Layering Programs: Career Academies as a Plausible Intervention to Increase the Representation of Precollegiate Black Males in STEM

Abstract

Based on the theoretical and scientific literature, academic and career decisions to pursue STEM fields are made at the high school level, and Black high school students are more likely to participate in career and technical education (CTE) programs but are less likely to participate in CTE programs related to STEM. Additionally, Black male students are less likely to have taken the necessary prerequisites to pursue STEM fields in postsecondary education. As a result, Black male high school students are underprepared to pursue STEM college majors and careers.

However, when students participate in STEM high school CTE programs (e.g., career academies), they eventually attain STEM occupations. In this chapter, we will examine the role that high school career academies play, from the perspectives of school stakeholders, in addressing the talent pipeline by broadening the participation of Black males in STEM majors and careers.

Citation

Fletcher, E.C., Carroll, T., Hines, E.M., Moore, J.L. and Ford, D.Y. (2022), "Layering Programs: Career Academies as a Plausible Intervention to Increase the Representation of Precollegiate Black Males in STEM", Robins, A.G., Knibbs, L., Ingram, T.N., Weaver, M.N. and Hilton, A.A. (Ed.) Young, Gifted and Missing (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 23-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420220000025003