Educational pathways for Native American graduates: stories through the STEM Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, 2016.In an effort to address the underrepresentation, high attrition rates, and multiple achievements discrepancies that continue to disadvantage Native Americans in STEM, as well as the accompanying gap in the literature, this study moves beyond such static, deficit numbers by sharing the dynamic, affirming experiences of nine Native American graduates in STEM through the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Honoring Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, this qualitative study is guided by a critical Indigenous research paradigm and the Diné concept of Hózhó, utilizing Indigenous Storywork (Archibald, 2008) and complementary narrative inquiry methods. Participant stories reveal three critical lessons regarding their life experiences as Native Americans in STEM: (1) how STEM was accessed in the home; (2) the challenges faced in college and graduate school; and (3) the many factors that supported the entirety of their STEM journeys. Findings underscore the paradigm shift that must occur from that of the dominant, reductionist way of thinking with a focus on the individual to that of the interconnected Indigenous way of being that integrates moral reflexivity and meaning into our collective lives. Through this lens, the stories of these Native STEM trailblazers reveal how the integrity of relationships—the relationships within and between the self and family; the relationships with their STEM disciplines; the relationships with their campus; and the relationships with their tribal nations and communities— sustains their STEM success by allowing them to create and find meaning in, and beyond, this life. This study is rooted in the future and ungirded by a tenor hope: hope that these stories of educational and professional attainment will transform discourses of deficiency and disempowerment to those of collective strength, possibility and action; hope that these stories of Native STEM success will blaze the pathways for future Native scientists; and hope that these stories of Native STEM success will serve to support self-sufficient, self-determining Indigenous communities