Figure 5. STEM system conceptual framework. Graphically designed by N. Joseph, 2015, to explain the STEM system as a White institutional space.
Transforming STEM education in order to increase participation in STEM among racially minoritized students, will undoubtedly disrupt White institutional space. Haynes and Joseph (2016) describe that especially in higher education “the STEM system functions as White institutional space that positions Whiteness as normal, reproduces hegemony, and contributes to the differing of experiences among students based on race” (Martin, 2008; McGee & Martin, 2011; Moore, 2008; Tate, 1994; Terry, 2010). Reforming education, then, means reforming STEM systems of thinking, using it as disruptive innovation. “A system-wide shift to claiming STEM as a disruptive innovation calls for students to become engaged in their learning as explorers, who share their learning with each other and with authentic audiences to serve real purposes” (Berkowicz & Myers, 2016). By displacing the STEM status quo, teachers, administrators, and other school leaders must increase their racial consciousness, and that of the school system, in order to impact STEM teaching and learning, ultimately expanding the STEM pipeline for students of color.