The Troubled Success of Black Women in STEM

ABSTRACT

We examine the experiences of 3 high-achieving Black undergraduate and graduate women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Our findings reveal that structural racism, sexism, and race-gender bias were salient in the women's STEM settings. These experiences were sources of strain, which the women dealt with in ways that demonstrate both resilience and trauma. We discuss how their experiences might motivate institutions to offer support for high-achieving students who sometimes face risks from multiple sources.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge and thank Dr. Faheemah Mustafaa for her feedback on multiple versions of this article.

Notes

1 We use Latinx to decenter the patriarchal nature of and gender binary within the terms Latino and Latina.

2 Sonya participated in a two-person focus group interview with an African American male engineering doctoral student at her institution.