Culturally Responsive Mentoring: A Psychosociocultural Perspective on Sustaining Students of Color Career Aspirations in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

Students of color (SOCs) are aspiring to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and earning science and engineering degrees in greater numbers than previously; however, they are less likely to enter or persist in STEM careers when compared to non-SOCs. Evidence suggests that SOCs are disproportionately experiencing a career mismatch suggesting incongruity between their initial STEM aspirations and exposure to the STEM workforce. Taking an asset-based perspective, we drew on interviews with 20 Latine and Black students to understand the role of important others in sustaining career aspirations over time. Using the psychosociocultural framework, we explore how students' perceptions of cultural congruity between their own cultural values and STEM environments shaped who they turned to for support and to model the type of STEM professional they aspired to. Findings underscore the importance of how culturally responsive mentors helped sustain students' career aspirations. Mentors modeled a career that aligned with their values and provided validation of SOCs' STEM abilities and identities. Findings highlight the important role institutional agents, often faculty of color, play in supporting SOCs' persistence in STEM pathways. Implications for practice include the importance of compensating faculty and staff for emotional and equity-based labor and the need to hire and train faculty and administrators who share this ethic of care.