Long Term Outcomes of a STEM Summer Program: A Phenomenology of Hispanics in their Career Pathways

The United States is said to be the land of opportunity. However, not all members of society get the same opportunities. Access to education and well-paid careers such as those in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are not equally distributed; Hispanics, Blacks, and Native Americas are under-represented in these fields when compared to Whites and Asians. The purpose of this research is to learn about the experiences of Hispanics who had an early interest in STEM careers (attended a STEM Summer Program while attending K-12 grades) to determine which experiences were conducive to their continued interest in STEM.