., 2020). While the pandemic affects enrollments across the board, vertical
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transfer, or transfer from a 2-year to a 4-year institution, is an effective means for obtaining a
baccalaureate degree (Causey et al., 2020; Cohen et al., 2014).
Students transferring after receiving a credential (certificate or associate degree)
increased the likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree (Ehrenberg & Smith, 2004; Kopko &
Crosta, 2016; Shapiro et al., 2017). According to the National Student Clearinghouse (2016), two
in five associate degrees lead to a bachelor’s degree in 6 years, with 41% earning a baccalaureate
at a 4-year institution. While baccalaureate attainment is higher for those with an associate
degree, completion rates for baccalaureates were dismal for BIPOC students, with only 10% of
Black, 13% of Hispanic, and .5% of American Indian/Alaska Natives obtaining bachelor’s
degrees in 2018 (de Brey et al., 2021). Transfer success depends on various factors, including
adapting to the academic rigor, transferability, and articulation of courses and credits, mapping
degree pathways, and custom advising practices (Cohen et al., 2014; Wyner et al., 2016). When
students fail to assimilate and transition to the new institution, phenomena such as transfer shock
hinder their success (Cohen et al., 2014).
Pursuing STEM Pathways
A complexity of barriers exists for BIPOC students interested in STEM majors and
careers. Arguments made include a leaky pipeline (Clark-Blickenstaff, 2005; Hernandez et al.,
2013). Yet, some critics argue the oversimplification of the pipeline model does not address the
complexities of issues affecting STEM pathways for K–16 to the workforce (Metcalf, 2010,
2014; Witteveen & Attewell, 2020). Problems range from inequities created by the unavailability
of core courses, creating roadblocks to obtaining the required coursework to pursue a STEM
degree to aspirations, motivations, social, financial, academic, and institutional support
(Hernandez et al., 2013; Malcom & Feder, 2016; Medicine et al., 2011; Taylor et al., 2020).
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Institutional barriers from community colleges and 4-year institutions also affect students'
transition and adjustment periods (Laanan, 1996). Barriers stemming from the institution and the
student affect how successful the student is during the transfer and transition periods. Barriers
identified by Wang and Lee (2019) include articulation agreements between community colleges
and 4-year STEM faculty, different curriculum development, lack of academic support, lack of
transfer mentoring, and pedagogical differences between institutions. Additional experiences
include lack of academic counseling, perceptions of the transfer process, interactions with
faculty, course learning and study skills, perceptions of the university, and stigma of transfer
students, which affect academic transfer adjustment (Laanan et al., 2010). Wang and Lee (2019)
also investigated motivational barriers from students pursuing STEM, including attitudes and
efficacy towards math and science and active learning pedagogy.
The transition from 2-year to 4-year institutions can also be daunting, especially for
students indicating intent to major in STEM. Students at 2-year institutions entering 4-year
institutions intending to major in STEM rose to 40% in 2010 from 33% in 2007 (Malcom &
Feder, 2016). However, students’ intent and completion of a bachelor’s degree program are
different. Data limitations exist for community college students interested in STEM majors after
completing an associate degree, transferring to a 4-year institution, and completing a
baccalaureate in a STEM field (Malcom & Feder, 2016). Despite unclear connections, the
National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
(IPEDS; 2019) indicates that only 20% of baccalaureate degrees awarded in 2018 were in
STEM. Among the STEM baccalaureates awarded in 2018, White students gained the most
degrees at 62%, while 7% of Black, 12% of Hispanic, and 0.4% of American Indian/Alaska
Native received degrees. Disparities in STEM degree aspirations and STEM baccalaureate
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completion of BIPOC students were critical agenda’s during the Obama administration
(President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology, 2012) and with the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016) since the early 2010s. Yet, not much
progress addresses STEM degree access and completion for BIPOC populations.
Since 2010, research from the American Association for Community Colleges (AACC),
League for Innovation in the Community College, the Community College Research Center
(CCRC), and Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) have explored ways to
address student success and college completion rates in community colleges (O’Banion, 2019).
Programs like Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count (ATD), Completion by Design,
the AACC Pathways Project’s guided pathways model, the 21st Century Initiative, and the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation’s Frontier Set all work towards increasing student success and
decreasing attainment gaps (Bailey et al., 2015; O’Banion, 2019). The City University of New
York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) and the Ohio Program’s adoption of
the ASAP model, nearly doubling the degrees awarded in 3 years and increasing transfers to 4-
year institutions, illustrate that student success and degree attainment are achievable (Miller et
al., 2020; O’Banion, 2019). Nevertheless, community colleges are far from delivering a well-
educated workforce and losing ground in educational attainment in the global economy,
including transfer pathways from 2-year to 4-year institutions (American Association of
Community Colleges, 2012; O’Banion, 2019).
While barriers persist for students transferring from community colleges to 4-year
institutions, various types of capital and institutional agents have contributed to successful
transitions (Bensimon et al., 2019; Denton et al., 2020; Dowd et al., 2013; Jayakumar et al.,
2013; Kruse et al., 2015; Luna & Martínez, 2013; Rincón et al., 2020a; Rincón et al., 2020b;
21

Samuelson & Litzler, 2016). Laanan and Jain (2016) proposed examining individuals’ CCW in
the context of community colleges and universities and examining transfer capital, academic
experiences, institutional characteristics, and social experiences to advance the study of transfer
success in higher education.
To advance STEM degree attainment within BIPOC populations, researchers such as
Rincón et al. (2020a; 2020b), suggested CCW and institutional agents can contribute to the
pursuance of STEM degrees, with aspirational capital, familial capital, and institutional agents
providing the most support toward student success. Denton et al. (2020) suggested CCW helps
students pursuing STEM degrees, but resistant capital was not as prevalent as the other types of
capital. Denton et al. (2020) also indicated that an overlap of certain types of capital, including
aspirational, navigational, and social, makes it challenging to identify which kind of capital
helped students the most. Finally, Bensimon et al. (2019) and Dowd et al. (2013) reiterated and
accentuated the importance of institutional agents in pursuing STEM degrees by BIPOC
populations.
Conceptual Framework
Community cultural wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005) is one theoretical framework or theory
of change to ground and analyze the problem of the lack of equity and inclusion for students of
color related to meeting the workforce demands of the 4IR. Institutional and systemic racism
have long been issues that people of color face in IHE, hindering student success and educational
attainment (Harper, 2012; Harper et al., 2009; Samuelson & Litzler, 2016). Much of the prior
research in education for BIPOC populations focused on deficit models (Ladson-Billings, 2006)
of thought where students of color were thought to be lacking in academic achievement.
However, Yosso (2005, 2006) and many other education researchers (Bensimon et al., 2019;
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Dowd & Bensimon, 2015; Harper, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2006; Witham et al., 2015) challenged
dominant narratives familiar in education research.
Understanding the CCW framework requires an overview of critical race theory (Delgado
et al., 2012; Delgado & Stefancic, 1993), critical race theory in education (Ladson-Billings &
Tate, 1995), and Oliver and Shapiro’s (2013) concept of wealth for BIPOC populations are
necessary to lay the foundation for the components of the CCW framework. Other theoretical
frameworks essential to understanding the BIPOC population’s ability to navigate institutional
and systemic barriers for success include the concept of funds of knowledge (González et al.,
1995; González & Moll, 2002; Moll et al., 2013; Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011) and agents of social
capital, including institutional agents (Bensimon et al., 2019; Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu &
Passeron, 1977; McCallen & Johnson, 2020; Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Stanton-Salazar, 2011). See
Figure 1.

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

23
24

Critical Race Theory in Education
Critical race theory (CRT) emerged in the 1970s to highlight race, racism, and power as
the underpinnings of institutional and structural injustices among legal and civil rights cases as
activists and scholars studied ways to move past stalled advances of the Civil Rights movement
of the '60s (Delgado et al., 2012). Early scholars such as Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, Richard
Delgado, and Kimberlé Crenshaw contributed to the basic tenets of CRT. For CRT theorists,
racism is an ordinary occurrence for people of color and is endemic (Delgado et al., 2012;
Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Our system in the United States maintains power for “White-over-
color” with society using racism to distribute status and privilege (Delgado et al., 2012, p. 7).
Other tenets include interest convergence, race as a social construction, revisionist interpretation
of history, critiques of liberalism and color blindness, anti-essentialism, intersectionality, and
unique voices of color (Bell, 1980; Crenshaw, 1991; Delgado et al., 2012; Delgado & Stefancic,
1993).
As CRT expanded beyond the legal system, spinoff movements, including CRT in
education, began to explore issues in schools such as “affirmative action, high stakes testing,
curriculum, and history” (Delgado et al., 2012, p. 6). Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) applied
tenets of CRT in education to examine how race and racism affect education, including
challenges to color blindness, meritocracy, the intersection of race and property, and other
forces. Solórzano (1997) defined five themes of CRT: central to education, including centrality
and intersectionality of race and racism, challenges to the dominant ideology, commitment to
social justice, centrality of experiential knowledge, and interdisciplinary knowledge perspectives.
The central tenet of CRT in education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) is the concept of
voices and the rejection of dominant narratives that suggest the inferiority of people of color
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(Dixson et al., 2017; Dixson & Rousseau Anderson, 2018; Lynn & Dixson, 2013). Storytelling
and narrative analysis bring insights and voices to those often ignored by populations with
power, especially with different lived experiences by people of color creating alternative
realities. Highlighting experiences is the operative component important to critical race theorists
(Delgado et al., 2012). However, CRT critics counter that storytelling and the concept of voices
cannot be “trusted” as the experiences these individuals have are atypical, are “objective truths,”
or lack “analytical rigor” (Delgado et al., 2012, pp. 103–104). However, Solórzano and Yosso
(2002) argued that stories and narratives which counter dominant ideology are a necessary tool
for “exposing, analyzing, and challenging the majoritarian stories of racial privilege” and serve
four functions:
(a) They can build community among those at the margins of society by putting a human
and familiar face to educational theory and practice; (b) they can challenge the perceived
wisdom of those at society’s center by providing a context to understand and transform
established belief systems; (c) they can open new windows into the reality of those at the
margins of society by showing possibilities beyond the ones they live and demonstrating
that they are not alone in their position, and; (d) they can teach others that by combining
elements from both the story and the current reality, one can construct another world that
is richer than either the story or the reality alone. (pp. 32–36)
Counternarratives, including personal stories or narratives, other people’s stories, or composite
narratives, are forms of data that recount “racialized, sexualized, and classed experiences of
people of color,” which can challenge “cultural deficit majoritarian storytellers” and other deficit
models of thinking that propagate among educational research and narratives prevalent in
education regarding people of color (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002, pp. 32–33). Counternarratives
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can also serve as a form of resistance and cultural survival, an important component of CRT
(Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Capital, Funds of Knowledge, and Agents of Capital
The definitions of social and cultural capital depend on whose perspective and definition
are applied. Bourdieu and Coleman had different takes on social and cultural capital, with
Bourdieu’s definition aligning with conflict theory while Coleman’s view of social capital
aligning with the functionalist perspective (Kiyama & Rios-Aguilar, 2018). Bourdieu and
Passeron’s (1977) views, however, reject functionalist views on social capital and focus on how
educational systems reflect dominant society and serve to maintain social class structures.
Stanton-Salazar (2001) viewed Bourdieu’s argument as perpetuating inequities instead of using
education to help reduce inequities in society, especially for underrepresented students and
families.
Social and Cultural Capital
Bourdieu (1986, 1977) introduced cultural capital as different sets of cultural
competencies, knowledge, and dispositions possessed by families passed down to generation in
what Roscigno and Ainsworth-Darnell (1999) signify as “social reproduction of inequality” (p.
159). Bourdieu (1986) examined cultural capital in three forms: embodied, objectified, and
institutionalized. Lamont and Lareau (1988) countered Bourdieu’s definition of cultural capital
and expanded on a new definition of cultural capital based on Durkheim’s theories of social
classification and Weber’s theories of exclusionary process focusing on cultural and social
exclusion to influence individual outcomes and social privilege. According to Erickson (1996),
Bourdieu equated cultural capital with the acquisition of economic capital; therefore, those with
27

economic means have more access to cultural and social capital, which continues to increase
economic capital.
Coleman’s (1988) viewpoints on capital focus on the parental role or absence in relation
to the transfer of capital to their children and academic performance. Coleman (1988) viewed
parental involvement as essential in the educational outcomes of children, as seen in educational
policy and practice today (Edwards, 2004). Coleman’s (1988) functionalist view of social capital
posits that individuals are “bound to collective belief systems, commitment to common values
and community engagements with social relations productive only when people adhere to the
norms and values the social structure prescribes” (Kiyama & Rios-Aguilar, 2018, p. 9).
Ascribing to this method of thought creates a deficit model approach for marginalized groups of
students if their family structure does not meet prescribed norms and is therefore seen as a
challenge to their academic success. Scholars who follow Coleman’s definition of social and
cultural capital do not see a role where educational institutions contribute to inequities for
underrepresented and marginalized populations (Kiyama & Rios-Aguilar, 2018).
The definition of cultural capital has evolved with scholars presenting different forms of
cultural capital, including Yosso’s (2005) CCW framework. Kiyama and Rios-Aguilar (2018)
argued multicultural views of cultural capital do not follow Bourdieu or Coleman’s theories on
cultural capital and instead expand these multicultural views of capital with the caveat that “they
need to be placed within the struggle over power as defined by the rules of a particular field” and
social powers at play within those fields (p. 12). Kiyama and Rios-Aguilar (2018) challenged
scholars in education to think beyond the ideology of teaching students to obtain social and
cultural capital to become successful in life and focus beyond the “capital illusion” to instead
understand that the dominant culture is a strategic game that requires going beyond existing
28

social arrangements and requires “more careful thought and action” (p. 13). However, scholars
also cannot remove the economic factors that influence social and cultural capital, and doing so
can create a faulty idea that just building social and cultural capital can help marginalized and
underrepresented students succeed.
Funds of Knowledge
Moll et al. (1992) originated the FK concept in the 1990s in relation to resources BIPOC
populations used with social networks to “document the competence and knowledge embedded
in the life experiences of underrepresented students and their families (Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011,
p. 164). FK is a sociocultural view of education that looks at the experiences of students and
families and the resources and knowledge they bring (Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011).
Kiyama and Rios-Aguilar (2018) argued that underrepresented students are perpetually
assessed in a deficit paradigm in academic research on college access, persistence, and success,
with students deficient or lacking in their own roles for success. Kiyama and Rios-Aguilar
(2018) acknowledged higher education’s role in the misconception that underrepresented
individuals “control their own circumstances, have the freedom to make a variety of choices and
can respond to challenges in a predictable, linear, and logical way” (p. 4). However, by using the
FK concept, researchers and practitioners can use the concept pedagogically as a “cultural
resource for teaching and learning in school” and establish “educational capital for families often
assumed to be lacking any such resources” (Moll et al., 2013, p. 173).
A misconception or tension that Kiyama and Rios-Aguilar (2018) pointed out with the
use of FK is that scholars must validate social and cultural capital without any resources or
capital (González et al., 2011), and the use of experiences of underrepresented students is
valuable but only a starting point in understanding how power, oppression, and the ongoing
29

struggle for domination affect BIPOC families and students. Researchers need to go beyond the
funds of knowledge concept and acknowledge “systemic issues of power or social conflict within
educational systems” (Kiyama & Rios-Aguilar, 2018, p. 18).
Kiyama et al. (2018a) tied together various conceptual frameworks, including CRT,
CCW, and critical pedagogy (CP), with the concept of FK to offer a different perspective and
counter deficit thinking model covered in prior research in higher education of the BIPOC and
underrepresented student population. Kiyama et al. (2018a) noted these complementary
frameworks can be used to combat educational inequities in BIPOC and marginalized
populations.
Agents of Capital and Institutional Agents
Bourdieu (1986) defined social capital as the “aggregate of the actual or potential
resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized
relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition” (p. 248). Bourdieu (1986) stated those
with social capital are members of a group connected to provide either material or symbolic
exchanges of capital to retain the status quo. Agents of social capital are members of the group,
and the volume of capital depends on the size of their networks and connections as well as the
“volume of capital (economic, cultural or symbolic) possessed” (Bourdieu, 1986, p. 249).
Coleman (1988) further elaborated on social capital as various entities with two elements,
including social structures and “actions of actors” among actors within those structures (p. 98).
Coleman (1988) believes social capital is gained through relations and is more difficult to gain
than human capital as it is dependent on others and not oneself. Both Bourdieu (1986, 2019) and
Coleman (1988) saw families and communities as important aspects in building capital and could
30

be agents of capital. However, Bourdieu's views differ from Coleman's by viewing families as
cultural capital versus social capital (Rogosic & Baranovic, 2016).
Families and communities are important to understanding how students navigate
educational systems. Phelan et al. (1991) introduced the students’ multiple worlds framework to
describe how families, schools, and peers are interrelated and illustrate how others can affect
how students engage with learning. According to Stanton-Salazar (2011), “socialization is cast as
the process by which young people, engaged with various agents and significant others, learn to
negotiate and participate in multiple sociocultural worlds” (p. 1069). While families and
communities are important in the development of adolescents’ capital, other agents outside of
these two entities can maximize capital building.
The concept of institutional agents refers to teachers, counselors, community leaders, and
other individuals who have the means to “transmit or negotiate the transmission of institutional
resources and opportunities such as information about school programs, academic tutoring,
college admissions, and career decision making” (Bensimon et al., 2019; Stanton-Salazar, 1997,
2011; Stanton-Salazar & Dornbusch, 1995). According to Stanton-Salazar and Dornbusch
(1995), aspirations and expectations are important to an adolescent's educational and
occupational attainment. Institutional agents who occupy high positions in institutions or
organizations can “provide key forms of social and institutional support” to help students attain
knowledge and capital to succeed in education (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1075). Institutional
agents provide various support and roles, including resources, knowledge, advisor, advocate,
networking coach, integrative support, cultural guide, program developer, lobbyist, political
advocate, recruiter, bridging agent, institutional broker, or coordinator (Stanton-Salazar, 2011).
Another type of institutional agent that Stanton-Salazar (2011) introduced is the empowering
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agent who provides emotional support and access to resources within their network to help low-
status students achieve. According to Stanton-Salazar, empowering agents can fill “structural
holes” through their networks and are motivated by teaching students how they can “change the
world” (pp. 1089–1093).
Institutional agents can play a key role in aiding transfer students by providing key
knowledge and resources needed to successfully transition (Bensimon et al., 2019; Stanton-
Salazar, 2011). According to a study conducted by Bensimon et al. (2019), college practitioners
or institutional agents in key roles within the university provided students aspirations. They
affirmed their identity development as college-going students. Families were key to providing
psychological support; however, families lacked the authority to help cultivate a sense of
belonging and validation at the university (Bensimon et al., 2019).
Community Cultural Wealth
Yosso (2005) challenged dominant ideology and was resistant to ideas of cultural deficits
(Solórzano & Yosso, 2001; Dixson & Rousseau Anderson, 2018; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002),
achievement gaps (Ladson-Billings, 2006), lack of motivation, and other negative views held of
people of color (Dixson & Rousseau Anderson, 2018). Yosso challenged interpretations of
Bourdieuean beliefs of cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) and who should have
cultural capital working through assumptions about students of color and their lack of social
skills, necessary knowledge, and abilities. According to Yosso, deficit thinking in education puts
students of color and their families at fault for “poor academic performance because: (a) students
enter school without the normative cultural knowledge and skills; and (b) parents neither value
nor support their child’s education” (p. 75). To challenge and counter deficit approaches, Yosso
looked to Freire’s (2014) critique of the banking concept of education and instead viewed culture
32

as funds of knowledge (González et al., 1995; González & Moll, 2002). Yosso ascribed to Oliver
and Shapiro’s (2013) views on the concept of wealth building to overcome inequality and how
people of color accumulate “community cultural wealth” to resist oppression (p. 77). In sum,
CCW consists of six types of capital: aspirational capital, familial capital, linguistic capital,
navigational capital, resistant capital, and social capital (Yosso, 2005).
Aspirational Capital
Aspirational capital refers to the hopes and dreams of individuals regarding their future
despite barriers, whether they are real or perceived (Yosso, 2005). Yosso (2005) based
aspirational capital on Gándara’s (1982, 1995) views on cultural wealth and the role that families
play in their children reaching their goals through stories to transmit beliefs, attitudes, self-
image, and aspirations (p. 51). According to Yosso (2005), aspirational capital examines the
resiliency that Chicanas/os have towards educational attainment despite having the lowest
outcomes for education compared to other populations.
Familial Capital
Familial capital refers to the “pedagogies of home” that BIPOC students bring to the
classroom (Delgado Bernal, 2002, p. 120). Yosso (2005) references various scholars' work on
how families bring cultural knowledge to their children to navigate and operate in society,
including the wealth of knowledge that different Communities of Color bring. Morris (1999)
introduced the concept of communal bonds of African American communities, and González et
al. (1995) referenced Mexican American communities who share funds of knowledge to
highlight cultural intuition, community history, and memories useful for coping with problems.
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Linguistic Capital
Linguistic capital refers to the cultural wealth gained by BIPOC communities who
experience communication through one or more languages and styles (Faulstich Orellana et al.,
2003). According to Yosso (2005), students of color bring additional communication skills, such
as storytelling, listening, recounting, memorizing, translating, and using different vocal tones,
volumes, and rhythms to engage audiences. Faulstich Orellana (2003) also noted bilingual
children gain additional tools to communicate, such as “vocabulary, audience awareness, cross-
cultural awareness, real-world literacy skills, math skills, metalinguistic awareness, teaching and
tutoring skills, civic and familial responsibility, and social maturity” as they have translated
information to their parents (p. 6).
Navigational Capital
Navigational capital refers to the BIPOC population’s ability to navigate various
institutions, including academic spaces that may not include different perspectives from
dominant populations (Yosso, 2005). Communities of Color learned how to draw upon cultural
strategies and resilience to survive and thrive in situations affected by racism, including health
care, education, employment, and judicial systems (Yosso, 2005).
Resistant Capital
Resistant capital refers to the cultural knowledge that Communities of Color have learned
to resist the dominant narratives in society affected by racism (Yosso, 2005). Based on Freire’s
(2014) critical take on forms of oppression, Communities of Color take control of their
“struggles to regain their humanity” and create value in themselves to fight racism, sexism, and
classism (p. 48).
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Social Capital
Social capital is the concept of using lessons learned and communities working together
to lift each other from prior experiences (Yosso, 2005). According to Stanton-Salazar (2001), the
network of contacts and resources can provide support to navigate through different situations,
including the pursuit of higher education, legal system, employment opportunities, and
healthcare. As people of color attain social capital, they contribute back to their communities to
lift the next generation with information and networking opportunities necessary to navigate
systems of oppression (Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Yosso, 2005).
Conclusion
This chapter explored concepts related to the current state of STEM in the United States,
including what the future of work holds for students entering the workforce post-graduation and
who is attaining those skills to navigate the future of work (Bawany, 2019; Johannessen, 2019;
Schwab, 2017; Schwab & Davis, 2018). The literature review also covered how community
colleges are beneficial to BIPOC students in access to a college degree and degree attainment,
yet few graduates with a credential, and even fewer pursuing STEM degrees transfer to 4-year
institutions to gain a baccalaureate degree (Causey et al., 2020; Chen, 2013; Fink et al., 2017;
Metcalf, 2010; Olson and Labov, 2012; Shapiro et al., 2017).
The final section of the literature review examined the theoretical and conceptual
framework this study used to address the research questions. Overall, CRT (Bell, 1980;
Crenshaw, 1989; Delgado et al., 2012) and CRT in education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995),
along with the concepts of social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman,
2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Coleman, 1988), FK (González et al., 1995; Moll et al., 2013;
Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011), CCW (Yosso, 2005) and institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 2011)
35

help to understanding how to transfer BIPOC students pursuing STEM succeed (Bensimon et al.,
2019) in higher education and degree attainment.
Integrating different frameworks extending beyond social and cultural capital and FK to
include CRT and CCW challenges and extends prior theories on capital. According to Giraldo et
al. (2017), the use of CCW is important as it introduces the impact of racial microaggressions
and sheds “light in dark spaces as a form of capital,” and educational barriers can only be
addressed if institutions and researchers ground their commitment to creating social justice and
equity by addressing access, lack of support, and inclusion from the perspectives of the students
they are trying to serve (Kiyama & Rios-Aguilar, 2018, pp. 51–62). The next chapter covers the
research methodology, collection, and analysis of data from the case study.
36

Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this chapter is to explore how different types of cultural and social capital,
FK, CCW, and agents of social capital impact BIPOC students in their pursuit of a STEM major
as they transfer and transition from a community college to a 4-year institution. The previous
chapter covered the literature regarding the current landscape of STEM workforce and education,
the role of community colleges for BIPOC students in degree attainment, and barriers
specifically for those pursuing STEM majors. This chapter covers the research methods for the
study, including the research questions, an overview of the design, including participants, data
sources, data collection, and analysis. The final part of this chapter covers the study's validity,
reliability, and ethical implications.
Research Questions
This study explored how BIPOC students use different types of capital associated with
cultural and social capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron,
1977; Coleman, 1988), FK (González et al., 1995; González & Moll, 2002; Kiyama & Rios-
Aguilar, 2018; Moll et al., 2013), and CCW (Yosso, 2005) to succeed in their pursuit of higher
education and a STEM degree. Laanan and Jain (2016) proposed examining individuals’
different types of capital in the context of community colleges and universities, examining
transfer capital, academic experiences, institutional characteristics, and social experiences to
advance the study of transfer success in higher education. This study also looked at the role and
support institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) provide in helping BIPOC students
pursue STEM degrees (Bensimon et al., 2019; Dowd et al., 2013). Bensimon et al. (2019)
suggested various types of capital and institutional agents have contributed to successful
37

transitions from community college to a 4-year institution for students of color pursuing STEM
degrees. This study used these research questions to guide it:
1. How do students of color use their experiences to navigate the transfer process into
STEM majors from community college to a selective public research institution?
2. What types of tools and strategies do students of color use to successfully navigate
the transfer and transition process into their STEM majors from community college to
a selective public research institution?
Overview of Design
This qualitative study utilized a descriptive case study (Mills et al., 2010; Yin, 2018)
research design incorporating experiences, including counternarratives crucial to CRT in
education, from voices ignored or unheard to highlight successes in higher education attainment
by BIPOC populations in STEM majors (Dixson et al., 2017; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-
Billings & Tate, 1995; Lynn et al., 2002; Lynn & Dixson, 2013; Solórzano, 1997; Yosso, 2005).
The case study methodology allows researchers to “understand a real-world case” in-depth,
grounding the study within a “theoretical proposition to guide design, data collection, and
analysis” and relies on “multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a
triangulating fashion” (Yin, 2018, p. 15).
The research design focused on a single critical case design to contribute to the social and
cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977), FK
(González et al., 1995; González & Moll, 2002; Moll et al., 2013; Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011),
CCW (Yosso, 2005), and institutional agent (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) framework to
confirm, challenge or extend these theories (Yin, 2018). The research design also focused on
embedded units of analysis, including the GS program as a whole and the transfer component of
38

the GS program (Yin, 2018). The embedded design allowed the researcher to avoid “slippage”
and take too broad an approach when studying the GS program (Yin, 2018, p. 53). Exploring the
overall program and the individual unit allowed for a more robust research design during
collecting and analyzing data (Yin, 2018).
The study collected the experiences of 14 self-identified BIPOC individuals between the
ages of 20 to 36 through semi-structured interviews to create transcripts for field texts for
analysis (Yin, 2018). Other data sources included documents, internal websites, external
websites, and handbooks collected for the embedded units of analysis (Yin, 2018). Multiple data
sources allowed the researcher to validate findings and enhance the study's credibility (Creswell
& Guetterman, 2019). Table 1 outlines the data sources used in the case study and which
research question they addressed.

Table 1
Data Sources
Research questions Overall approach
Participants and
settings
Data collection
methods
RQ1: How do
students of color
use their
experiences to
navigate the transfer
process into STEM
majors from
community college
to a selective public
research institution?
Qualitative; Interview
protocol to
understand how
transfer students
successfully
navigate the transfer
admissions process
into a STEM major
and what themes
emerged related to
various types of
capital used,
including CCW
(Creswell &
Creswell, 2018).
Transfer students
majoring in STEM
participating in the
GS program; are the
focus of the study.
The GS program is
a scholarship
program for
students from low
to moderate-income
households who
graduated with an
associate degree in
a STEM or STEM
education field. The
A semi-structured
interview protocol
was used to
understand how
BIPOC students
majoring in
STEM
successfully
transferred into
their study area
from a community
college to a 4-year
institution,
including what
types of capital
39

Research questions Overall approach
Participants and
settings
Data collection
methods
program provides
program support,
mentoring,
networking,
financial, and
enrichment
opportunities.
including CCW
(Yosso, 2005) and
how institutional
agents (Stanton-
Salazar, 2011;
Stanton-Salazar et
al., 1995) may
have affected their
success (Creswell
& Creswell,
2018).
RQ2: What types of
tools and strategies
do students of color
use to successfully
navigate the transfer
and transition
process into their
STEM majors from
community college
to a selective public
research institution?
Qualitative;
Interviews and
documentation to
understand how
BIPOC students use
different types of
tools and strategies
to navigate and
transition from
community colleges
into selective public
research institutions
(Creswell &
Creswell, 2018;
Yin, 2018).
Transfer students
majoring in STEM
participating in the
GS program; are the
focus of the study.
The GS program is
a scholarship
program for
students from low
to moderate-income
households who
graduated with an
associate degree in
a STEM or STEM
education field. The
program provides
program support,
mentoring,
networking,
financial, and
enrichment
opportunities.
A semi-structured
interview protocol
will follow to
understand how
institutional
agents and
different types of
tools and
strategies were
used from the
community
college or
selective public
research
institution to
support BIPOC
students in their
transfer process
and transition
successfully into
their STEM major
(Creswell &
Creswell, 2018).

The researcher
collected and
performed
documentation
analysis from the
GS program and
the 4-year
40

Research questions Overall approach
Participants and
settings
Data collection
methods
institution to
understand how
institutional
agents and
different tools and
strategies may
have impacted
BIPOC students
transitioning from
the community
college to a 4-year
institution into a
STEM major
(Creswell &
Creswell, 2018;
Yin, 2018).

Research Setting
The study took place at Southeastern Public Institution (SPI, a pseudonym), a large 4-
year, public, more selective, primarily residential, higher transfer-in, STEM-dominant, research
university located in the Southeastern region of the United States (Indiana University Center for
Postsecondary Research, 2018). In all, SPI has 11 colleges and over 300 undergraduate and
graduate degree programs in 60 departments with over 36,000 students. The undergraduate
student population is nearly 70% White, with over 90% under the age of 24, 85% in-state, and
primarily attending the university full-time (National Center for Education Statistics, 2018).
Also, SPI has a nearly 94% retention rate for full-time, first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking
undergraduates entering the fall of 2019. As of fall 2020, SPI also has an 85% 6-year graduation
rate, nearly 83% 5-year graduation rate, and 65% 4-year graduation rate. In addition, SPI is more
selective, with a freshman acceptance rate of 47% and a transfer acceptance rate of 47%. In the
41

fall of 2021, nearly 1,400 transfer students began their studies at SPI, with 49% being female,
65% White, and 56% from community colleges in the local system.
In 2020, the GS program (a pseudonym) had over 300 total students, with over 60
transfer students enrolled in the program studying STEM or STEM education majors. Also, in
2020, students in the program were slightly over 50% women, and 46% identified as historically
underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
The Researcher
I identify with multiple identities which shaped the reality I experienced growing up,
including gender, race, and SES. As a mixed-race Asian American woman, gender inequality
(Lorber, 1993) and racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2009) affected my everyday life as an
adult working in higher education administration in the United States. Growing up and moving
from low SES to the upper-middle class also affected who I am as an administrator and
researcher. The role of higher education is crucial for social mobility. My experiences growing
up in poverty grounded my view of access, inequalities, and the different classes in society. Each
of these identities brought different perspectives, but it also introduced potential biases in my
research. For example, I did not work directly with BIPOC students in their academic success
endeavors. However, as the United States becomes more diverse (Frey, 2018), a higher education
administrator with diverse backgrounds can empathize with multiple identities and perspectives.
While this is an asset for marginalized identities, I was aware that my experiences do not
resonate with everyone, and I was conscious that blind spots might exist.
To counter these potential biases, I was mindful of my experiences with education,
including my experience as a lateral transfer student from a 4-year institution to another 4-year
institution, but acknowledged these experiences are not the same as those transferring from a 2-
42

year community college to a 4-year institution. I also came from a minoritized population in
society but did not fall into categories assigned to BIPOC populations pertaining to this study.
I worked within the division that the GS program is a part of at SPI, but the program did
not report to me, nor did I interact with the students in the program daily. The participants had
the option to participate in this study and were free to end their participation at any point within
the research if they did not want to proceed. This relationship was made explicit during and
throughout the study, including through the recruitment process, the data collection phase, and
the data analysis phase.
Data Sources
I collected data through semi-structured interviews (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019) to
gather information regarding the participants’ experiences transferring from a community college
to a 4-year institution into a STEM major focusing on various types of capital and institutional
agents. Students participated in interviews to gather insights into their experiences (Creswell &
Guetterman, 2019). Other data came from documentation, demographic data, and information
from the GS program, including handbooks, website information, programmatic and event
information, and internal reference guides (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019; Yin, 2018). The
documents were analyzed in parallel to the interviews.
Interviews
Semi-structured interviews focused on the social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986;
Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977), FK (González et al., 1995; González
& Moll, 2002; Moll et al., 2013; Rios-Aguilar et al., 2011) and CCW theoretical framework
which examined aspirational capital, social capital, navigational capital, resistant capital,
linguistic capital, and familial capital (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019; Yosso, 2005). The
43

interview questions also covered the role of and support an institutional agent may provide in the
interviewees’ success and the strategies and tools the students used to succeed (Creswell &
Guetterman, 2019; Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011).
Documentation
Documentary data sources, such as administrative documents including handbooks,
internal records, websites, programs, reports of events, and course agendas, were examined to
understand the role of institutional agents and how the GS program supported transfer students
studying STEM majors at SPI (Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Yin, 2018).
Participants
A purposeful sample (Patton, 2002) was selected to get the most insight from the
population. The target sample population consisted of participants meeting the following criteria:
BIPOC students currently enrolled at SPI in STEM majors who transferred and transitioned from
a community college. Critical sampling allowed the researcher to understand a case that
illustrates a situation (Yin, 2018). In addition to the target sample population described,
additional participants from the transfer alumni base of the GS program allowed me to expand
recruitment. Recruitment of students occurred via email from the GS program, which may fall
under the convenience sample category.
This recruitment email had a detailed description of the procedures, including full
disclosure of potential risks to the participants and the site within the study (Creswell &
Guetterman, 2019). The interview questions did not cause discomfort outside the normal range
of everyday life and, therefore, caused minimal harm to the interviewees (Creswell & Creswell,
2018; Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). I reminded the participants that their participation was
44

voluntary, and they could end their involvement in the study at any time (Creswell &
Guetterman, 2019).
To access the GS program, I identified the gatekeepers who provided entrance to the
participants and obtained information, including internal documentation records for the program
(Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). Information including details on site selection, what the study
examined, time spent, and potential risks, and the report of findings provided the gatekeepers an
understanding of the study (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019).
Instrumentation
The research called for interview protocols for one-on-one, semi-structured interviews
with two sets of guided lists of questions or issues explored (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
semi-structured interview structure allowed me to explore areas where participants took the
conversation. The flexibility in the semi-structured interview allowed for additional insights from
the participants. The strength of interviews in a case study includes the ability to target or focus
directly on the case study topic and provide insight and explanations along with personal views,
attitudes, and meaning (Yin, 2018). Some weaknesses with the interview protocol included
response bias, inaccuracies due to poor recall, reflexivity, and bias due to poor interview
questions (Yin, 2018). To counter the weaknesses, I used multiple sources of evidence for
triangulation and convergence of evidence (Yin, 2018).
The interview questions referenced in Appendix A were categorized by the key concepts
within the various types of capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu &
Passeron, 1977) and FK (González et al., 1995; González & Moll, 2002; Moll et al., 2013; Rios-
Aguilar et al., 2011) that students used to navigate the transfer process. The respondents’
answers also allowed for further analysis incorporating CCW (Yosso, 2005) with a deeper
45

exploration of different types of capital. Additional interview questions related to strategies and
resources, barriers and challenges, institutional support, and institutional agents (Bensimon et al.,
2019; Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) as presented in Appendix A.
Additional instruments included documents provided by the GS program and the SPI
(Creswell & Guetterman, 2019; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). These included administrative
documents, website data, and internal handbooks (Yin, 2018). The strengths of documentation
included unobtrusiveness, stability of records, and both specific and broad data (Yin, 2018). The
documentation weaknesses were retrievability, biased selectivity, reporting bias, and access (Yin,
2018). A disadvantage associated with some documentation retrieval was accessibility due to
privacy reasons (Yin, 2018). However, to counter weaknesses in documentation access, an audit
trail and case study database were created to keep a chain of evidence (Yin, 2018). Triangulation
confirmed or refuted the data collected (Yin, 2018).
Document analysis provided public and private records to create textual data with
potentially valuable information useful for triangulation (Yin, 2018). Both instruments helped
with RQ2 and how institutional agents, resources provided by the SPI, and the GS program
affected BIPOC students pursuing STEM majors from community college to a 4-year institution
(Stanton-Salazar, 1997).
Data Collection Procedures
I recruited participants via email from the GS listserv obtained from the executive
director of the GS program. Students who met the criteria were selected to participate in the
interviews. Students from the GS program were asked to contact me directly via email using my
USC email address to confirm their involvement in the interview. Once interviewees were
selected to participate, I contacted them to set up dates and times convenient to them during the
46

Fall 2021 semester. Each interview took approximately 20–45 minutes. Interviews were
conducted via Zoom and recorded on my password-protected computer (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Once the interviews were complete, I informed participants that I might reach out to them
during data analysis for follow-up interviews for clarification purposes. I saved data to an
external hard drive, and the type of recording depended on what the interviewee agreed upon
regarding recording audio or video. Due to COVID-19, interviews were conducted remotely via
video or audio conferencing to meet pandemic protocols. I and a transcription service transcribed
the video or audio recordings and stored them on my external hard drive. I removed any markers
that may identify participants before sending them to the transcription service. I also separated
demographic data and identifiable attributes for participants with the interviews on separate
password-protected hard drives.
I created a case study database to organize and document the information collected (Yin,
2018). In addition to this database, I documented via a chain of evidence, including citations
specific to evidentiary sources, case study protocols, case study questions, and answers to the
questions, so readers could follow the process and conclusions of the case study research (Yin,
2018).
Data Analysis
To start the analysis, I began with the questions from RQ1 and RQ2 and then identified
evidence that addressed these (Yin, 2018). I extracted a tentative conclusion with the evidence
and organized the evidence so readers could understand and check the assessment of the
evidence; this process was iterative until I concluded the research was complete and research
questions addressed (Yin, 2018).
47

According to Creswell and Guetterman (2019), qualitative data analysis and
interpretation takes six steps: preparing and organizing data, initial exploration of the data and
coding, using codes to develop a general overview, interpreting the meaning of the results, and
constructing strategies to validate the findings. I began data analysis by constructing an analytic
strategy that informed the direction for data analysis and linked case study data to important
concepts pertinent to the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study (Yin, 2018). One
general strategy that Yin (2018) suggested is using theoretical propositions to shape the analytic
priorities and guide the analysis. After identifying the strategy, I organized the data into different
arrays, themes, sub-themes using a matrix for evidence, visual flow charts, tabulation of events,
and information in sequence or chronology (Yin, 2018). In case study research, there are analytic
techniques to link the data to propositions, including pattern matching, explanation building,
logic models, and time-series analysis (Yin, 2018). The following sections present the analysis
strategies I used.
Interviews
I organized the information with a file structure system to gather the evidence in a
method that was easy to locate and identify. I also organized the data into a matrix or table of
sources, organized the material by type, kept duplicate copies, and maintained confidentiality by
storing data in a password-protected external hard drive. I transcribed the interviews using a
transcription service called Otter.ai for the first pass in transcribing the interviews and then
manually updated the text by listening to the audio of the interviews and updating the transcripts
when mistakes appeared. I analyzed the data from the transcripts using a computer-assisted tool
called NVivo for qualitative data analysis (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019; Yin, 2018). I began
coding information with initial a priori codes and in vivo codes (Saldaña, 2021), reduced the
48

codes with overlapping data, and categorized the codes into different themes (Creswell &
Guetterman, 2019; Miles et al., 2020; Saldaña, 2021). According to Creswell and Guetterman
(2019), reducing themes to five to seven themes is best to write a report providing detailed
information or descriptions from the qualitative research. Second cycle coding involved axial
coding to categorize results into major themes and subthemes (Saldaña, 2021).
Documentation
I organized documentation into a file structure system to easily locate and identify. I used
the documentation, including text and visual information, to code and find themes. The
documentation served as evidence to verify or contradict data from interviews with the
participants. I put the data into the computer-assisted tool, and this helped with triangulation
(Creswell & Guetterman, 2019).
To understand the strength of the case study, an important strategy was finding and
addressing rival or alternative explanations in the findings (Yin, 2018). During the final section
of the data analysis, I investigated addressing rival or alternative explanations (Yin, 2018).
In reporting the findings related to the descriptive case study, Yin (2018) suggested using
four types of compositional structures: linear-analytic, comparative, chronological, and
unsequenced. To report the findings of this study, I used a linear-analytic compositional structure
(Yin, 2018). I represented findings figures and demographics tables, including a narrative
discussion of the findings (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). The report also included dialogue,
quotes, multiple perspectives written in vivid detail, and tensions or contradictions in the
participants’ experiences concerning the conceptual framework (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019).
49

Credibility and Trustworthiness
To ensure the study’s credibility and trustworthiness, triangulation with multiple data
sources increased the credibility of the research (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). These data sources were interviews and documents (websites, pdfs, and other information
provided by interviewees). The second source of credibility and trustworthiness was member
checks by reviewing preliminary or emerging findings with interviewees through feedback
mechanisms (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Finally, spending adequate time collecting data and
purposefully interviewing enough participants that the data and findings reached saturation
helped with credibility (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). For trustworthiness or confirmability, an
audit trail, categories created, and how I made decisions can allow others to understand the
process. It enabled me to record the research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). I addressed
transferability using thick descriptions and detailed/descriptive study findings (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). I addressed the study's dependability through accurate recordings, reporting, and
inter-rater checks on coding between the research and design (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016).
Ethical Implications
I sent all participants an informed consent document in advance, and they understood
their data and information would remain confidential before, during, and after the research. I
recorded interviews after receiving consent from the participants. I stored data on a secure
password-protected external hard drive. No harm came to the participants, and they had the
option to end their participation in the study at any time. Participants gained a small
denomination gift card of no more than $25.
50

Since I have no direct, implied, or assumed influence over the participants in power
relations or dynamics, they should not have felt coerced at any time. The IRB process happened
through both my university and SPI.
This research serves the organization recruiting BIPOC students to increase STEM
majors within the organization. This research will also serve BIPOC students, families, and the
connections responsible for recruiting URM students within the community, including high
school counselors, transfer advisors, and pre-college and admissions professionals. No harm
came to participants; however, students may not benefit from the experience if the institution or I
do not use data from the study to inform recruitment and enrollment practices. I answered the
research questions from the perspective of admissions and enrollment professionals and BIPOC
who may benefit. This study may benefit other admissions and enrollment professionals and
BIPOC students to participate in the study's research design. I also designed the questions and
scope. I disseminated results to the organization, participants interested in learning about the
study results, and external admissions and enrollment professionals.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations to a study occur during inadequate measure or analysis of data, loss or lack of
participants, and errors in data collection and analysis, which are out of the researcher’s control
(Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). The descriptive case study was one research method employed
for qualitative research; however, I could have deployed other strategies in this study that may
have netted additional insights. According to Yin (2018), case study research requires
researchers to be prepared and trained to conduct case study research. Yin (2018) also stated that
case study research can be real or anonymous, but the ability to disclose the identities of the
individuals and the site is more desirable as the case may have more credibility to the findings. In
51

the case of this study, the site and individuals were not identified, and pseudonyms were used
throughout the study to protect their anonymity (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
The descriptive case study was useful in getting a deeper understanding of a phenomenon
within one bounded instance, but the results of the GS program in student success may not
transfer to other institutions. During recruitment, students self-selected to participate; therefore,
the interview data do not represent the experiences of all BIPOC transfer students who
transferred from community college to a 4-year STEM degree program. Also, during the
recruitment phase, several students who initially reached out to be interviewed were not
interviewed. Two participants dropped out during the initial recruitment phase. Participants were
also interviewed via Zoom during a global pandemic, which is unique to this period, and
introduced different types of challenges students faced in higher education. While I worked to
minimize errors in data collection and analysis, limitations may still be present in the conceptual
framework, interview questions, and data.
Delimitations of the study were the participants selected, the questions asked, and the
number of interviewees. The interview was one data collection method, but the respondents’
answers were not under my control. Therefore, the information gathered may not be truthful,
correct, or corroborated. Data collected through interviews were also not generalizable to a larger
group or population, but they represent the interviewees’ lived experiences (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). The choices made for the research design, process, and analysis may have affected the
findings.
52

Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this study was to examine how BIPOC use different types of capital
(Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Yosso, 2005) and
institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) to navigate the transfer process from
community college to a 4-year STEM degree programs. Bensimon et al. (2019) suggested that
various types of capital and institutional agents contribute to these transitions’ success. Laanan
and Jain (2016) proposed examining the different types of individuals’ capital in the context of
community colleges and universities, examining transfer capital, academic experiences,
institutional characteristics, and social experiences to advance the study of transfer success in
higher education. The following research question guided this study:
1. How do students of color use their experiences to navigate the transfer process into
STEM majors from community college to a selective public research institution?
2. What types of tools and strategies do students of color use to successfully navigate the
transfer and transition process into their STEM majors from community college to a
selective public research institution?
Participants
The participants were BIPOC students aged 20 to 36 who transferred into SPI from a
community college with an associate degree focused on a STEM or STEM education field. In the
Fall 2021 semester, 14 individuals were interviewed, with half self-identified as male and half as
female. Half of the participants also self-identified as being of two or more races/ethnicities. Five
participants graduated from community college with both an associate of science and associate
of engineering degree. Table 2 summarizes their demographic makeup. Pseudonyms were used
53

to protect the participants’ and SPI’s privacy. Six demographic questions and 11 interview
questions were used.

Table 2
Participants Interviewed for the Study (N = 14)
Participant Gender Age Ethnicity Major
Degree
attained
Alexander Male 23 Hispanic, White
Industrial engineering,
economics
A.E.
Ava Female 22 Black Chemical engineering A.S.
Chloe Female 20 Hispanic, White Chemical engineering A.S. A.E.
Emma Female 22 Hispanic, White Animal science A.S.
Isabella Female 20 Hispanic, White Animal science A.S.
James Male 24 Asian Computer science
A.S., A.E.,
B.S.
Joshua Male 36 Asian, White Mechanical engineering A.E.
Matthew Male 20
Hispanic, Native
American
Computer engineering A.E.
Mia Female 22 Hispanic Construction engineering A.S., A.E.
Olivia Female 22 Hispanic Biological sciences A.S.
Ryan Male 23 Black Electrical engineering A.E.
Sophia Female 22 Hispanic Electrical engineering A.S., A.E.
Timothy Male 28 Black, White Statistics A.S.
Victor Male 24 Asian Electrical engineering A.E., B.S.

54

Alexander
Alexander is a 23-year-old male studying industrial engineering and economics in his
senior year of college. He identifies as both Hispanic and White and is Mexican American from
an immigrant family. He speaks a lot about his father and how he took him out to the tobacco
fields working in farming and manual labor jobs in agriculture growing up. Alexander said his
father stressed the importance and “value of education,” and Alexander is the first in his family
to attend college as a “first-generation” student.
Alexander did not have many role models in engineering growing up. He states, “All I
knew around was foreign workers in agriculture,” so he was discouraged since he did not feel it
was an “ideal” profession. He describes his class experiences as not seeing “many Hispanics or
other Mexicans in my classrooms” and as being one of the only Hispanics in class. However, he
also used his surroundings as motivation to pursue engineering:
But in a way, that’s also encouraging because that inspires me to want to be a role model
for all my fellow Hispanic community to show that a Latino or Hispanics can reach an
engineering degree.
Alexander uses his experiences from his family and community to pursue higher education and
credits advisors, faculty members, and friends of family in learning about opportunities,
including funding resources available to attend college.
Ava
Ava is a 22-year-old female studying chemical engineering and is in her senior year of
college. She identifies as Black and is of Jamaican descent, having grown up in the Caribbean,
where she describes “life is really hard.” Education is stressed to overcome poverty, and she
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states, “It’s kind of like most African cultures and, honestly, most foreign cultures, to push
education.”
Ava is goal-oriented and believes a STEM major can lead to a good career. Her family
and friends supported her in fulfilling her dreams. She also used online resources and academic
advisors to navigate a new educational system:
In the community college, I knew what my end goal is. So, I wasn’t a student who needed
to be shown different paths to make a decision. I already knew the decision going in. So,
I took it on myself to find the resources while at community college because I knew what
my end goal was to be.
Ava used her time in community college and at the 4-year institution to find resources,
organizations, and opportunities that work towards her career goals. She is also able to navigate
challenges such as gaining residency for tuition purposes by navigating the policies and
processes by “reading through the clause and see what specific area would allow me to qualify to
obtain residency” and spent a year out of school to obtain in-state tuition.
Chloe
Chloe is a 20-year-old female studying chemical engineering in her junior year of
college. Chloe identifies as Hispanic or Latino and White and stated that English was not her
native language. She gravitated towards math and science classes in high school as they were
easier to understand and did not need extensive translation to learn.
Chloe was aware that she was one of the few women in her engineering courses in
community college, and she mentions, “They were all men, and only me as the only girl. So, we
kind of made some jokes about that.” She also mentions that when she started community
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college, she did not plan to attend a 4-year university, but during that time, she learned more
about the process of transferring, and she decided to obtain her bachelor’s degree:
I actually decided to go to university. But it wasn’t planned. It was, like, you just have to
learn [in] 2 years how the processes work. I got blessed with that because it actually
helped me [in] 2 years to prepare for what to expect at a university.
Also, during her time in community college, she worked 40 hours a week at night and was a full-
time student during the day. Balancing school and work were difficult for Chloe to manage at the
university. While she had received a full scholarship to pursue her bachelor’s degree, she decided
to work while she attended school. However, the stress of a rigorous course schedule made her
decide to stop working and focus on school. Still, a turning point came when she had a car
accident that made her second-guess her choice to not work since it was not planned, and the
money she saved is now depleted. She states, “I try to use it wisely for the coming semesters, and
that car accident just messed it up a little bit on how I was planning to do it.” She is now in
recovery mode to rebuild her financial resources so she can “still go on.”
Emma
Emma is a 22-year-old female studying animal science in her junior year. She is Hispanic
and White but self-identifies as Mexican and Icelandic Caucasian. Emma attended two
community colleges, with the first community college from out of state.
Emma aspired to become a veterinarian since high school due to friends encouraging her
and a female professor with a doctorate in math who was “key” in community college and
inspired her to pursue a degree in a STEM field. She states, “Wow, if they were able to do it, and
you know, them giving me tips. I felt more confident that I’d be able to accomplish that as well.”
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She is also cognizant of self-care, communication, and taking care of her mental well-being to
succeed:
It got a point, you know, seeking outside. I remember I got in touch with a therapist who
specifically catered with adult and individuals within STEM careers and academic
programs. It’s a different animal when you are dealing with STEM and mental health.
You know, sitting there and having someone who absolutely gets what I’m going through
and feels like they’re in that very specific circumstance.
Emma is realistic about her career goals and networks with others in the veterinarian clinic
where she works to learn more about her career path. Emma believes her time at school is not
just about learning content but about “learning life” and views her time at school as a “learning
process in which you grow.”
Isabella
Isabella is a 20-year-old female studying animal science in her junior year at college. She
is Hispanic and White and enjoys problem solving, math and science classes, and working on her
“critical thinking” skills. Isabella aspires to become a veterinarian after being exposed to a
female neighbor who exposed her to her career where “she did a lot of critical thinking and was
very interactive.” Isabella likes to be “hands-on,” and she believes a career in a STEM field will
allow her to do “research hands-on.”
Isabella did not have plans to attend a 4-year university as she indicated she could not
afford it and did not want to be separated from her family. She learned about community college
through her advisor:
That’s when my advisors told me I could take community college as a path. And so, then,
when I was at community college, my advisor helped me build my 2 years to make sure I
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had the way. She would just make sure to connect those classes that are required here to
do my two years connected with the classes at my community college and made sure that
the classes would transfer successfully.
Other ways Isabella has managed her transition from community college to SPI were
networking, taking advantage of opportunities sent to her, and time management skills. She
learned to use Google calendar to map out times for meals, grocery shopping, driving, and office
hours.
James
James is a 24-year-old male who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in computer
science. He identifies as Asian and is of Indian descent. James describes his family’s and
cousins’ influence in pursuing an engineering major with a particular emphasis on computer
science as there would be “a lot of roles and a lot of positions that are open in the IT industry.”
James attended high school in India and describes the Indian education system as “from
grade 11th through 12th, you kind of choose your track: if you want to be a business major or if
you want to go into engineering.” While James wanted to change into the business track, his
parents gave him a “hard no,” and he is “really happy right now” that they pushed him to stick
with engineering.
James also did not trust advisors and navigated his own path through courses that he
needed to take to graduate:
And what happened was one of my friends didn’t plan out which classes he would take
every semester, and what happened was the advisor referred him classes. And that’s what
he did, but whenever he was supposed to graduate in his last semester, the advisor was
like, “Oh, you need to take this class too, and you’d have to take it next semester.” It was
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an error [on the] advisors’ part because he didn’t tell that earlier whenever he had to take
classes. But, for me, I pretty much never liked following what advisor had to offer me for
classes. I made up my own schedule, and it went accordingly.
James advises others pursuing a major to not give up and switch. Otherwise, it will be more
difficult to complete. James also advises prospective students to know what they would like to
study before pursuing their degree to make the most of their time at the university and not waste
time.
Joshua
Joshua is a 36-year-old male studying mechanical engineering and is in his senior year of
college. Joshua is Asian and White and describes himself as an Asian American of half-Japanese
descent. He is the oldest student interviewed and is married. He returned to school after several
years away after not choosing college as a path out of high school. However, he always intended
to come back to school: “it just took a lot longer than I expected. You know, the time that I
realized I wanted to become an engineer.”
He realized in high school that his interest favored STEM subjects and believes “it’s just
kind of the way my minds always worked:”
Even before, back in middle school and high school, I was very interested in the field of
engineering. I learned about mechanical engineering specifically during that time, and
just going to college out of high school just isn’t the path I chose at the time. My life
almost doubled since the time that I decided to actually make that effort.
Joshua credits his wife, who attended college and earned a bachelor’s degree, as one of the
primary supporters and reasons he returned to school to pursue an engineering degree. He also
credits community college for supporting him in his degree and career aspirations as he did not
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feel prepared if he “blindly applied” as a freshman, that he “would have gone into the
engineering program.” He also believes there will be more opportunities for him once he
graduates regarding his career, as it “was very limited before.”
Matthew
Matthew is a 20-year-old male studying computer engineering in his junior year of
college. He is Hispanic and Native American and credits his father with his aspirations to be a
computer engineer. Matthew also speaks to his school in helping him understand how computers
work by providing access to them as he “didn’t have the money at home to have a PC for doing
schoolwork.”
Matthew is encouraged to pursue a degree in a STEM field because he feels the world is
“dealing with more and more problems almost every day.” He states, “I feel like the more that
we can include the power of computers in cities by creating smart cities, I think that can solve
some of the world’s biggest problems.” He has also received opportunities to pursue work in
areas like “cybersecurity and cloud-based technology.” He finds these opportunities are available
to him at SPI because he “wasn’t really getting any of that at a community college.”
While Matthew has received many opportunities, he also faces challenges in balancing
his various responsibilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
It was really, extremely hard. I was helping out my family as well as I was taking care of
family members that were recovering from COVID. I even had to make sure other people
were doing their work as well. So, I would say like the biggest barrier, or the biggest
things that kind of held me back was just being able to take care of my responsibilities
and taking care of responsibilities that others put on me.
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Matthew has been able to navigate this time by setting boundaries and creating a plan for
himself, including self-care, so he can make “it in this world on my own as well as separating
myself when it’s necessary.”
Mia
Mia is a 22-year-old female studying construction engineering in her fifth year of college.
Mia is Hispanic and has worked since high school at a civil engineering firm working on drafting
drawings and for a time believed architecture was an area she was interested in but decided
against it when she realized she did “not have a mind capable of design.”
Mia has been encouraged to pursue construction engineering by others, such as family
and close friends, as she was rare in her field. She states, “I’m still the only, I guess you could
say, Hispanic female that I know. I have yet to meet somebody else like me.” Mia is also the first
in her family to attend college and found adjusting to a university setting was one of her biggest
challenges:
I’m a first-generation college student. Going to a university or even going to community
college was just not a regular thing. My family never even talked about it. Because my
older siblings didn’t go to college, and so they couldn’t really give me any advice for it. I
think that was my biggest struggle.
Mia believes overcoming struggles help her become more “resilient,” and she has learned
through her “struggles” as well as accepting the more you struggle, the “more prepared” you are
“when you start struggling.” She also believes “it’ll be well worth it.”
Olivia
Olivia is a 22-year-old female studying biological sciences in her senior year of college.
She is Hispanic and aspires to become a doctor and go to medical school because she remembers
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times when her mother had to go to doctors and nurses who were “very rude to her because she
didn’t understand them, and she needed a translator for treatments for her kids.” Olivia’s interest
in medical school stems from wanting “someone to treat me with compassion and like, try to
connect with me in whichever way possible.”
In addition, COVID-19 was also a large factor in her transition to the university setting as
she started her time at SPI remotely. However, she was able to overcome and adjust to her new
surroundings since classes and the university started operating back in person. She also joined an
ambassador program to meet people and get familiar with her new surroundings:
The isolating one, I kind of when I transferred, I tried to like, you know. Tried to connect
with people, but it was kind of hard because everything was online when I transferred.
But once we got in-person. I like got involved in volunteering. I’m doing research right
now. And I give tours of the school. So, I’m able to connect with people in specific
things.
Olivia also faced “imposter syndrome,” but her mentality is that she needs to “truck along” to set
a good example for her siblings with college-going aspirations and use her “experience to like
help people who may be in similar positions.”
Ryan
Ryan is a 23-year-old male studying electrical engineering in his junior year at college.
He is Black and immigrated to the United States with his family and mentions he “didn’t start in
the American education system.” Hence, the process of transferring from community college into
a 4-year university and learning about the resources available to him was “like a jigsaw puzzle.”
Ryan also mentions his faith as a “Christian” and belief in God, which helps him
persevere during challenging times:
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When I had my Calculus I class. I hadn’t passed my second test, which was quite
horrible. And I thought I understood what I was doing, but it was just like, Greek. I need
a break point. And I’m quite a religious person. So, I said, “Hey, this is my deciding
point. if I don’t get a good grade on the next exam. I’m switching to business because I
find business principles very easy to understand.”
While he mentioned he left it to God to decide if he would continue as a STEM major or transfer
into business, Ryan persevered through his Calculus I course by using his own method of
studying and study skills to gain a better understanding of his course, and he stuck with the
course and received an A. He states, “It’s just a state. I guess a state in the education and learning
process, but the ability to overcome them only makes us better.”
Sophia
Sophia is a 22-year-old female studying electrical engineering in her junior year of
college and considers herself an international student. She is Hispanic and credits her brother,
who is also studying in a STEM field, as one of her biggest supporters, along with her family’s
aspirations for her to obtain a bachelor’s degree in a STEM major. Sophia aspired since high
school to major in a field that allowed her to “create, and not just like, make me think, but it
makes me grow as a person.” She recounts a time in high school when she worked on a robotic
arm project with classmates, and she continued that interest through community college in
developing a “prosthetic hand arm that moves up, left, right, and down.”
While she appreciates the support she received from the GS program, she wishes she had
additional support for international students:
I feel like, for what I’ve heard and learned so far, I think I feel like there should be more
help in a way of international students. Because, when I came into this university, even
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though I had the GS program that I got into, I’m pretty sure other international students
don’t have anyone. I know SPI focus on a lot of communities, but I feel like there’s not
many that I see of, like, international in my perspective of community.
Sophia is cognizant that she has received a lot of support through the GS program, and she would
like other international students to receive similar support so they can be successful in their
studies.
Timothy
Timothy is a 28-year-old male studying statistics in his senior year of college. He is
mixed-race and identifies as both Black and White. He credits a book called An Astronaut’s
Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield as one of the main influences for him to pursue a
STEM major along with the potential for “pay outcomes” and higher salaries after graduation.
Timothy participated in a TRIO program and received support from the GS program.
However, Timothy used online resources to maximize his potential for career success after
graduation. He states, “I just Googled graduate outcomes and rankings and stuff like that.”
Timothy also noted being underprepared compared to others when it came to coursework
from community college to SPI:
I’ve had quite a few, like, harder courses. Like, yeah, just coursework was more difficult
at SPI than it was at community college. And I kind of felt even underprepared, like for
the discrepancies between like, just the tests, like the finals, and such, it’s like, the
questions are harder, the tests are harder. And there was also COVID going. So, you
know, I had to adapt to remote learning.
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To overcome these challenges, Timothy advises to “make sure you get the fundamental math,
like your early calculus, try to get that down.” He also advises starting early by “building good
study habits.”
Victor
Victor is a 24-year-old male who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical
engineering and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering at a prestigious
large public university in the Mid-West. Victor is Asian and self-identifies as a Southeast Asian
from the Philippines who immigrated to the United States with his family after high school.
Victor believes his biggest challenge in transferring and transitioning was maintaining a
“work-life balance:”
I think the biggest thing is balancing. Work-life balance, you know. STEM, like some
majors, especially in engineering, we definitely spent a lot of time even now in grad
school, especially now in grad school, but in undergrad, I think it was more bearable.
Still, looking back at it, it was really challenging. We spent a lot of hours sometimes on
the weekend. Instead of you know, going out and hanging out with friends, we would still
spend a lot of time doing our projects, or homework, catching up on lectures. So, I think
work-life balance was really challenging.
While work-life balance was a challenge, Victor was able to overcome by creating a network of
friends who would help each other out during the difficult times. He mentions, “the students at
SPI were, are kind of like, they were doing this thing where, you know, they help each other
out.” Peer support was essential to Victor’s success in pursuing and graduating from SPI with his
STEM degree.
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Summary
The biographical portraits of these students allow us to understand how their lived
experiences shaped their lives in pursuing their STEM degrees. Each participant provided a
compelling narrative with character traits such as resiliency, goal-oriented, and being financially
astute of their situation. They were also practical and logical in approaching their challenges and
many mentioned “problem solving” as a characteristic that they gravitated to approaching
barriers. Many of the students were immigrants from international educational systems, and
some were first-generation students navigating the community college and SPI for the first time.
The following section will discuss how these students used various capital, institutional agents,
and various tools and strategies to transfer and transition from community college to SPI.
Findings Research Question 1
Two major themes and several subthemes emerged to address Research Question 1 from
the interviews, including students’ experiences overcoming barriers and challenges and using
those experiences to build social and cultural capital to navigate and persist from community
college to SPI and their STEM major.
In addition to the interviews, document analysis was conducted on three different
websites available to the participants to use in their transfer journey to corroborate or dispute
their experiences navigating the transfer process between the community college to the 4-year
institution. Two community college websites were examined, which participants either attended
or did not attend. The participants did not attend the community college whose website was
analyzed. That campus was selected due to the participants’ perception that the community
college lacked resources to help them navigate the transfer journey. The SPI website was also
analyzed to understand what information and online resources were available to every participant
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during their transfer experience at the 4-year institution. Each website was accessed during
February 2022. Because the SPI website had been redesigned, it may not have matched the
experiences the participants had when they accessed the website in 2019 and 2020. Three major
themes were identified to support the participants’ experiences in gathering information
regarding the transfer journey and corroborate the experiences they shared.
Overcoming Barriers and Challenges
The primary barriers and challenges the participants identified which hindered their
progress from community college to the 4-year institution and the transition into the 4-year
institution were lack of support from the institutions, increased rigor of courses transitioning
from the community college to the 4-year institution, and lack of financial resources. Other
barriers and challenges mentioned alluded to the COVID-19 pandemic, family obligations,
institutional and systemic challenges, barriers, lack of friends, and time management.
Institutional and Systemic Barriers
Nine participants had mixed feelings regarding the institutional support they received
from both the community college and 4-year institution in their transfer and transition journey.
While most mentioned advisors helped them navigate the process to transfer, the level of support
and knowledge of the advisor varied depending on the community college and the 4-year
institution. Not all experiences given by interviewees can translate to a generalization of advisor
or professional support, but poor experiences can lead to mixed interactions with institutional
support.
Isabella recounts her interactions with her advisor at the community college, which was
restricted to coursework:
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One of the barriers was my advisor wasn’t very helpful scholarship wise, any programs
or stuff or clubs to look into. I feel like we didn’t really discuss that much more. It was
more like what classes you have to take to get into SPI, but there was not much
communication on affordable scholarships that you should apply to be able to afford SPI.
Joshua had a similar experience where he had to “kind of prod my advisors at my community
college for a little bit more information.” Joshua also mentions it was a “tough process” for him,
and it was “pretty stressful trying to navigate it and making sure I was doing everything
correctly.” Joshua had to “seek out and make my own path and do my own research to figure out
how to best get to where I want to be.” Many of the participants mentioned if they did not
actively seek information or help from external entities themselves, they might not have gotten
as far as they have.
James and Olivia’s experiences are outliers compared to the overall interactions of
students with support staff. James had a negative interaction with his advisor that he stated that
he did not trust their advice and did everything on his own:
I never trusted the advisor at all. Even at a community college, I would just go to the
advisor and hear what classes they refer to me. But whenever I have to register for
classes, I will register on my own. And what happened was one of my friends didn’t plan
out which classes he would take, and the advisor referred him classes, and that’s what he
did, but whenever he was supposed to graduate in his last semester, the advisor was like,
“Oh, you need to take this class too, and you’d have to take it next semester.” It was an
error [on the] advisors’ part because he didn’t tell that earlier whenever he had to take
classes. But, for me, I pretty much never liked following what [the] advisor had to offer
me for classes. I made up my own schedule, and it went accordingly.
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Olivia also recounts her peer’s experience with her advisor regarding courses to fulfill degree
requirements and being misadvised and required to take extra general education courses at the 4-
year institution because they were not covered in her associate degree.
The participants allude to varying levels of support and resources at the different
community colleges, with some community colleges having an abundance of resources and
advisors while others lacked the support necessary for students to obtain advice and services they
needed to transfer. Mia stated a poignant example of living in a community with access to a
community college across from where she lived but deciding to move to a different city an hour
away to attend a different community college because of the access to resources and the strength
of the engineering program at the community college:
The whole purpose of community college is because it’s affordable, and it’s close by,
right? I moved. I saved money my high school year and moved. Initially, I was going to
commute an hour. I feel like I kind of defeated the whole purpose of going to a
community college in a way. The reason I didn’t go to my local community college
because I felt like they didn’t offer the same resources as I wanted. My local community
college did not offer the same resources. I cannot tell you the amount of people that
commuted in from an hour away just because [it] had so many great resources.
The inconsistent experiences of the different community colleges and the level of support can
create barriers and challenges for students as they navigate their next steps towards a
baccalaureate degree. However, the receiving 4-year institution is also responsible for the
student’s transition and transfer, and its lack of support can hinder the student’s success.
A common occurrence among the participants was the level of support they received in
their transition process, on which college they matriculated into at SPI. Some of the students
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indicated they received much more support than others. For example, Olivia transferred into the
science program, and she mentions being “very fortunate that the college of sciences is really
very supportive” however, she mentions a friend in an engineering major at the same institution
was left “sailing to her own devices” and she “felt bad for her.” She states, “If you’re doing
engineering, brace yourself. A lot of engineering professors are just here for the research, and
they just have to teach on the side.” Mia’s experience with her engineering program echoed
Olivia’s peer experience:
There wasn’t really a lot of support from the university. I guess I could say within my
specific department. I’m in civil construction. And I’m in the college of engineering. The
university itself didn’t provide a lot of support for transfer students.
Along with the lack of institutional support, 10 out of 14 participants highlighted the
rigor of courses, and the course load was exponentially greater at the 4-year institution, and they
had to adjust to the new academic environment along with frustrations of loss of credit hours
during the transfer and transition process.
Most participants mentioned they were “underprepared” when it came to the workload.
Terms like “intense,” “really hard,” “difficult,” “imposter syndrome,” “harder courses,” and
“drowning in classes” were used to describe the rigor of the curriculum of courses and the
workload that students transitioned into when they started their first year in the 4-year institution.
Many of the participants had to adjust their expectations for grades and realized if they did not
get an A in the course, that they had to come to terms with just being able to pass the course.
Victor describes his first year at the 4-year institution as challenging:
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It took some time, probably a whole year. My first-year transferring, it was challenging. I
was just drowning in classes. And I didn’t have … I had some social life on the side, but
not so much.
Timothy struggled to adjust and had to withdraw from some course and even failed courses:
I’ve had quite a few harder courses. Coursework was more difficult than it was at
community college. And I kind of felt even underprepared for the discrepancy between
the test, the finals, and such. The questions are harder. The tests are harder. And there
was also COVID going. So, I had to adapt to remote learning. That was challenging.
Alexander, Sophia, and Joshua also indicated the intensity of the transition, with Sophia stating,
“I remember, my first year, it was horrible. I kept telling myself, I can’t do this, but after a year, I
got so much better.” Isabella was able to transition to the courses and workload by realizing that
“a four-credit course” means you have to put a “minimum of eight hours, but you should put in
more hours” to study for the course per week. Joshua also learned to “grind through it and try not
to let it wear me out too much.” He stated, “I don’t know that I’ve overcome it other than just
spending long hours working on assignments and hoping for the best.”
Along with institutional barriers and challenges, several of the participants also faced
systemic challenges, including racism and sexism, which was an additional layer of stress for the
students on top of the institutional challenges and barriers they faced.
Alexander, Chloe, and Mia expressed their concerns about not seeing students like them
in their classes and feeling alone and the only representation of their culture and ethnic identity
within the classroom. Mia feels discouraged at times because she feels she may be the only
Hispanic female in her major:
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I’ve been discouraged, frankly, because there’s not many women, especially in
construction. I’m still the only Hispanic female that I know. I have yet to meet somebody
else like me. And when I decided to pursue engineering, it was, like, “No, you can’t do it.
You’re not going to be able to.” But I kind of just went for it.
Chloe echoes Mia’s observations and states, “whenever you see the classroom, you see more
American people than from another country. So, you’re like, how do I communicate with them?”
She finds it difficult to connect with peers in her classrooms because she feels they are “not from
the same colors or culture.” Alexander also feels discouraged because, “I still don’t see that
many Hispanics, or other Mexicans in my classrooms. Right now, I’m the only one in most of
my classes.” Another layer that Mia faces is “this weird negative stigma about people who go to
community college.”
All these additional layers of challenges and barriers make transferring and transitioning
difficult. In addition to the institutional and systemic barriers, the participants mentioned
additional challenges. Some were particular to the era, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and others
were more common to many students who pursue higher education, including a lack of financial
resources and issues of time management.
External Obligations and Stressors
A major subtheme expressed by 10 out of 14 participants identified the challenge of
access to financial resources to attend community college and the 4-year institutions. A common
occurrence was several of the students had to obtain in-state tuition by claiming residency, which
delayed some students’ progress of in their academic pursuits.
Ava, Emma, and Sophia went through the arduous process of gaining residency in the
state to obtain in-state tuition for both the community college and the 4-year institution. All three
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students had to wait an additional year to gain residency while also filling out the various forms
and submitting appeals if their claims were denied. This residency process became more difficult
for Ava when changes in the political administration happened. Ava states, “things became a lot
more difficult and a lot different.” She mentions having to fill out forms that automatically
denied her residency and then having to go through multiple appeal processes that took a long
time with her “submitting many, many documents.” However, she believes it was worth it
because instead of paying “$1,500 for one course,” she would pay “$180” for the same course
with in-state tuition.
Many students indicated they could not afford to go to college and found the navigation
process difficult in learning about financial aid and finding scholarships. Alexander “felt alone”
because he was “first-generation,” so his “parent couldn’t help” navigate the scholarship process.
Isabella just believed she could not “afford it.” Olivia’s biggest barrier was “financially”
affording college and understanding what scholarships were out there. Ryan did not “have
adequate resources in helping to pay for college.” He also said, “you can barely get a college
education without any money.” The participants expressed the lack of information regarding
scholarships, financial aid, and other means to pay for a college education was a major stressor in
their college experience.
In addition to not being able to afford college tuition and fees, participants like Chloe
must think of additional expenses, including housing, bills, and unexpected financial hardships
like car accidents. Chloe had initially worked and attended school full time, but over time it
became too much for her to manage:
I used to work 40 hours at night and then come in, have full-time student in the morning.
So, that’s how I worked those 2 years. But whenever I came to university, and I see how
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the classes were so hard, like, I don’t think I can handle this. I was like, you don’t need
this. So, it was kind of hard for me to take off my job and then just try to focus on school.
I got into a car accident not long ago. And I wasn’t expecting that. So, I have to buy a
new car, and that kind of expensive stuff; it wasn’t planned. I tried to save my money that
I saved before. I try to use it wisely for the coming semester, and that car accident just
messed it up a little but on how I was planning to do it.
Financial stressors can overwhelm the students, but the ability to obtain scholarships and
residency lessens the burden for the students as they navigate the transfer and transition process
from a community college to a 4-year institution.
In addition to the lack of financial resources, participants mentioned the effects of
COVID-19, including increased family obligations and lack of friends due to starting their time
at the 4-year institution with remote classes created external stressors that may be specific to this
point in time.
Matthew had difficulty balancing everything during the pandemic and described it as
“extremely hard” because he was “helping out my family” and “taking care of family members
that were recovering from COVID,” and the biggest challenge he faced was “being able to take
care of my responsibilities and taking care of responsibilities that others put on me.”
Ryan had difficulty adjusting to COVID because “I’m not really great at online classes
that have to do with analytical thinking.” Ryan found it “harsh” getting adjusted to a new
“learning process and virtual learning space.” Olivia also found it difficult adjusting to COVID
in the sense of lack of community and being able to make friends. She states, “I transferred
during the pandemic, so that was another whole process in and of itself.” Olivia mentions her
time in community college was spent being very involved in student life organizations and clubs,
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and transferring during a time when everything was remote was difficult for her to connect with
other students as they were all remote as well. Mia found it challenging as a first-generation
student since she did not know what to expect, and “transitioning into that environment, not
having like a close companion” made it difficult for her to adjust because going to “college was
just not a regular thing.” Ava found it the most difficult “to penetrate friend groups,” which made
it difficult to create study groups or work on group projects, and she admits that she was too far
along in her program for her to do anything about the lack of connections and friends.
Finally, patterns of difficulty balancing coursework, responsibilities, and “life” had half
of the participants identifying time management as a challenge. Emma believes the “most
prominent difficulty” was “working on mental health and life balance within such a rigorous
degree program.” Isabella indicated being overwhelmed by the amount of time spent studying
and working on coursework beyond what was expected, with additional time spent asking her
professor to go more in-depth on concepts or learning “on my own” to understand the
coursework so that she does not “get behind in the class material.” Timothy believes remote
learning created “time management” challenges due to having coursework beyond the lecture
and having to “watch pre-recorded lectures,” and Victor similarly had a “hard time balancing
everything out.”
While all participants coped differently with barriers and challenges they faced in
transferring, all exhibited similar personality traits, attitudes towards problems, and
characteristics that made them resilient with the ability to overcome or recover from difficult
situations.
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Characteristics to Overcome
While the participants faced many barriers and challenges in the transfer and transition
process, nearly all were resilient in overcoming them. They were also practical, thought logically
through their problems, and were goal-oriented and outcomes-based. Nearly half of them were
financially astute and described themselves as “problem solvers.”
Nearly all participants in various situations exhibited examples of resilience. Sophia
states, “I feel like just being here made me feel, like, okay, I’m already here. I belong here. All I
have to give it is my best.” Victor expresses not being “afraid to take risks in STEM” and
recounts a time he was able to overcome new challenges such as learning a new skillset he was
uncomfortable with:
I felt the same about coding. I was very afraid of coding at first, when I started my
electrical engineering degree. I was afraid to try coding, although I know that it was a
powerful tool. And I didn’t get to try it until actually later on. And now I’m doing coding.
The advice that I could give to community college students just to try it out. You’ll never
know until you try, right?
Ryan describes overcoming challenges as a “learning process” and the “ability to overcome them
only make us better and teach us how to extract tips and resources we have within ourselves that
we did not even know.” With that mindset, Ryan states, “I decided I could, no matter what I
experienced, how harsh it is. Just keep going.” He reminds himself, “Today, I’m here,” and has
the resilience and mindset to “keep going.” Mia, Joshua, James, and Emma believe it is a
“mindset,” and they also believe they can “power through it” and “keep going” while reminding
themselves “everybody’s path is different” and “don’t dismiss what you have done.” Having an
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awareness of how strong they are as individuals with their own experiences gave them the
confidence to overcome a variety of situations.
Additional insights from the study revealed that many of the students thought logically
through problems and issues. They were also goal-oriented and thought through various
scenarios to get to the outcomes they wanted. Chloe explains she made backup plans for
everything:
If I couldn’t receive the scholarship, I was already on a backup plan. So, I kind of did
backup plans for kind of everything. So, I did not see barriers there like the financial aid
as a problem because I was working and I was saving money at the same time. I was kind
of getting prepared for the university on financial aid stuff.
Emma worked through her issues of residency with a “game plan.” She spoke of her “proactive
layout of what I needed to do in the future: [a] very futuristic layout.” Emma explains, “I was
definitely kind of having that general layout of what I needed to do. And, where I saw myself,
you know, years ahead of where I was.” Emma is also mindful that she must “stick to her own
pace” and “at the end of the day are not losing sight of your goals.” She also likens the ways she
approaches problems as a “learning process,” “learning life,” and “learning the process in which
you grow.”
In addition to a practical mindset and an affinity to logical thinking patterns, participants
like James, Ryan, Ava, and Timothy were focused on careers, outcomes, and end goals. Ava
described her outlook towards STEM degree attainment by stating, “I knew what my end goal is.
I wasn’t a student who needed to be shown different paths to make a decision. I already knew the
decision going in.” Ava’s focus on her “end goal” of obtaining a career in STEM allowed her to
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focus on being “very deliberate about what you want and open your mouth and ask” and
believing no dream is “too big.”
James and Timothy approached their pursuit of a STEM degree as a means to an end with
good career prospects, salaries, and “pay outcomes.” James mentions the “potential” in the “job
market.” James had similar comments as Ava with “making up your mind on what you want to
do in your life” and sticking with your choice “no matter how hard it will be.” James states, “just
be mindful of what you want to do.” Ryan also echoed James and Ava’s approach to picking a
major and choosing a STEM career path. Ryan recounts a story about a friend who decided to
change his major two semesters before he had to graduate and had to “start all over.” Ryan
approached the end goal of college as “college is time, time is money. If you’re not interested in
it, if deep down, it’s not what you want to do. Don’t do it.”
As Ryan equated time to money, nearly half of the participants were financially aware of
how expensive college is and what they had to keep in mind when pursuing their goals and
degree attainment. Mia expressed sentiments similarly to Ava, James, and Ryan with deciding on
a major before “wasting thousands of dollars” and attending community college was her way to
take advantage of figuring out what she wanted to do and “grow as an individual” before
attending the 4-year institution.
Finally, more than half of the participants expressed pursuing their STEM degree because
they liked to solve problems. Isabella states, “you give me a problem, I solve it.” Joshua credits
his STEM education to “mold and prepare” his “mind to approach problems a certain way:”
It’s not necessarily to teach you “this is how you find the area under a curve.” But it’s,
“Oh, here’s a problem. What’s the best way to approach it?” The best way to find a
solution is to, you know, it’s not testing you on memorizing formulas and equations. It’s
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more [to] get you thinking in ways for practical problem solving. And I think that’s the
most important thing. It’s about the overall spectrum of things you’ve learned, and just
your ability to learn things.
Ryan approaches his dream to become an electrical engineer as “being able to understand
scientific principles and apply them to solving real life problems.” Many of the participants
approached life and the series of events in life as problems that could be solved in a variety of
methods. They gravitated towards problem-solving methods that allow them to think “critically,”
be “hands-on,” and gain “self-satisfaction” knowing how to work through difficult issues.
Personality traits and characteristics such as resiliency, logical mindset, goal-oriented, and
problem-solving skills allowed each of the students to persevere in the face of challenges and
barriers towards STEM degree attainment from community college to a 4-year institution;
however, most of the students did not do it alone and had families or a community that supported
them in their endeavors.
Using Experiences to Navigate and Persist
All participants had some form of social and cultural capital gained through various
experiences in their life to help navigate the transfer process from the community college to the
4-year institution, with all referencing their aspirations and navigating the academic and
institutional landscape in their college-going journey. More than half of the participants also
referenced family, friends, and their networks as integral components of support and
encouragement. Finally, students used their experiences with race, gender, language, and
intersectionality to navigate and persist, but these experiences were not the primary drivers of
their success.
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Aspirations and Dreams
Ava knew since she was 5 years old that she “needed to do something worthwhile in life”
and pursuing a STEM career was the way to go. Matthew had the passion for pursuing STEM
and sensed “that fire that you’re alive.” He noted his calling when he was actually “doing” and
working towards becoming an engineer so he could “create something massively powerful,
something [he’s] never seen.” Every student interviewed exhibited aspirations and dreamt at a
young age of becoming someone who can build, create, help, “accomplish,” and go beyond what
society believes they are capable of doing.
Ryan recounts a time when he was three or four regarding his first interest in aerospace
engineering, looking up at the sky and spotting an object and wondering what it was:
I was a kid, about three or four years old, and I had a plane pass over. And I was, like,
that’s a big bird. And she said, “No, it’s an airplane.” That was the first time I heard the
word. And I know I kind of had a little back and forth with her that it’s a bird, you say
it’s an airplane because I didn’t know what a plane was. So, fast forward a time, I got to
know what an airplane was, and I was, like, I want to build one of those one day. And
[my] teacher [was] like, “Oh, you want to build one of those? You have to be an
engineer.” It’s like, what is an engineer? And that was when I got more information and
knowledge, so that was the first experience, and growing up, I started to develop an
interest, and eventually, I’m here today in electrical engineering.
Ryan’s “life experiences” drove his aspirations to become an engineer and work harder in
mathematics courses, even during times when he did not understand the concepts. Ryan strove to
learn on his own and practice solving equations so he could improve his understanding. With that
drive, Ryan, at one point in his academic journey, was failing a calculus course, but by the end of
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the semester had turned his grades around to receive an A. Ryan’s aspirations and mindset made
him decide during his educational journey that “no matter what I experienced in [my]
engineering career or an engineering path, no matter what I experienced, just keep going.” His
experiences allow him to continue no matter what challenges he faces or will face.
Alexander had a “dream” school he wanted to attend. He knew he was good at math at a
young age, and while he struggled initially, the struggle made him “want to, you know, try
more.” Eventually, he became good at math, and he looked up degree programs that required
math which led him to “choose engineering.” Alexander may not have initially aspired to
become an engineer, but he knew that education was crucial to his family’s aspirations of
moving beyond farming and agricultural work, so he decided to pursue engineering.
Emma and Isabella both aspired to become veterinarians. Emma knew she wanted to
“become a veterinarian since high school.” Their love for animals, “critical thinking” skills, and
desire for a career where they can be “hands-on” and “interactive” kept them going even during
difficult times. While Emma and Isabella are working towards animal science degrees, Olivia is
pursuing a biological sciences degree so she can attend medical school. Her aspirations of
becoming a doctor one day were born out of her experiences accompanying her mother and
siblings to doctor’s visits and how the nurses and doctors treated her mother with disdain
because she could not understand what they were saying. Olivia’s aspirations of becoming a
doctor were to show “compassion” for others but also in part because of her family and mother’s
negative experiences with healthcare in the United States.
Navigating the Academic and Institutional Landscape
The most frequently cited type of experience that all participants referenced was the use
of navigational capital to transfer from community college to SPI. Each participant created
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navigational capital by researching information on their own, using their “connections” and
friends to learn how to navigate community college, and using their networks of professors,
counselors, and advisors to understand the requirements to graduate and have the credits to
transfer. Many of the participants were unfamiliar with the community college and 4-year
institution spaces, but they quickly learned to adjust and assimilate as they learned what was
necessary to succeed and who could help them succeed in these spaces.
Matthew went to an advisor who then “funneled” him to the community college and
advised him of what was necessary to transfer:
I was funneled over to the community college and basically planned out that, if I did 2
years and get my associates, I can apply to different 4 years that have majors that the
major I want to get into. So, I knew that if I had a certain GPA and I meet certain
requirements that I knew that I could definitely get into the college I wanted to get into.
Olivia used her time in community college to figure out if the major she chose was the
one she wanted to continue pursuing in the 4-year institution. She knew she did not have the
luxury to explore majors once she transferred, referencing the “exploratory studies” major that
many first-year students have access to at a 4-year institution:
That won’t be something that transfer students have at their disposal. So, it’s probably
like, once you’re getting ready to transfer, having somewhat of a plan. Doesn’t have to be
set in stone, but have an idea of what you want to do that you don’t go into it blindfolded,
and then you’re left trying to figure out. You don’t want to get stuck in a major that you
didn’t want. So, when you get here, you don’t waste your time because they’re gonna put
you straight in a position where you have to decide.
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Each participant learned ways to navigate the community college and experiences varied
depending on the community college they attended. For Alexander, the ability to attend the main
community college that served as the primary feeder school to SPI had its advantages as the
community college taught the students how to “make connections and make friends and form
study groups just to get through the hard classes.” Alexander recounts that “a lot of transfer
friends struggled, you know, transitioning” and he thanks the community college for providing
that navigational capital. For Mia, she understood the importance of attending the right
community college, so she chose to attend one different from the community she lived in. Mia
indicated her local community college “didn’t offer the same resources” she wanted. She liked
the structured approach of the community college she chose to attend and stated, “they pretty
much set your whole semester up, you just have to keep those As up.” The navigational guidance
the community college offered helped participants build the navigational capital they needed to
transfer from community college to SPI.
Community Support through Family, Friends, and Social Networks
Family and community support were key to many of the participants’ experiences in
navigating the pathway from community college to the 4-year institution. Several of the
participants referenced their immigrant family backgrounds as inspiration for pursuing higher
education and career aspirations. Family members, including parents, siblings, cousins, and
family friends, provided different types of support, including encouragement, advice, financial
and navigational resources, and their own experiences to motivate their children towards degree
attainment.
Ava references her family’s immigrant background on how education is stressed. Ava
states, “It’s kind of like most African cultures to and, honestly, most foreign cultures [to] push
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education” as a means to “overcome poverty or to alleviate your situation” with education seen
as a way to fulfill your “dreams.” Alexander and Matthew were encouraged by their fathers to
pursue education and a STEM degree for better lives. Alexander’s family supported his pursuit
with any means they could contribute including “gas money” and helping to pay for his
apartment when he was unable.
Sophia’s major supporter was her brother whom she credits to get her to “where [she is]
today.” Her brother likened STEM to “like a pathway that can open doors for you, and you
should look into it more.” Navigational support provided by her brother and family members
helped motivate Sophia to pursue a STEM degree and figure out how to transfer from a
community college to a 4-year institution. On the other end of the spectrum, Mia and Olivia did
not have older siblings to get advice and, as first-generation students, were figuring out the
process. Olivia has taken it upon herself as the older sibling to “set a good example” for her
siblings, and she believes family should support each other in the process:
Just setting a good example for families and also being able to reach back and be like,
“Hey, this will probably work for you, this probably won’t, this is what the process is
going to look like.” I hope to be able to use my experience to help people who may be in
similar positions.
Joshua received most of his support from his wife, who had attended college and
obtained her bachelor’s degree. Since he had an extended period of time pursuing his
baccalaureate degree from high school to community college, he relied on his wife’s expertise in
“figuring stuff” out and worked with her, his family, friends, and classmates to finish his
associate degree and transfer.
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James, Isabella, and Mia relied on advice and support from extended family, family
friends, and peers to share their knowledge and experiences while providing larger networks of
people to connect with to learn more about the transferring. Isabella’s family friend, who
previously attended SPI, brought Isabella to campus and used “their knowledge that they already
knew.” Isabella’s family friend gave “good tips on managing your schedule and not
overwhelming yourself” since it was Isabella’s first time away from home. She described their
help in “normalizing” her first-time experience with college.
In addition to family and friends, most participants used social and cultural networks to
navigate their journey from community college to SPI. They used networks, friends, peers, and
institutional agents to understand how to navigate the transfer and transition process.
Ava attributes her “culture as well as [her] peers” to her ability to navigate the transfer
process from her community college to SPI. Her Jamaican background stressed the importance
of education and working hard to achieve her dreams. With that in mind, she also used
opportunities she found at the community college to network and communicate with others who
navigated the path before her:
Once you’re at the community college, they just have so many opportunities. You have
flyers about volunteering here. You volunteer here. Then somebody tells you about
something. And it’s almost like a chain reaction. Once you start one opportunity, another
one opens up because of the people you met at that opportunity. So, for both 4-year and
community college, I’d say volunteering at different places [and] opportunities to have
conversations with people who have done things that you hope to do.
Although Ava expressed the use of opportunities to network, Chloe speaks extensively about her
experience using her classmates and friends’ prior experiences with the transfer process to learn
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about the classes needed, the articulation agreement and pathways, and online information
available for transfer students thinking about transferring from community college to a 4-year
institution. She states, “my classmates knew how the system kind of works.” In networking and
speaking with her friends and peers, she received insights into the transfer process and
experiences that are not online or on a community college or university website. She approached
her peers to understand “how does that work” and to learn “the process and all the stuff including
university costs.”
Emma credits her “relationship with other students, relationship with counselors,
professors, mentors, relationships with [her] family and friends” as her support system. Nearly
all the participants credit their relationships with various social networks to gain capital to
navigate the educational system within the community college and the 4-year institution.
Race, Gender, Language, and Intersectionality
Finally, participants' experiences with race, gender, language, and intersectionality
contributed to figuring out ways to overcome narratives in the dominant culture and using those
experiences to navigate and persist. While linguistics and language was the least referenced type
of capital that the participants relied on to navigate transferring and transitioning, Olivia and
Chloe used linguistics and their experiences with language to persist despite additional
challenges due to language barriers and having to learn English as a second language.
Chloe navigated towards a STEM degree program due to English not being her native
language:
I think also in high school, I wasn’t good at writing papers or reading stuff. Because
when I came to the United States, English wasn’t my native language. So, I have to learn
it. And it was more hard for me to learn it from the English class than it was from the
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math class or the science class. So, I could be able to understand math in a way that I
didn’t need to translate or use by following the instructions. And that’s one of the reasons
why I think this STEM more my career; [it] is more helpful. And it can be used to
communicate with other people.
While most participants chose their STEM major due to their affinity to math and science
courses, Chloe chose a STEM major because it was easier to understand than the humanities and
social sciences courses.
Olivia’s linguistic capital experience came from having to translate for her mother in
various situations. Her ability to act as a “translator” for her mother exposed her to experiences
in life that created memorable moments for her to choose a STEM career:
I would like someone to treat me with passion and try to connect with me in whichever
way possible, not just you know, leave me hanging because there’s a language barrier, so
that’s kind of what kind of sparked my interest in going to medical school.
As Chloe and Olivia’s experiences with linguistic capital were different, with one learning
English as a second language and the other acting as a translator of English, both used linguistic
capital to guide them to pursue their STEM degree program.
Half of the participants exhibited resistance to dominant narratives and their
intersectionality to help propel them forward in times of doubt and confronting challenges.
Alexander, Chloe, and Olivia used their experiences with racism and views of students of
Hispanic backgrounds by others as fuel to keep going in their pursuit of higher education.
Alexander states, “Don’t focus on what others think about you or your race, pursuing high-level
education. Just focus on you and what you want.” Olivia and Chloe’s experience with English as
a second language and racism pushed them to pursue STEM careers, with Chloe stating, “if you
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already know that STEM is your career, just go for it because sometimes stereotypes can get in
the way, so skip that thing, because why not?”
For participants like Mia, Emma, and Chloe, the added effects of gender bias and
stereotypes, and race created additional hardships to overcome. The intersectionality of race and
gender created experiences in which they had to prove themselves not only due to being female
in predominantly male majors and career fields. They were also the only Hispanic females in
their major and career field. These experiences caused participants like Mia self-doubt and
discouragement; however, she used that experience to power through her doubts:
I’ve been discouraged, frankly, because there’s not many women, especially in
construction. I’m still the only Hispanic female that I know. I have yet to meet somebody
else like me, and when I decided to pursue engineering, it was a very, Like, “No, you
can’t do it. You’re not going to be able to,” but I kind of just went for it. And, hey, I’m
here.
In addition to gender and race, Mia also finds the “negative stigma” of being a
community college transfer student as an issue that should not hold people back from pursuing
the community college route before attending a 4-year institution. Mia stated she “kind of played
[her] cards right when [she] was in community college,” and she did not feel like community
college was “holding” her back. She believes it was the best decision for her, and she learned a
lot during her time in community college about herself and was able to grow. She viewed it “as
an opportunity… to grow… and [she took] advantage of that growth.”
Sophia sees her experiences in community college and her path to the 4-year institution
as a “journey,” and while she may have “doubts,” “at the same time” she feels “okay” and that
she has “made it this far” and she “can do it.” The participants viewed their experiences with
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racism, gender bias, and stereotypes as moments to learn how strong they are as individuals and
how their culture and backgrounds contribute to their strength and abilities to resist the dominant
narratives of society.
Document Analysis Findings
Three major themes were identified to support the participants’ experiences in gathering
information regarding the transfer journey and corroborate their experiences. The three themes
that emerged from the document analysis were extensive information on programs and access to
articulation agreements and transfer pathways from the community college to the 4-year
institution, varied information on financial aid and scholarship resources available to students
depending on the community college, and minimal information available on the SPI website for
students to use to plan out their transfer and transition journey.
Robust Information on Academic Programs and Courses
Most of the interviewees used the information they found regarding academic programs
to navigate the transfer process from their online search or through institutional agents. The most
robust sections of both the community college websites were on the academic programs and
courses available to students attending the community colleges. The website with the most
comprehensive information and breakdown was the community college that most of they chose
to attend because of its robust resources. The website grouped the information into categories,
including degree programs, non-degree programs, online learning, transfer resources, STEM
education, career clusters, and apprenticeships. Each degree program was broken down into
guided pathways, including applied engineering and technologies, business and public services
technologies, health sciences, liberal arts, information technology and mathematics, sciences,
and engineering.
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Other resources available to students on the academics page were academic success and
transition resources, career services, college promise programs, instructional support, library
services, online learning, service learning, and work-based learning opportunities. The academic
program page for credit-earning programs laid out information based on major with the ability to
filter or search by degrees offered, career area, or educational division. Each major landing page
offered information regarding the degrees and pathways available and earned by students and
whether financial aid was available. The students could also learn more about the career
outcomes of what each program could deliver and videos to learn more about the careers. Along
with information regarding career outcomes, the program pages included class descriptions,
certificates available, and program planning guides.
The second community college website also provided information regarding academic
programs but did not provide as comprehensive and detailed information as the primary
community college website. Information regarding course catalogs, course-specific
requirements, college transfer information, and program areas were available, but the
information was minimal compared to the primary community college website. While the second
community college website’s academic section lacked detailed information, both community
college websites provided adequate information regarding comprehensive articulation
agreements, degree requirements, baccalaureate degree plans, and transfer equivalency
information.
One factor observed was that the abundance of information available on the community
college websites regarding academic programs created information overload and possible
complications for understanding the information among first-generation or English as a second
language students and their families who may be unfamiliar with the process. While having
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adequate information is necessary, too much or overcomplicated information can confuse
students and their families processing the information. As participants stated, they used the
website information, but they also used peers, advisors, and social networks to understand the
information presented to them as the complexity of information created comprehension issues.
Varied Information on Financial Opportunities
The most common theme among the interviewees was the stress and difficulty of finding
financial resources to fulfill their degree attainment goals. Document analysis revealed that all
three websites provided information on financial aid and ways to pay for college. Two of the
websites provided direct navigational links on the main navigation of their websites to
information on financial aid and “paying for college.” The community college website that did
not have a direct link to financial aid had the information live under the “student services”
section. The residency determination information that many participants mentioned lived in a
variety of places on the various websites, with some including the information under admissions
and others on an “afford” landing page on a separate undergraduate admissions website. Tuition
and cost of attendance information were also difficult to find depending on the website. While
the information was difficult to find on one community college’s website, the other had a direct
link from their main navigational menu under the “paying for college” link. The SPI website also
had links to the tuition and fees pages, but access to the page varied depending on whether one
looked at the main university website or the undergraduate admissions website.
Participants mentioned that information on financial aid, scholarships, and other financial
opportunities available to students was difficult to locate and understand, and this information
provided by the participants was corroborated on the three websites analyzed. One community
college website that most of the students attended did provide more information regarding
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financial aid with various videos, information on applying for financial aid, workshops,
frequently asked questions, and a robust section dedicated to “student money management”
resources. The second community college website provided information on applying for
financial aid, various loan programs, scholarships, work-study programs, in-house loans, and
other resources like grants and childcare assistance, but it did not provide as much information as
the primary community college website. The SPI website had information regarding “admissions
and aid,” but most of the information was under several layers of links with multiple clicks
required to get to the information regarding actual information to financial aid and scholarship
opportunities. While the SPI website did list out many of the scholarships available to students, it
was difficult to understand which scholarship was applicable to the student and the information
provided was difficult to understand as well.
Minimal Information on Transfer at the 4-Year Institution
Finally, the third theme in the analysis of the websites revealed that the SPI website did
not cater information to transfer students but focused mainly on first-year applicants and
graduate school applicants. During the interviews, the participants identified not using the 4-year
institutional website as frequently due to minimal or varied information on the main SPI website,
college websites, and admissions websites. While the undergraduate admissions website
provided information on the transfer application process and review process, the information for
the various colleges and majors within the 4-year institution was housed under the college
websites or under a variety of webpages, which made understanding the information difficult as
students had to navigate through multiple pages and subsites to get the information, they needed
for the transfer admission process.
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Analysis of the SPI website did not seem student-centered or user-focused in the way that
the information was laid out on the various pages of the university website. Many of the landing
pages were geared towards marketing information and were not useful for students accessing the
site for information on the process or resources available to the students. The main SPI website
was geared towards marketing the university, while the secondary websites living off the main
university website varied in the types of information displayed on the sites. The college websites
had both marketing and information on processes, but they varied depending on the college and
lacked consistency across the board. The undergraduate admissions website was easier to use and
understand but lacked depth as much of the information pointed to other websites or resources
available outside of undergraduate admissions. Finally, transfer resource information was non-
existent and did not provide participants with the guidance needed to transition at the university
from the community college to the 4-year institution.
Discussion Research Question 1
Participants’ responses revealed a myriad of challenges and barriers faced by the students
navigating the transfer and transition process from the community college to the 4-year
institution. Barriers and challenges such as inconsistent institutional support, the rigor of
coursework and course load, effects of racism and sexism, and external obligations and stressors
such as COVID-19, financial hardships, and time management issues created stress for every
participant to overcome. However, characteristics shared by each participant, including
resiliency, a logical mindset, goal-oriented, financial astuteness, and problem-solving skills,
helped these students through the challenges and barriers they faced.
In addition to sharing similar characteristics and personality traits, participants also used
the capital they gained through various experiences to navigate the transfer and transition from
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community college to SPI. Elements of Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth theoretical
framework align with the themes discovered from the interviews. Aspirational, navigational, and
social capital were the most used, with nearly every participant using these types of capital to
navigate the educational system. Familial and resistant capital were also beneficial to the
students in their pursuit of higher education and a STEM degree. And finally, linguistic capital
was used by several participants but was not the main factor in the way they used their
experiences to navigate the transfer process and transition towards STEM degree attainment. The
use of CCW was an important factor for these BIPOC students as they used their life experiences
as immigrants, students of color with different cultural backgrounds, and the challenges of
systemic and institutional racism to overcome additional hardships and challenges in an already
complicated and convoluted transfer process from the community college to the 4-year
institution.
Findings Research Question 2
Two major themes and several subthemes also emerged to address Research Question 2,
including the role of institution agents and the various tools and strategies participants used to
transition from community college to SPI. In addition to the tools and strategies they identified,
analysis of the GS program provided information on resources used and corroborated by the
participants, including events and programs, leadership, mentorship, networking opportunities,
onboarding, and transition courses, financial support for enrichment, and scholarship
opportunities.
Crucial Role of Institutional Agents
All participants relied on institutional agents like faculty, professional support staff, and
advisors to use as a “tool” or strategy to navigate the transfer and transition process. The
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community colleges all had advisors and faculty who greatly supported the participants in their
plans for transferring into the 4-year institution towards their baccalaureate and STEM degree
attainment goals. Advice from the advisors varied depending on the community college but most
provided navigational and social capital support regarding articulation agreements, transfer
pathways and guided pathways, and course requirements to fulfill degree requirements. Faculty
support also varied by community college, but most participants agreed that faculty support was
integral in building their aspirational and navigational capital and their pursuit of a STEM career.
Faculty Support
Twelve participants highlighted the role that faculty members at the community college
and SPI played in their transition. Some faculty members played dual roles as advisors for
participants giving advice and creating navigational capital for students like Alexander to get
through “tough times.” Alexander states, “I [had] a lot of support from my faculty, especially my
advisor. Well, she wasn’t like actually assigned my advisor, but I knew I could always go to
her.” Ava also recommended “direct conversation and recommendations from teachers” to be
deliberate about finding out advice “to transfer successfully.”
Several of the participants highlighted “key professors” who gave them aspirational
capital to pursue their STEM degree programs. Emma remembers a professor that was integral to
her aspirations in studying STEM:
I feel like, at my old community college, they introduced the STEM program with some
key professors. She was a doctorate in math, and just kind of seeing various, especially
women, that have worked through the STEM field, and I was able to connect with and
see like, Wow. If they were able to do it, and them giving me tips, I felt more confident
that I’d be able to accomplish that as well.
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James, Joshua, Ryan, and Victor all stated that faculty members were “helpful,” “supportive,”
and “pushed” or “encouraged” them to pursue their baccalaureates after community college at a
4-year institution. Joshua mentions “good instructors and professors that are willing to help,
those willing to give you a little extra help other than teaching in class.” Ryan especially cannot
forget the support of faculty members in his success:
I’m not going to forget my professors. All of them played a very, very important role in
getting my grades and understanding what was going on. Because I obviously didn’t start
in the American education system by then. So, all [that] help [was] the final jigsaw
puzzle.
In addition to the support of faculty members from the community college that
participants received, several participants also highlighted the role that faculty members played
at SPI with the transition. The participants’ responses varied depending on the degree program
and the individual faculty member in those programs. Olivia and Isabella received strong support
and opportunities from faculty members in their biological sciences and animal science program.
However, Olivia also had anecdotal information regarding the experiences of her friends in the
engineering program about a lack of “care” and support. She states, “a lot of the engineering
professors are just here for the research, and they just have to teach on the side. So, a lot of
people treat it like that.”
Faculty members at the community college acted as institutional agents for these students
by providing navigational, academic, and aspirational support and advice the students needed to
gain aspirational, navigational, and social capital needed to be successful in transferring and
transitioning to SPI.
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Professional Staff and Advisors
All participants identified professional staff and advisors at the community college and
SPI who helped build navigational and social capital in their transfer and transition. These
institutional agents used their extensive knowledge of the transfer process, academic program
knowledge, and access to information regarding articulation agreements and course
equivalencies to help the students. Professional staff from the GS program were also mentioned
as integral agents of capital to transition from community college to SPI. Many of the
participants had positive experiences with their advisor or professional staff, but a few
participants did not have the best experience, with some providing the wrong information or
advice, causing issues for the participants’ peers and friends.
James was one of the participants who had mixed feelings regarding advice from
advisors. James proactively sought advice from advisors at the computer science department at
the 4-year institution even before he was admitted into his degree program.
I pretty much just went to the computer science department and asked around if I can talk
to advisors, and, hopefully, during that day, he had his offices hours. Nobody was waiting
in line for him, so like I had a chance to speak [to them].
James sought advice from the SPI advisors but did not follow the advice of the community
college advisor. James was the participant whose friend received the wrong advice from the
community college advisor regarding courses to take for degree completion, which created
distrust for James, and he never followed their advice for course registration.
Mia, on the other hand, received institutional support from multiple advisors at her
community college, including her “regular advisor,” “engineering advisor,” and discipline-
specific advisors like “construction…mechanical, and aerospace.” Mia spoke of the “tailored”
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experience she received for “their transfer process,” and she received much information and
support for her transfer and transition process from these advisors. Olivia also spoke of multiple
advisors at her community college, including her “student life coordinator” and “academic
advisor,” who walked her through the planning and process of transferring to the 4-year
institution.
Finally, students spoke of the support they received at the 4-year institution from
professional staff from the GS program, academic advisors, discipline-specific advisors related
to “pre-health,” program coordinators, and pathway program advisors.
Ryan enthusiastically spoke of two different types of advisors and program staff that
helped him transfer and transition to SPI. Advisors from SPI’s transfer pathway program and
professional program staff from the GS program acted as a “passport” and “host” for Ryan in his
trip from community college to the 4-year institution.
My advisor that helped bridge the gap because she also had connections with friends [at]
SPI in the department of advisors. Also, [she had connections with the] engineering
department that also fed her relevant information about what is going on in the various
engineering departments. I’ll say that, to me, was like the passport to make the trip. And
then the GS program is just like the host. Like me taking a trip from here to say, taking a
trip to Kenya to go see some nice, amazing wildlife, and you have the passport that’s [the
program advisor at the 4-year institution], and then, when you get there, the host takes
you around, shows you some nice places, takes care of the accommodation, food, takes
care of you settling into environments, that is a way the GS program comes in. Tt was
two different environments being brought [together], creating one conducive one for me.
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Institutional agents from the community college and the 4-year institution were essential
to participants navigating the transfer process and transition from the community college to the
4-year institution to their STEM degree program. Without these advocates, students may have
difficulty navigating the path from community college to SPI if the only resources available were
websites or online resources. Institutional agents brought additional insights, including
institutional knowledge and experiences, which helped participants receive the information
necessary to succeed in their STEM degree attainment goals.
Tools and Strategies for Success
Participants identified various tools and strategies they used to navigate the transfer and
transition process from the community college to SPI. Most participants used internal advising
tools accessible to students and advisors, comprehensive articulation agreement documents, and
online research tools such as websites and search engines to learn more about the transfer
process from the community college to SPI. Many participants also identified networking
resources, constant communication with others, and peer support as helpful. Finally, other tools
and strategies identified by participants were planning tools, study and time management skills,
office hours and faculty support, tutoring resources, and self-care strategies to help with their
transition.
Advising Tools, Articulation Agreements, and Online Research
Nearly all the participants referenced internal advising tools and comprehensive
articulation agreements (CAA) as helping them figure out which courses to take, what courses
transferred, and which pathways would fulfill all associate degree requirements while also
meeting course requirements for the baccalaureate degree program. Ava put it succinctly: “They
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set up a path, just basically complete the associate, get these done, follow the curriculum, and
you should be good to go.”
The comprehensive articulation agreements identify community college courses that meet
requirements for the associate degree and transfer into the 4-year institution for credit towards a
baccalaureate degree. While the CAA is useful for the transfer of courses and reducing credit
loss, Ava mentions not all associate degree programs meet every general education requirement
within the 4-year institution:
I have an associate of science. All universities are able to accept those degrees and allow
for all your general education courses to be fulfilled. But, if you obtained [an] associate
of engineering degree, it’s not the same. It’s not the same because you have to take your
GEPS again because they transfer the courses one for one. The associates of engineering,
you have to take that class because there is not an agreement within the state that allows
for it to be just ranked the same way or viewed the same way as the associate of arts or
science. So, people generally find it harder, and most times, people don’t know that until
the end when they’re about to transfer, and the colleges are telling them, “Hey, you have
to take this when you get here.”
Several of the participants agreed with Ava’s observations, with several of them deciding to
obtain both the associate of science and associate of engineering degrees to meet the course
requirements for the STEM degree program specifically necessary for engineering majors. James
was one of the participants who obtained both the associate of science and associate of
engineering degree at the community college to transfer into SPI. James stated, “I pretty much
took all those courses that would get me associates in engineering and science degrees, so I think
I did not pretty much waste any courses.”
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Olivia, Victor, and Joshua found the articulation agreements particularly helpful because
they helped “transfer credits” over to the university, and the recommended pathways and
advising tools allowed them to “design [their] academic courses” and give them options for
transferring into multiple 4-year institutions who were participating in the comprehensive
articulation agreement program.
Also, online resources such as university websites, colleges websites, and community
college websites were used for online research into degree programs and requirements necessary
for transferring into the 4-year institution. Other online resources were the College Board
website and the GS program website for additional information.
Timothy stated he picked up a lot of information regarding various 4-year institutions by
researching information online.
There’s independent research. A lot of it was just information I picked up. For instance, I
used College Board, I believe, to go through all that. And just Googled graduate
outcomes and rankings and stuff like that. I can’t remember any specific resources
outside of just the internet.
Victor also “Googled” and used the internet to find resources to help with the transfer process,
while James and Mia found the college of engineering’s website at SPI “a really good website”
for the transfer process.
Networking, Communication, and Peer Support
Participants found networking and communicating with peers, friends, advisors, and
faculty members particularly useful. Peer support was also vital to the transfer and transition
process, with support coming from classmates, students who have already navigated the transfer
process successfully, and friends from both the community college and the 4-year institution.
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Networking opportunities came in the form of clubs and organizations, STEM Alliance
programs, summer transition programs, and the GS program. Participants used these various
networking opportunities to learn more about their degree programs, find peers and faculty
members who could provide advice, and learn skills for building resiliency and self-care.
Matthew uses his experiences networking in different organizations and events to help
guide his degree aspirations and gain navigational capital during his time at the community
college and the 4-year institution:
I would say just getting into different organizations or getting into any event that helps
you along the way to become a better person in the field is definitely necessary in order
for you to grow, but also to come to know what you’re getting into. You know, if you
don’t know, you don’t know what you’re getting into.
Through networking, Matthew was able to learn about offers for work in areas like
“cybersecurity or cloud-based technology” and “working around computers,” which he finds is
the “biggest advantage so far” from the 4-year institution.
Emma and Isabella also found networking opportunities and communicating with
professors and peers in the pre-vet club, animal science club, and their program department led
them to research opportunities and information regarding different minors they could obtain in
addition to their STEM degree major. Due to the abundance of information they receive through
networking and communicating with others, both participants have “those connections” that
provide “more knowledge of opportunities that are out there,” and they take advantage of
opportunities that help them in their transition process from community college to the 4-year
institution.
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Peer support was also crucial to most participants. Many used peer support to progress in
their degree programs at both the community college and the 4-year institution while adjusting to
the rigorous courses and course load. Participants like Alexander, Ryan, and Sophia used peer
support for study groups and sharing information and tips to navigate the transition. Alexander
stated the peer support found in the GS program was an especially important resource for him for
his academic degree progress:
For me, personally, GS is a definitely important resource. You know, they’re all STEM
students. So, I was able to ask them for any kind of help, and they’re amazing. They’re
just willing to help right away. One time, I was struggling with this computer science
course. And I asked my friend if he could help me with some Python homework. And he
set aside his homework, his own homework, to help me with mine, and I was able to get
it. And, you know, GS is just a great resource for these STEM degrees [and] getting
through the courses.
Chloe echoes Alexander’s sentiments regarding peer support and stated, “the GS … basically the
students are helping other students:”
If you get questions about what class or where was your class, they take you down there,
[and] they are so willing to help you to find your class, to your classroom. And even
though it was like far away, they help you with that. So, it was kinda nice. They tell you
how the classes look like so you can be more prepared about what to speak on those
classes.
Alexander, Ryan, Sophia, and Chloe used peer support to progress through the transition period
at SPI and used peer support to grow their social and navigational capital towards STEM degree
attainment.
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Building Resiliency, Planning, and Self-Care
Finally, participants used tools and strategies such as planning tools, study and time
management skills and tools, office hours and faculty support, tutoring resources, and self-care
strategies to help transition from the community college to SPI.
Isabella used planning and time management tools like “Google calendar” to block out
time and resources to complete all her tasks while meeting the demands of rigorous courses and
workload:
I have used Google calendar because I used to not at my community college [since] I
never had a time management problem. But I don’t know. Here, I guess like moving out,
having to move my meals, and I have to drive, parking, and all that little, small stuff I
didn’t take into consideration at my community college. Now, after taking like grocery
shopping, all that takes time. So, I have learned to use Google calendar, [and it] has saved
me a lot. You know, planning out my study hours and sticking to it. If I say I’m going to
attend office hours, I make sure to put the office hours in my Google calendar, so that has
kept me dependable because I’m on my computer or if I’m studying for another class, I’ll
get a notification on my phone and my laptop, and I’ll be like, hey, you wanted to do this
at this time. So, then I’m like, okay. I’ll put down what I’m doing and go do the other
one.
Olivia picked up planning and time management techniques like understanding that she
could only take 12 credit hours per semester to succeed during the transition process. Olivia
“found [her] groove in like managing [her] classes” by keeping it to 12 credit hours which also
gives her time to study and sleep.
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Ryan used study strategies and skills like forming “online chat rooms” for “conversing
with other classmates and sometimes doing homework together.” This study strategy allows him
to maximize the relationships he has built with classmates while minimizing the time spent
trying to figure out coursework, especially when it is challenging. He may post questions to
classmates regarding a problem he solved but may second-guess his response. He states that if
the classes allow for collaboration between classmates, then other classmates would chime in
with different strategies for solving the same problem. This collaboration opportunity gives Ryan
a chance to learn multiple perspectives on solving one problem or issue, which is what is done in
businesses and organizations to solve real-world problems.
Timothy used the “Pomodoro technique” and an app called “Forest” to track his time and
“set specific goals” for himself, which he has found “very helpful.” Timothy explains the
“Pomodoro technique [is] like to just do like 25 minutes or so” on a task before taking a break
and coming back to the task. Timothy also uses study resources such as “Khan Academy” to
learn more about subject areas he needs help with, which are resources outside of the university.
Victor has found his “first year transferring was challenging,” and he was “drowning in class”
but was able to adjust the second year by focusing more in-depth with minimal distractions,
including turning off mobile devices and apps to focus on tasks.
Office hours, faculty support, and tutoring resources were also mentioned multiple times
by most applicants, with Matthew using offices hours and faculty support to understand the
content in his courses:
Office hours is definitely the biggest thing I’ve been using. Just make sure that like I
understand the content but also getting to know the professor as well. And just seeing that
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they actually do care and actually want me to get ahead and, honestly, it makes definitely
makes a difference.
Mia also takes advantage of office hours provided by faculty because she feels “intimated when
asking questions in large lecture halls, but office hours have really allowed [her] to just ask [the
faculty member] privately.” Victor also agreed with Matthew and Mia on the use of office hours
and faculty to gain additional support in his academic journey:
The faculty at SPI were really helpful. And if you go to office hours, or you just talk to
them in their office, they’re really helpful. And they will be straight up about what you
need to do to do better in class if you failed the last one, which happened to me. So, it
was really helpful.
Participants also mentioned tutoring resources like the writing center, which several of
them used at the community college and at SPI. Participants used the writing center and tutoring
resources provided by the center to work on writing essays required for transferring and for
writing papers for class at SPI. Since Chloe and Alexander needed additional writing support,
they used the centers extensively during the transfer and transition process.
Finally, participants identified self-care strategies as crucial to their health and mental
well-being at both the community college and SPI. Emma stressed the importance of “mental
health” and getting the support necessary to “nurture your mental health.” Emma uses “a
therapist who specifically catered with adults and individuals within STEM careers and academic
programs” to deal with STEM-specific questions and learn mental health techniques to combat
stress, “self-esteem” issues, and “life balance” issues “within such a rigorous degree program.”
Participants like Matthew and Joshua “set boundaries” and had a rational outlook on life
to understand “if you don’t succeed at something, it’s not the end of the world.” Joshua sees the
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bigger picture in life and realizes that one class does not “ruin your path towards getting what
you want out of your STEM degree.” He stated, “Just one class usually has little effect on the
overall success in the program.” Mia also understands it’s a “mindset” and learned “how to
manage stress” by understanding she could not be perfect in everything. Once she realized this
concept, she was able to “manage the stress a little better and perform a lot better.”
To Victor and other participants, balancing work-life and stress through self-care
strategies like getting external help for mental well-being, understanding the bigger picture in
life, and taking time to nurture health and wellness was essential to their transition to SPI.
Document Analysis Findings
Document analysis findings on the GS program involved two internally referenced
handbooks and the GS external website and an internal website only available to GS students and
staff. The findings from the analysis show that the GS program provides a comprehensive
support system with a variety of components, including events and programs, leadership,
mentorship and network opportunities, onboarding and transition courses, and financial support
for enrichment and scholarship opportunities. These support systems help build CCW for the
students throughout the time they are at SPI. Ways to build navigational, social, and aspirational
capital were the most frequently cited within the documents analyzed within the program. The
GS program also provided financial support through scholarships to cover tuition, fees, and other
costs up to $21,000 and was renewable up to 3 years for transfer students.
According to the GS program external website, GS provides “access to an assortment of
developmental programming focused on professional and personal growth.” One of the goals
within the mission of the GS program is to have students “develop essential skills and
competencies necessary for academic and professional achievement within STEM and STEM
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education disciplines.” The GS external website also highlights the opportunities available to GS
students, including comprehensive onboarding, new student retreat, and peer mentorship
program; professional, social, and service programming; mentorship and leadership
opportunities; travel opportunities; enrichment grants; and a supportive network of scholars,
alumni, and professional staff to support students in their transition process at SPI. The websites
were accessed and analyzed in February 2022.
The GS program handbooks were also analyzed in February 2022 and provided insights
into the program and what the students have access to. The 2021–2022 handbook outlined
people, program history, eligibility, selection requirements for first-years and transfers, program
requirements, and policies. The handbook also highlighted the program features, which include
programming with different themes such as professional development, leadership development,
personal development, mental health and wellness, socials, service opportunities, and cultural
enrichment opportunities. Students also participated in new student onboarding, transition
courses, travel opportunities, enrichment grants, leadership opportunities, and received alumni
network information. The plethora of opportunities and support for the students were mentioned
and corroborated through the interviews.
Events and Programs
The GS program provides in-depth programming opportunities and events for students
with a wide variety of program themes that support the whole student while building
navigational, social, and aspirational capital. The events and programs also complement the
major themes identified under the tools and strategies the students used to transfer and transition
to SPI.
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The themes identified within the handbook include professional development, which
helps students “develop a stronger professional and academic identity and knowledge base.
Topics consist of career development, academic success, and communication,” leadership
development focuses on developing “leadership identity,” and topics include “emotional
intelligence, decision making, or navigating difficult conversations.”
Other programs include personal development, which focuses on developing “essential
skills for personal well-being and civic engagement” with topics such as “interpersonal
communication, citizenship, and financial literacy.” Mental health and wellness programs focus
on learning more about one’s “own mental health and wellness while understanding how to
advocate for others.” Participants are invited to group conversations with the counseling center,
and topics include gaining clarity, “self-confidence, and resources to improve your mental health
and wellness.”
Finally, additional events are centered around socials to build community, service to
serve others within the community, and cultural enrichment events to “attend local theater
productions, musical performances, and museums.” During the fall semester, participants can be
involved in five major signature events and traditions, including community meetings, a senior
retreat, tailgate opportunities, and bonding opportunities. In the spring, there are three signature
events and traditions, including a service component and the “graduation gala,” which highlights
the graduating seniors and scholar community.
In addition to the regular programming provided by the GS program throughout the year,
students are invited to participate in fall break trips to three different locations in North America,
a Mayventure trip to Northern California or Vancouver, and a spring alternative service break
option to Trinidad and Tobago for an “interdisciplinary service-learning trip focused on
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environmental conservation, ecotourism, and public education.” These trips allow the students to
create social and navigational capital to experience opportunities they may have never had a
chance to participate in before since most of the students come from “low- to moderate-income
households,” according to the GS program website.
Leadership, Mentorship, and Networking Opportunities
The GS program provided numerous opportunities for students to grow as leaders,
providing mentorship opportunities both as a mentor and mentee and networking opportunities
such as the “opportunity database” and programming centered around career development and
the GS alumni network. Students provided these opportunities allow for social, navigational, and
aspirational capital growth and the ability to add to their collection of tools and strategies used
during the transition process.
Leadership opportunities available to the GS students include becoming mentors, retreat
leaders and assistants, GS ambassadors, STEM coaches, communication assistants, tutors,
committee chairs, and team leaders for different service trips. Students learn “key interpersonal
and professional soft skills” within their leadership roles and need to apply for various leadership
positions within the program. Leadership roles are clearly defined by the GS handbook and allow
students to understand what is necessary to become a leader within the GS program. Different
leadership opportunities also allow for networking and communication skills to grow.
Ambassador roles within the program include both outreach ambassadors and program
ambassadors who play a “vital role in the programming efforts of the GSP program.”
Mentorship opportunities provided by the program include being a mentor or a mentee.
Mentors are provided training for handling “academic, social, and emotional support for first-
year and transfer scholars,” and they learn interpersonal skills to navigate difficult conversations.
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Students who are mentors give back to the community and provide navigational and social
capital support to their mentees. The mentees also benefit by learning more about transferring to
SPI.
Networking opportunities include career development workshops and speaker events
with faculty and industry and corporate partners. These events and opportunities allow the
participants to grow their social networks and gain navigational and aspirational capital while
taking advantage of the vast social and corporate networks to which GS program has access.
Students who participate in the networking events meet with industry leaders and learn more
about their STEM degree programs and careers.
Onboarding and Transition Courses
Two experiences that all students of the GS program must participate in are the new
student onboarding process and the transition course for the first year and second year at SPI.
Navigational and social capital are central components of these experiences, with students
gaining information and access to resources that allow for students to transition at the university.
The new student onboarding process involves time during the summer and fall semester
of their first year to get acclimated to the university and the GS program. The handbook states
these opportunities “help ease the transition to college life.” The onboarding process also
includes virtual pro staff and student chats, a new student summer retreat, and a mentor is
assigned to them during their first year. The mentor serves as a “direct peer-to-peer” support
system for the new student, and students receive insights and advice on how to transition to the
university setting.
The transition first year and second-year seminar course focuses on “professional
development” and preparing the students for life at the university and “after graduation.” Topics
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covered in the seminar courses include “self-reflection, professional development, and academic
planning.” The second-year seminar builds upon the concepts learned in the first-year seminar
and “further prepares scholars for their academic, professional, and personal pursuits.”
Several participants during the interviews identified onboarding and transition courses as
crucial to getting them acclimated to SPI. At least four interviewees mentioned the onboarding
process and the required transition course and provided positive feedback regarding their
experiences with the process and course.
Financial Support for Enrichment and Scholarship Opportunities
While the program provided a multitude of learning and growth opportunities, both
professional and personal, for students, the component that students benefitted the most from
were the scholarship opportunities and financial support from the GS program, as stated by
participants. Students received a scholarship worth over $21,000, including enrichment grant
opportunities and other emergency grant funding opportunities. The scholarship and financial aid
opportunities the students received were instrumental in overcoming the barriers to financing a
college education at SPI. Many of the participants mentioned this financial support and
expressed its importance in their pursuits of baccalaureate degrees. Participants like Ryan
described it as “the final piece that made a perfect transition.” While participants appreciated the
comprehensive support system delivered by the GS program, the students were able to
concentrate more on school and academic success versus having to figure out ways to pay for
their education and make ends meet. Affordability of a college education was important for these
students with their pursuit of STEM degree attainment, and they sought ways to learn more about
scholarships and financial aid during the transfer process, but the scholarship alleviated their
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concerns regarding affording a college education, and they were able to concentrate on the
successful transition into their STEM degree program towards degree attainment.
Discussion Research Question Two
Participants’ responses revealed multiple tools and strategies they used to navigate
transferring to SPI. Tools and strategies such as internal advising tools available to students at
the community college and SPI, comprehensive articulation agreements, and online research set
the path for their success in the transfer process. Their ability to build navigational capital using
these tools allowed them to figure out a difficult journey as information varied online, as
discussed in the document analysis section.
Students also used networking skills, communication, and peer support to succeed.
Students networked and communicated with institutional agents to grow their navigational and
social capital. Students also used their peers for support, adding to their social capital. Document
analysis from the GS program shows that the program is built to provide networking
opportunities as well as training and workshops to develop communication skills and peer
support programming.
Finally, students used program components from the GS program to build resiliency,
planning skills, and self-care during the transition process so students could succeed in their new
environment. Students built aspirational, navigational, and social capital with the programs and
events that were available to students in their professional and personal growth at the university.
Summary
Participants used their life experiences, including challenges and barriers, to build
different types of aspirational, familial, linguistic, navigational, resistant, and social capital to
overcome these challenges faced by BIPOC students pursuing their STEM degrees from
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community college to SPI. Many of the participants exhibited high levels of aspirational,
navigational, and social capital, which helped them through a variety of situations and scenarios
that hindered progress from the community college to SPI. While half of the participants
experienced racism in their daily lives, they used resistance and linguistic capital to overcome
those challenges.
Students also exhibited different characteristics and personality traits that complimented
the various types of capital and helped them on the transfer and transition journey. Resiliency
was the most referenced character trait that all students exhibited as well as logical thinking
patterns, being goal-oriented and outcomes-based, and problem solvers. Along with the
characteristics and different types of capital, students also used tools and strategies during the
transition from the community college to SPI.
Participants used institutional agents to navigate the transfer and transition process, with
all working with advisors or professional staff at the community college and SPI to help them
navigate policies, procedures, and intricacies. Students also worked closely with faculty
members, with many faculty providing navigational and social capital for them. Other faculty
members also provided aspirational capital for the students to aspire to graduate with a STEM
degree towards a STEM career.
Other tools and strategies that participants utilized were categorized as advising and
online research, networking, communication and peer support, and strategies for building
resiliency and self-care. All students utilized these various strategies they picked up through their
life experiences and through the GS program to help with the transition to SPI.
This chapter provided the experiences and findings from interviews of 14 students of
color pursuing a STEM degree who have navigated the community college to 4-year transfer
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process and transitioned into the STEM degree program. The in-depth analysis of the narratives
and document analysis provided insights into the experiences of these individuals and how they
were able to use their various types of capital, institutional agents, and tools and strategies to
persist and succeed during difficult times. The next chapter provides recommendations based on
the findings and what institutions can do to help BIPOC students navigate the transfer process
and their transition into their STEM majors.

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Chapter Five: Recommendations
The purpose of this study was to examine how BIPOC use different types of capital
(Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Coleman, 2019; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Yosso, 2005) and
institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) to navigate the transfer process from
community college to SPI’s STEM degree programs. Three significant findings related to the
study include students using different types of capital related to CCW (Yosso, 2005), including
aspirational, navigational, resistant, linguistic, social, and familial capital to transfer from a 2-
year institution into SPI. Students also used various resources, including online tools and
websites, campus visits, student support services, peers, and family, to persist and successfully
transition (Laanan & Jain, 2016; Starobin et al., 2016). Finally, students leveraged institutional
agents, such as faculty, staff, and peers, to find resources, opportunities, and knowledge to take
full advantage of and succeed at SPI (Bensimon et al., 2019).
Recommendation 1: Create a Transfer Ambassador Program With Faculty and Student
Mentors to Build Agency for Additional Institutional Agents to Assist Transfer Success at
Both the Community College and 4-Year Institution
• Institutional agents, specifically faculty members, were vital components of students'
ability to build various types of capital and navigate the transfer and transition
process to SPI. Students worked with faculty members at the community college to
build their aspirational capital towards STEM careers and majors while working with
peers and friends to build navigational and social capital. While faculty members and
other staff members in positions of authority like deans helped students navigate the
institutional policies, processes, and barriers, students also used pseudo-agents like
peers/friends to build additional support and capital. Students worked with classmates
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or friends who had already transferred into 4-year institutions to gain knowledge from
their experiences and apply it to their goals towards degree attainment. Students were
especially mindful of working with other students who navigated from their specific
community college to the 4-year institution they wanted to transfer into. They were
aware that each community college had different resources and support services
available for their students. Therefore, they leveraged seeking out students, faculty,
and advisors/support staff at the 4-year institution they wanted to attend to connect
and network to build capital.
• Dowd et al. (2013) noted the importance of “college practitioners in positions of
authority were instrumental in raising collegiate aspirations” (p. 2). These
“institutional agents” (Stanton-Salazar, 1997, 2011) are crucial to providing different
types of capital, including navigational, aspirational, and social capital for BIPOC
students, especially those from low-income backgrounds, to succeed in higher
education and obtain educational opportunities (Dowd et al., 2013). These
institutional agents can help by leveraging their capital and power to navigate systems
and structural levels while reducing inequities in educational attainment,
participation, and outcomes (Bensimon et al., 2019). Equipping institutional agents
such as faculty with additional resources and training connected to promoting transfer
success would alleviate the need for the institutional agents to figure out the
institutional and structural systems themselves and quickly reference what is needed
to help students succeed.
• Building a transfer ambassador and mentor program that connects students from
community colleges to students who have obtained their associate's degree and
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adjusted to the 4-year institution into their STEM program can help both institutions
leverage the power of peer mentorship and support in learning communities (Rieske
& Benjamin, 2015). Students in the study were more comfortable seeking help from
their friends and classmates than advisors at the community college and 4-year
institution. Creating a transfer ambassador and mentor program that can work as a
peer mentor model can benefit (Good et al., 2000) the students seeking support for
building aspirational, navigational, and social capital while also providing the
ambassadors with professional development opportunities, training, and funding to
build their own social and cultural capital (Good et al., 2000; Rieske & Benjamin,
2015; Scott et al., 2017). This practice would also allow peer mentors and
ambassadors to eventually use professional development and training knowledge
gained from the ambassador and mentor program to become “institutional agents” for
the community college and university.
Recommendation 2: Build a Comprehensive Online Resource or Guided Pathways That
Maps Career Pathways to Degree Programs and Articulation Agreements from Community
College to the 4-Year Institution for Students, Families, and Institutional Agents
• Students who completed their associate's degree and transferred to SPI were mindful
of their career aspirations and built navigational, aspirational, familial, and social
capital to efficiently and effectively achieve their goals. Students worked with
institutional agents or peers and friends to use online tools such as institutional
websites, online transfer credit tools, and transfer articulation agreements to take the
courses they needed to graduate with their associate's degree and have credits transfer
into their baccalaureate program with minimal credit loss.
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• Students who completed their associates and transferred into a STEM program were
also aware of the financial implications of degree attainment and the cost of
attendance, so they used online resources to help keep them on track towards their
goals. Students also used these online resources to obtain scholarships and financial
aid to help pay for their education. Students were also aware of what jobs may help
them get salaries to help them and their families improve and build their social
capital.
• The Community College Research Center has conducted extensive research and
analysis of guided pathway programs implemented by 30 community colleges in the
first cohort of the AACC Pathways Project (Bailey et al., 2018; Jenkins et al., 2018a.;
Jenkins et al., 2018b). The multi-year project launched by the AACC in collaboration
with the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) works with
community colleges to build capacity to reform their institutional efforts for student
success. Bailey et al. (2015) suggest that the open-access nature of community
colleges creates disproportionate enrollments of students who face multiple
challenges, including academic, social, and financial hardships. Due to the cafeteria
nature of course enrollment, Bailey et al. (2015) suggest that students need more
structured paths with online tools to help them and institutional agents see progress
towards degree and career goals. Brown McNair and Bonneville (2021) also state the
guided pathways allow community colleges to incorporate four structured
experiences, including “mapping pathways to student end goals, helping students
choose and enter a program pathway, keeping students on the path, and ensuring that
students are learning” (p. 1). Creating an online resource that helps students, families,
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and institutional agents see their end goals and working towards that end goal can
improve outcomes such as retention and graduation rates and successfully transferring
into 4-year institutions towards their subsequent academic and degree attainment
goals (Bailey et al., 2015; Bailey et al., 2018; Brown McNair & Bonneville, 2021;
Jenkins et al., 2018a; Jenkins et al., 2018b).
• Build an external-facing and accessible guided pathway website that prospective
students, families, and institutional agents can access to help students understand
career pathways. The site should also allow for degree programs to map to those
career pathways, articulation agreements and courses that transfer into the degree
programs, and the ability to import data from community colleges and 4-year
institutions to show progress to degree. The online resource should have information
on financial resources to help pay for college, and salary information to show the
benefits of obtaining an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or higher towards their
future career aspirations.
Recommendation 3: Develop a Transfer Onboarding, Networking, and Support Program
Which Include Physical Spaces That Transfer Students Can Connect With Their Peers and
Support Staff to Build Relationships, Community, and Social Capital
• Students used transfer orientation and onboarding experiences to understand what
resources and student support services are available as students at SPI. Many were
aware that additional resources were available to them that were not available at the
scale or level at community colleges, including physical spaces for community
building, library resources, academic support and tutoring services, and career
services. Students also seek opportunities to gain research and career experience by
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utilizing support staff, faculty members, and networking opportunities such as clubs
and organizations to maximize their time at the university while working towards
degree attainment.
• Guided pathways create more explicit paths to careers from the curriculum. However,
other suggestions from the guided pathways initiative include the need for improving
student onboarding, support, and advising services to successfully transition from
community college to 4-year institutions (McNair & Bonneville, 2021). Cohen et al.
(2014) also suggest that specialized orientation programs, transition and bridge
programs, and student success courses required in the first semester (Harbin, 1997)
can help students transition and learn about the various support systems and staff
available within the new institution.
• According to the study, students benefitted from physical spaces such as a lounge to
connect and network at SPI to feel comfortable and acclimated to their new
environment. Four-year institutions must provide physical spaces for transfer students
to connect with other peers and professional support staff to successfully “engage in
socio-academic integration moments” (Andrade, 2018, p. 355). According to Andrade
(2018), spaces that allow students to connect with others like them, spaces for
connection with others in similar majors or degree programs, and spaces to be alone
are essential to creating connections, networks, and support systems to help transition
and feel comfortable with the 4-year institution, since many students commute or do
not live on campus. It is pertinent for students to acclimate to the culture and
university environment and adjust academically and socially to the campus to
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succeed, especially in STEM programs that require rigorous introductory coursework
(Jackson & Laanan, 2015).
• Build a transfer community physical space on campus where students can come
together to access professional support staff while also connecting with other transfer
peers. Allow for the spaces to be available for students to learn about additional
resources on campus with workshops, networking events, and mentorship
opportunities. Create an online onboarding and orientation experience for students to
access to complement on-campus experiences to give multiple options for students to
access the information they need to succeed. Providing alternative options will allow
students to learn about resources and opportunities if they have other obligations such
as taking care of families and employment that may affect their ability to attend on-
campus events and workshops.
Design for Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education
This study found that students who navigated the transfer process from a 2-year to 4-year
institution used various types of capital they have built to persist and navigate the labyrinth of
challenges they face in their daily lives. While these students could use the capital they have
built through various experiences, the onus should not be on the student to figure out how to
navigate the processes, policies, and barriers in our institutions. It is the responsibility of
institutions to acknowledge that designing programs, practices, and resources with a design for
equity in higher education (DEHE; Culver et al., 2021) mindset and equity as one of the primary
goals can help address students who come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures (Culver et
al., 2021). It is crucial to remember that not all students have the same resources, backgrounds,
and capital necessary to succeed in 2-year and 4-year institutions. Empathy and addressing issues
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of identity, power, values, and bias is necessary (Culver et al., 2021). These recommendations
should also be reflective so processes can be improved (Culver et al., 2021). Institutions must
collaborate with the students they serve so that the resources and programs that the institutions
are creating are helping students succeed with the correct and supportive type of help versus
creating resources that hinder their progress to degree attainment.
To implement the change necessary, using the DEHE model (Culver et al., 2021) can
help incorporate design thinking and human-centered methodology into the problem-solving
approach (Culver et al., 2021). To under the DEHE model (Culver et al., 2021), practitioners
need to understand the background for which this model is built. The DEHE model (Culver et
al., 2021) was built on two models related to design thinking and liberatory design thinking.
The design thinking process is defined in five phases: empathize, define, ideate,
prototype, and test (Figure 2).

Figure 1
Stanford d.School Design Thinking Process

The liberatory design thinking model builds on the design thinking process and was created to “address the inequities at the
root of many problems and to emphasize power sharing in the design thinking process” (Culver et al., 2021, p. 2). The liberatory
design thinking process adds several components to expand upon the original design thinking concept and is composed of several
phases. The phases necessary to use the model include notice, empathy, define, ideate, prototype, test, and reflect, as shown in Figure
3 (Culver et al., 2021).

Figure 2
Liberatory Design Thinking Process

124
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Expanding upon both the design thinking process and the liberatory design thinking
process, Culver et al. (2021) extend and refine the frameworks to create a new model called
DEHE (Culver et al., 2021), which centers around getting the multiple stakeholders to the table
including designers and key stakeholders while also getting buy-in from all stakeholders. The
DEHE (Culver et al., 2021) adds additional phases, including organize, empathize, (re)define,
ideate, choose, prototype, get buy-in, and test. After the testing occurs, a cyclical approach adds
the elements of evaluate and refine (Culver et al., 2021). The underlying mechanisms of this
model look at both the equity-minded practice of notice, reflect, and collaborate to the
organizational context, which relies on navigating, leveraging, and negotiating with key
stakeholders to get to outcomes and the change (Culver et al., 2021).
Equity-minded practice requires participants to notice bias and power differences while
also looking into values, reflecting on insights, actions, emotions, impact, and finally
collaborating by building relational trust with all stakeholders, including the program designer,
students, and administrators (Culver et al., 2021). Understanding organizational context allows
the various stakeholders to understand the political and bureaucratic landscape the program
design may face, along with the constraints and opportunities of the organization (Culver et al.,
2021). With the organizational context in mind, the stakeholders and designers of the program
can navigate competing interests internally and externally with the organization while also
leveraging institutional priorities and negotiating a solution with key stakeholders and decision-
makers (Culver et al., 2021). Visualization of the model, the components, and phases of the
model are shown in Figure 4 and adapted from Culver et al. (2021).

126

Figure 3
Design for Equity in Higher Education Model

In the case of increasing the rate of BIPOC students navigating through community
college to a 4-year institution and STEM degree attainment, key stakeholders like BIPOC
students and administrators, faculty, advisors, and professional staff at both campuses need to
come together in the organization phase to define objectives, form a design team, and assess
participation and political will of all who are involved (Culver et al., 2021). During the
empathize phase of program development, stakeholders need to “gain well-rounded
understanding of the experiences and perspectives of those [they] are designing for” which also
include a “multi-pronged approach to data gathering” (Culver et al., 2021, p. 5). Once data are
gathered, the (re)define phase allows stakeholders to understand the narratives and the
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complexities of the problem. After all stakeholders understand the experiences and narratives,
the next two phases involve the prototyping and ideation of ways to solve the complex problems
with a diverse group of stakeholders who bring multiple perspectives and will allow for buy-in to
the solution. Once several solutions are built, during the testing phase, programming can be
evaluated and refined with a continuous assessment and improvement phase. Culver et al. (2021)
stated that designing a “perfect” solution takes time to test, evaluate, and refine before scaling
up. During this time, pilot solutions and tests can create ways for programs to collect user
feedback and experiences to continuously improve and help in the identification of new
challenges as they arise.
Recommendations for Future Research
This research focused on the experiences of BIPOC students aged 20 to 36 who
transferred from community college to an SPI STEM program. The participants were part of a
program focused on providing financial resources and comprehensive programming to support
student success. Students were invited to be a part of the program, which is limited in its ability
to scale up, as this would require extensive costs and resources to launch.
While research has examined BIPOC transfer students pursuing STEM degrees
(Bensimon et al., 2019; Jackson et al., 2013; Jackson & Laanan, 2015; Starobin et al., 2016), it is
still limited in viewing how institutions can build capacity to support these students using the
strengths and CCW of BIPOC students pursuing STEM degrees. There is also limited research
on successful practices using a DEHE (Culver et al., 2021) approach to program design as it
applies to student success, BIPOC students, and STEM degree attainment.
Recommendations for future research include interviewing participants of the BIPOC
community who have navigated from the community college into their STEM major in the 4-
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year institution but who have not received scholarships or extensive funding to cover the cost of
attendance at the university. These students may face other challenges and barriers in addition to
the ones identified in the study. Other future research study recommendations include research
on successful practices using a DEHE (Culver et al., 2021) approach to program design and how
it can be scaled up to serve a larger population of students while incurring minimal to moderate
costs for the institutions launching these types of programs.
Conclusion
Students pursuing higher education come from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds.
Higher education institutions have traditionally been designed with the dominant culture in mind
with programs, policies, rules, and regulations built for those with abundant resources and capital
to navigate these various landscapes and challenges. While some believe that education is
thought of as a “public good” (Kezar et al., 2005), not all institutions of higher education are
designed to serve those who seek these educational opportunities with systems and institutions
built to perpetuate the “dominant” narrative and status quo (Dixson & Rousseau Anderson, 2018;
Lynn & Dixson, 2013). As the demographics of the United States population will continue to
shift to more BIPOC citizens, the inequities in educational attainment, particularly in STEM
education attainment, must be addressed, or the future of the United States economy and
standing within the world will diminish. Designing spaces and programs in higher education with
equity in mind can help address issues introduced by systemic and institutional racism. More
practitioners must incorporate equitable design practices to create change centered on social
justice, equity, and inclusion.

129

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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Introduction to the interview:
Thank you for taking time today to meet with me and to speak about your experiences.
This interview should take less than 60 minutes. Hopefully, this will be more than enough time
to explore the different questions in this study. I am a doctoral student at USC conducting a
research study on transfer student experiences at a public research institution. The purpose of my
study is to learn more about the experiences of transfer students transferring from community
college to a four-year institution into a STEM degree program. I am conducting interviews with
transfer students like you in STEM majors at the university. The data collected from the
interviews will be password-protected and encrypted on a separate external hard drive. All
identifying information will be stripped from the data collected, and a pseudonym will be used to
reference the institution and the participants. This will protect the confidentiality of those
participating in the study. Do you have any questions before we begin? Also, I would like to
record our interview with your permission to accurately capture your response. This will prevent
unintentional mistakes in paraphrasing or transcribing your answers. These recordings will not
be shared. May I have permission to record?

Table A1
Demographic and Interview Questions Social and Cultural Capital and Institutional Agents
Question Potential probes RQ addressed Key concept addressed Q type (Patton, 2002)
D1. What is your gender
identification?
Demographic Open-ended
D2. How do you
identify yourself in
terms of race or
ethnicity?
Demographic Open-ended
D3. What is your age? Demographic Open-ended
D4. What year are you
currently?
What semester and year
level are you?
Demographic Open-ended
D5. What major are you
studying?
Demographic Open-ended
D6. What degree
program did you
graduate from at your
community college?

Demographic Open-ended
Tell me about how you
came to the decision
to pursue a STEM
major?
Tell me more about
that…
R1 Cultural capital/Social
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-structured
How have you been
encouraged or
discouraged to pursue
a STEM degree?
What or whom played a
role? Tell me more
about that…

R1 Institutional
barriers/Social
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
151

Question Potential probes RQ addressed Key concept addressed Q type (Patton, 2002)
What support did you
receive, if any, during
the transfer process
into the STEM major?
Tell me more about
that…
R1, R2 Barriers/Institutional
agents/Social
capital/Cultural
capital
Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
Where did you get your
information regarding
the transfer process to
a 4-year institution?
Walk me through your
thought process…
R2 Cultural
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
What other resources or
individuals helped
you through the
community college
transfer process to a
4-year institution?
Tell me more about
that…
R1, R2 Institutional
agents/Cultural
capital/Social capital
Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
Tell me about any
barriers during the
transfer process from
either the community
college or the 4-year
institution.
Give me an example
of…

How were you able to
overcome those
barriers?
R1, R2 Institutional barriers Semi-structured
What opportunities have
you found when
pursuing your STEM
degree?
Tell me more about
that… and give me an
example…

R1, R2 Social capital/Cultural
capital/Institutional
agents

Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
What challenges have
you faced pursuing
your STEM degree?
Tell me more about
that… and give me an
example…
How have you been able
to overcome those
challenges?
R1 Institutional
barriers/Social capital
Semi-structured
152

Question Potential probes RQ addressed Key concept addressed Q type (Patton, 2002)
What resources have
you identified as
important for
supporting your
STEM degree
progress?
Give me a few
examples…
R1, R2 Social capital/Cultural
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-
structured/documentat
ion
What advice would you
give to community
college students
pursuing a STEM
major that you wish
you had?
Give me an example… R1, R2 Social capital/Cultural
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-structured
Is there anything else
you would like to
discuss regarding
your experiences
transitioning from
community college to
a 4-year institution
specific to your
STEM major?

Tell me more… R1, R2 Social capital/Cultural
capital/Institutional
agents
Semi-structured
153
154

Conclusion to the interview:
Thank you for participating in this study. The information you have provided will provide
insight into the experiences of transfer students. I appreciate your willingness to participate and
the perspectives you have shared. If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to contact
me. You can contact me via email or in a method that is convenient to you.
If I have follow up questions for clarification purposes, may I reach out to you again via
email?
Once again, thank you for your time.
155

Appendix B: Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix (Qualitative)
Research question Theoretical framework Data instrument questions
How do students of color use
their experiences to
navigate the transfer
process into STEM majors
from community college to
a selective public research
institution?
Community cultural wealth
Theory (Yosso, 2005)
Interview questions 1–3, 5–
11
What types of tools and
strategies do students of
color use to successfully
navigate the transfer and
transition process into their
STEM majors from
community college to a
selective public research
institution?
Institutional agents (Stanton-
Salazar, 1997, 2011)
Interview questions 3–7, 9–
11

Demographic questions

Demographic questions 1–6
will be asked prior to start
of interview questions.

156

Appendix C: Recruitment Email Communication
STUDY TITLE: Building Capital: Supporting Students of Color in STEM Degree Attainment
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Angela Brockelsby
FACULTY ADVISOR: Patricia Tobey, Ph.D.
SUBJECT: Doctoral Research Participation Request
Dear [Participant’s First Name],
You are invited to participate in a study to examine how Black, Indigenous, and People
of Color utilize different types of capital, including cultural and social capital, and your
experiences, as well as institutional support to help you towards your STEM degree attainment
goals.
The purpose of this study is to learn how students of color navigate the transfer process
from community college to a four-year institution into a STEM major. We hope to learn if
different types of capital, experiences, strategies, and tools are used by the students to help
navigate this process. You are invited as a possible participant because you self-identify as being
within the racial and ethnic group being studied, have transferred into the university from a
community college with an associate degree, and are currently studying within a STEM or
STEM Education major.
This study is being conducted by Angela Brockelsby as part of her doctoral dissertation
with the University of Southern California. Your participation in the study is completely
voluntary, and participant identities will not be known to the organization.
This study includes a voluntary interview process that may take 60 minutes of your time.
If you are interested in participating in this study, are at least 18, and are willing to be
157

interviewed, please contact the researcher directly at brockels@usc.edu to schedule a time and
date for the interview.
Participants will receive a $25 gift certificate for their time and participation in the study.
Sincerely,

Angela Brockelsby

158

Appendix D: Information Sheet for Exempt Research
STUDY TITLE: Building Capital: Supporting Students of Color in STEM Degree Attainment
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Angela Brockelsby
FACULTY ADVISOR: Patricia Tobey, Ph.D.
You are invited to participate in a research study. Your participation is voluntary. This
document explains information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is
unclear to you.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to learn how students of color navigate the transfer process
from community college to a four-year institution into a STEM major. We hope to learn if
different types of capital, experiences, strategies, and tools are used by the students to help
navigate this process. You are invited as a possible participant because you self-identify as being
within the racial and ethnic group being studied, have transferred into the university from a
community college with an associate degree, and are currently studying within a STEM or
STEM Education major. About 15 participants will take part in the study.
Participant Involvement
Eleven semi-structured interview questions will be asked of participants during a 60–90-
minute period. Before the start of the interview, six demographic questions will be asked of
participants. The interviews will be conducted via Zoom, and either video or audio of the session
will be recorded for note-taking purposes, with your permission.
If you decide to take part, you will be asked to schedule times and dates for the online
interview. Before the interview, the researcher will ask for verbal consent to record the interview
via video or audio. During the interview, participants will be asked questions about their
159

experiences during the transfer process from the community college to the four-year institution
into a STEM major and what helped them navigate this process. Once the interview is
concluded, a small gift card will be sent to each participant to thank them for participating in the
interviews. If the researcher needs to follow up with the participants, the researcher may reach
out via email.
Payment/Compensation for Participation
Participants will receive a $25 gift certificate for participation in the study.
Confidentiality
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California Institutional
Review (IRB) may access the data. The IRB reviews and monitors research studies to protect the
rights and welfare of research subjects.
We will keep your records for this study confidential as far as permitted by law. However, if we
are required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential information about you. Efforts will be
made to limit the use and disclosure of your personal information, including research records, to
people who are required to review this information. Interviews will be transcribed, and
video/audio recordings will be destroyed once the data is converted to text. Data will be saved
for the duration of the study and destroyed after the study has been completed. We may publish
the information from this study in journals or present it at meetings. If we do, we will not use
your name.
Investigator Contact Information
If you have any questions about this study, please contact Angela Brockelsby,
brockels@usc.edu, at (XXX) XXX-XXXX, and Patricia Tobey, Ph.D. at tobey@usc.edu.
160

IRB Contact Information
If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board at (323) 442-0114 or email
irb@usc.edu.

161

Appendix E: Qualitative Codebook
Name Description Files References
Agents of capital 14 72
Institutional agents Empowering agent who provides emotional
support and access to resources within their
network to help students. Can refer to
teachers, counselors, community leaders, and
individuals who have means to transmit or
negotiate the transmission of institutional
resources and opportunities.
14 72
Administrators 1 1
Faculty 12 27
Professional staff 14 44
Barriers and
challenges
14 93
COVID 4 5
Family obligations 2 2
Financial 10 16
Institutional 14 50
Lack of support 9 14
Loss of credit 7 7
Majors 3 4
Residency 3 3
Rigor of courses 10 19
Lack of friends 5 8
Systemic 3 5
Time management 7 7
Characteristics 14 143
Financial awareness 7 14
Goal-oriented 11 31
Practical, logic 12 40
Problem solver 8 14
Resilient 13 44
Funds of knowledge 12 42
162

Community 9 24
Family 10 18
Opportunities 13 25
Brand of 4-year 1 1
Internships and career 10 15
Research 6 9
Programming support 12 65
Enrichment grants and
aid
4 4
Events and programs 9 16
Leadership
opportunities
3 4
Mentorship 7 9
Networking
opportunities
11 20
New student
onboarding
4 7
Required course 4 5
Social and cultural
capital
14 202
Community cultural
wealth
14 202
Aspirational Refers to hopes and dreams of individuals
regarding their future despite barriers real or
perceived. Cultural wealth and role that
families play in reaching goals. Beliefs,
attitudes, self-image, and aspirations.
Resiliency through adversity.
14 50
Familial Pedagogies of home that BIPOC students bring
to classrooms. Cultural knowledge from
families use to navigate and operate in
society. Funds of Knowledge. Concept of
communal bonds. Memories useful for
coping with problems.
10 19
Linguistic Refers to cultural wealth gained by BIPOC
communities who experience communication
through one or more language and styles.
Bring additional communication skills such
as storytelling, listening, recounting,
2 4
163

memorizing, translating, and using different
vocal tones, volume, and rhythm. Translating
info for parents.
Navigational Ability to navigate various institutions,
including academic spaces that may not
include different perspectives from dominant
populations. Learn how to draw upon cultural
strategies, resilience to survive and thrive in
situations affected by racism.
14 74
Resistant Refers to cultural knowledge learned to resist
the dominant narratives in society affected by
racism. Create value in themselves to fight
racism, sexism, and classism.
7 15
Social Using lessons learned and communities
working together to lift each other from prior
experiences. Network of contacts and
resources providing support to navigate
different situations. Contribute back to
communities to lift next generation with
information and networking opportunities
necessary to navigate systems of oppression.
13 40
Tools and strategies 14 373
Advising tools 13 38
Articulation
Agreements
12 23
Financial literacy 6 9
Guided pathways 5 7
Networking and
Communication
14 56
Office hours and
faculty
12 16
Online research 13 38
Peer support 12 51
Planning 14 66
Self-care 9 27
Study skills 11 21
Time management 9 13
Tutoring resources 6 8

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Due to institutional and systemic barriers, few BIPOC students transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions with aspirations to attain a STEM degree. This descriptive case study utilizes the community cultural wealth framework, funds of knowledge, and the role institutional agents play during and after the transfer and transition process for community college students pursuing STEM degree attainment at a 4-year institution. This study examined 14 students' experiences through interviews and document analysis of how they overcame the process and what types of capital, tools, and strategies helped them past those barriers towards STEM degree attainment.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Brockelsby, Angela In-He (author)

Core Title Building capital: supporting students of color in STEM degree attainment

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/22/2022

Defense Date 03/29/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag community college,community cultural wealth,institutional agents,OAI-PMH Harvest,STEM

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tobey, Patricia (committee chair), Kim, Esther (committee member), Lynch, Douglas (committee member)

Creator Email angela.brockelsby@gmail.com,brockels@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111102237

Unique identifier UC111102237

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Brockelsby, Angela In-He

Type texts

Source 20220425-usctheses-batch-932 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu