“They Open Doors, It Is Our Job to Walk Through”: Opportunity-Centered Institutional Logics as Perceived by Students

Science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) disciplines often have academic cultures shaped by institutional logics that privilege prestige and competition. In contrast, some STEMM departments are taking up “opportunity-centered institutional logics” or student-centered organizational frameworks that emphasize inclusion, expansive opportunity, and student success over prestige and elitism. Building upon Núñez’s framework, this qualitative study examines how undergraduate students perceive themes of inclusivity, talent development, and culturally responsive educational practices in a computer science department at a minority-serving urban research university in the northeastern United States. The study asks: (a) How do students perceive opportunity logics in their CS learning environment? (b) What departmental structures and norms align with opportunity-centered logics values and goals? Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 25 undergraduate students participating in a federally funded scholarship program. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using iterative thematic coding focused on opportunity-centered themes. Findings indicate that students experienced their department as highly supportive and opportunity-oriented through inclusive communication practices, visible and accessible academic support systems, strong peer and faculty relationships, normalization of help-seeking and struggle, and intentional efforts to connect students to research, internships, career development, and institutional resources. By centering student perspectives, this study extends the conceptualization of institutional logics to the interactional level by demonstrating how opportunity-centered values are enacted through everyday departmental practices and relationships.