A Systematized Literature Review of the Factors that Predict the Retention of Racially Minoritized Students in STEM Graduate Degree Programs

According to ASEE’s 2018 “Engineering by the Numbers” Report, racially minoritized students constituted 19.1% of engineering baccalaureate degrees awarded, 17.4% of engineering master’s degrees awarded, and 12.1% of engineering doctoral degrees awarded across the United States. There is a significant and troubling decrease in the representation of Hispanic or Latinx, Black and/or African American, American Indian or Native American, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders as we move up the graduate seniority levels. This is a concern that is mirrored in a lack of continuance to graduate study across all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. While there is currently an extensive body of research on the factors that predict the retention of racially minoritized groups in undergraduate education, it fails to provide scholarly insights or recommendations for practice on factors that impact graduate education. To combat the issue of underrepresentation, it is important for researchers to understand these factors, how they may differ from K-12 and undergraduate levels, and what types of interventions can be put in place to address them. To respond to this need, we present a systematized literature review of articles relevant to understanding the factors that predict the retention of underrepresented and/or racially minoritized students in STEM graduate degree programs. This systematized literature review found three emergent themes that contribute to the internal attitude to persist and external environment conducive to retention. These themes are grouped by personal factors, social factors, and institutional factors. Findings suggest that there are personal factors that influence minoritized graduate students’ retention such as internal motivation, identity development, perception of support, and resilience towards stereotypes, bias, and past experiences. Social/relational aspects also heavily influence students’ retention through factors such as sense of belonging, discrimination, advisor and faculty support, mentoring, and work-life balance. Furthermore, the results also identify institutional factors as key players in the retention of minoritized graduate students. These factors are department and campus culture, access to URM (underrepresented minority) role models, and vast networks of societies, alumni, and government programs. The amount of information that was available on these minoritized groups in STEM graduate degree programs was a limitation for this study, but it also pointed to an important gap in the literature, which must be addressed in order to create effective interventions that broaden participation in STEM graduate studies and furthermore in the STEM ecosystem. Introduction and Literature Review Although there has been a slow increase of research aimed at understanding URM graduate retention, researchers have made great strides in understanding the factors that influence educational attainment for URM STEM undergraduates. Early exposure to STEM is one of the primary predictors of interest in STEM for undergraduate minorities [1]. The transition from high school to college and students’ adjustment to the college educational system are also important to their persistence [2]. The development of mentoring relationships with others that are peers, graduate students, or faculty and staff members within the university or within professional networks are just as important [3]. Financial barriers, advocacy needs, and negative attitudes are also common factors that affect retention [4]. Peer support and involvement with STEM-related activities are predictors of retention [5]. Many of these concepts could be believed to have some effect on students at the graduate level, but there are differing characteristics between undergraduate and graduate school that may result in other factors. Researchers, interested in making the engineering ecosystem more diverse and inclusive, desire to understand what has an influence on the retention of these URM groups and what strategic actions can they execute that positively influence these factors. At the graduate level, a few recent articles were found in a preliminary search that pointed to factors like culture, connection [6], community, sense of belonging [6], academic sense of self [7], advising and mentoring relationships [7], and internal motivation [8] as all influential. Although the few articles cited above point towards some influential factors, there is still a great amount of systematic investigation and implementation that needs to be done in order to help mitigate the risks of departing URM students. That is why it is vital for us to add to the literature organizing and describing the sets of factors that influence retention for these students so that the proper interventions can be developed. This systematized literature review addresses the consistent factors that can negatively or positively impact racial minorities’ pursuit of STEM graduate degrees. It more clearly delineates the dimensions that are impactful for URM graduate students in STEM by addressing the following research question: What factors influence the retention of racially minoritized students in STEM graduate degree programs? This systematized literature review clearly identifies three broad areas of factors that related to the retention of racial minorities in STEM graduate programs: personal, social/relational, and institutional factors. Our review describes what the factors are and the ways in which they operate to effect retention for marginalized groups. By understanding these factors, engineering education researchers can build a foundation of knowledge that can be utilized to develop effective interventions that will broaden URM participation in STEM graduate studies.