Encouraged or Weeded Out: Perspectives of Students of Color in the STEM Disciplines on Faculty Interactions

For this multisite qualitative case study, framed in Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory, we examined mentoring experiences among Students of Color majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at both a predominantly White institution and a historically Black institution. Findings revealed that faculty served as gatekeepers for accessing STEM-related careers for Students of Color. Students of Color at the historically Black college experienced positive mentoring and professional development, whereas those at the predominantly White institution found the faculty unwilling to mentor them professionally and perceived the faculty as “weeding them out” of the STEM field.