‘Using my education to fight for my communities’: understanding how an equity-based STEM experience cultivated equity ethic and STEM identity development among women of colour in STEM

The pervasive myth that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are purely objective subjects fosters significant disconnects between Black, Latinx, Asian, Brown and Indigenous students and K–12 STEM education, as the curriculum is often detached from their lived experiences. This disconnect leaves many students of colour feeling alienated in undergraduate and graduate STEM classrooms. Traditional STEM programmes rarely incorporate culturally responsive curricula that would allow students to connect more deeply with the content and develop their STEM identities. According to Carlone and Johnson’s framework of STEM identity development, students must view themselves as ‘doers’ of STEM. Without experiences that allow under-represented students to demonstrate competence and engage in disciplinary performance, their STEM identities are hindered. The I CAN PERSIST Initiative, a culturally responsive, evidence-based programme, aims to advance academic and career persistence among women and girls of colour in STEM. It seeks to reshape narratives about who can participate meaningfully in STEM through a curriculum designed to enhance students’ STEM identity development. This programme provides Black and Brown women and girls with opportunities to become ‘doers’ of STEM while integrating their lived experiences. Specifically, Black and Brown undergraduates and graduates facilitate lessons with local secondary school girls of colour interested in STEM, focusing on socio-scientific issues from a critical perspective. This article details the engagement of undergraduate and graduate women of colour in the I CAN PERSIST STEM Initiative through equity-based outreach activities that support their STEM identity development.