High-Revenue Athletics Institutional Policies and Practices Aligned with Key Resources for STEM Career Development

This study sought to explore the ways in which athletics departments within high-revenue National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I universities established institutional policies and practices aligned with providing key science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career development resources. These resources were derived from an earlier study focused on Black male student-athletes in high-revenue Division I athletics. The athletics department websites of a sample of high-revenue Atlantic Coast Conference institutions were reviewed seeking evidence of such policy and practice alignment with STEM career development. The resources identified from this review included explicit programming and student-athlete experiences for career, personal, and cultural identity development; designated institutional support personnel, including academic advisers, career counselors, and learning specialists, with the potential to provide personalized social support and academic support; and tutoring and study hall as additional academic support practices. The need for equity and student-centeredness is discussed in light of the implementation of each of these resources, as well as considerations of the impact of athletics departments demonstrating leadership and accountability in administering these resources, as compared to university-wide departments of academic and student affairs.

ESportsU Digital Warrior Camp

The authors share two case studies that provide preliminary data for a National Science Foundation Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers award at the intersection of interactive media for STEM career development. The chapter explores the potential of culturally relevant Esports gaming activities to enhance students' motivation, attitudes, and awareness towards careers in the digital media aspects of traditional video gaming and Esports. Towards designing authentic learning environments, the findings from the two case studies revealed that play ecosystems help identify social, cultural, and historical attributes of gaming communities; students need opportunities to take on leadership roles in the design and development of the environment by trusting that they are capable of technological innovations; and that social and cultural nuance of tools, rules, and language define gaming communities.

A Critical Exploration of Assumptions Underlying STEM Career Development

Significant resources have been invested by multiple entities and institutions into exposing more students and adults to science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers. These efforts have coalesced into a major educational and career development movement within the past few decades. In this article, we present a critical analysis of the STEM movement that seeks to inform dialogue and debate regarding the nature and potential impacts of STEM career development. The article identifies the inherent assumptions about equity, self-determination, meaning, and purpose that underlie the STEM movement, while also acknowledging its many important positive contributions. The potential unintended consequences of STEM interventions and programs as well as the social messaging that accompanies these efforts are reviewed. Future directions for research, practice, and public policy that are informed by this critical analysis conclude this article.

Promoting STEM Career Development Among Students and Parents of Color

To date, millions of dollars have been spent in hopes of bolstering an increase among students of color pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. School counselors are uniquely positioned to contribute to this increase; however, they often miss the significance of their leadership role in improving STEM opportunities, particularly for students of color. The results from this qualitative study point to systemic variables that hinder such engagements and provide implications for school counselors and counselor education programs.