Abstract: In 2021, 24% of the U.S. workforce (ages 18–74) was employed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) occupations. American Indian/Alaska Native adults made up less than 1% of the STEM workforce. Advancing Indigenous People in STEM (AISES) is a national nonprofit aimed at substantially increasing the representation of Indigenous people in STEM careers. AISES provides support for students as they pursue college degrees in STEM fields and additional outreach to Indigenous STEM professionals after graduation. This qualitative study described the experiences of American Indian members of AISES who completed a college degree in a STEM field between 2015 and 2019. Ten participants completed semi-structured key-informant interviews and an additional seven engaged in a focus group discussion. The focus of the data collection was to understand the impact of AISES on the participants' pursuit and completion of a college degree in a STEM field. Findings indicate that although individual internal and external factors influenced the graduates' experiences, they perceived that membership in AISES contributed to greater self-efficacy and was instrumental in their educational and professional success.
Parisien et al. (Fri,) studied this question.