Formerly incarcerated people routinely encounter systemic hurdles that limit their abilities to participate in educational and career opportunities; those with a passion for STEM often are excluded from STEM education and careers. This article uses Narrative Inquiry to explore the personal journeys of seven justice-impacted individuals who studied and/or pursued careers in STEM fields. Through their stories, we explore how race, education quality, teacher–student relationships, and community dynamics foster education exclusion and can contribute to a sense of alienation from education. Their narratives highlight the intersections between STEM exclusion and the school-to-prison pipeline and how these systems work together to disenfranchise underrepresented populations.
Christopher Etienne (Wed,) studied this question.