Underprepared and "At-Risk": Disrupting Deficit Discourses in Undergraduate STEM Recruitment and Retention Programming

This paper highlights deficit-oriented descriptions of underrepresented undergraduate students in STEM intervention programs at large public 4-year universities. Drawing from interview data and using critical discourse analysis, the author identifies how deficit discourses are mobilized among program staff and argues that such descriptions reproduce discriminatory perceptions of underrepresented students. Recommendations for practice are provided as they relate to campus-wide recruitment and retention efforts.