Abstract:
There is a crisis of disenfranchised students dropping out of STEM majors and careers. The
national STEM major retention rates in undergraduate institutions hovers around 40%, and this
number is disproportionately smaller among marginalized students, especially women and
students of color (Dagley et. al, 2015). These students, who struggle to identify within academic
STEM communities, are failed by the inadequacy of texts that are unable to stimulate interest
and engagement in their STEM identities. Based on student interviews, research of the literary
market, and my own experiences, there is a severe de-emphasis on STEM nonfiction literature in
the classroom for adolescent-aged students. Using a theoretical framework informed by Gholdy
Muhammad’s Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) framework, Pierre Bourdieu’s five major
concepts, and Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger’s theory of situated learning informed by Claude
Steele’s research on stereotype threat, I will argue for a need for more STEM nonfiction texts
aimed at engaging a “young adult demographic” to further engage students that may otherwise
decide to stop pursuing STEM.
