A qualitative study from Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Science Education Alexis Riley explores how elder Black women teachers reflect on familial support in encouraging scientific curiosity—despite lack of formal science learning or encouragement as children.

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Black employees comprise 9 percent of the STEM workforce. As a result, most Black children who are curious about science never benefit from the “role model effect,” a phenomenon in which people see relatable characteristics in successful individuals and believe they can achieve similar success.
To better understand the early science experiences of Black women in science education, an NYU researcher sought out their stories and found that family role modeling and support were the key factors in cultivating their interest and curiosity. In contrast, schools provided little formal science education or encouragement, which means they had to heavily rely on science-career professionals at home or a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship to strengthen their curiosity.
In a qualitative study, five Black women science teachers, each with more than 15 years of experience, shared their teaching and life experiences through one-on-one interviews and poetry. The interviews were designed to elicit narratives of their lives, including early childhood experiences as well as their teaching, and the poems—written to their childhood selves—sought to understand how reflection helps Black women science teachers make meaning of their past experiences
“Black girls, which includes those who attend under-funded public schools, deserve the opportunity to be science curious, to be able to use and enjoy science in any way they so choose,” says Alexis Riley, assistant professor of teaching and learning at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. “One of the many ways to redress feelings of exclusion and erasure in the culture of science and foster change for Black girls is to bring life to how we support Black women science teachers, and one of the ways to do that is to use freeing avenues for creative expression such as poetry.”
The participants’ responses and poems were coded and analyzed to determine common themes. Riley's findings are published in Science Education.

Black girls ... deserve the opportunity to be science curious, to be able to use and enjoy science in any way they so choose.
After interviewing the participants, Riley identified the following:
- Curiosity served as the integral part of their science identities and persistence.
- As teachers, most participants teach in ways that address science education gaps they experienced in schools.
- Parents played a critical role in encouraging their interests and curiosity.
In the poems, she found overlapping sentiments with the previous themes.
- Being othered—being seen and treated as an outsider in formal science education spaces
- “Thank you for loving science when people outside of home tried to deter you,” writes Dr. Edwards.
- Curiosity—being inclined to ask questions and seek understanding
- One line from Dr. Eaton’s poem reads, “The depth of curiosity that no one knew how to nurture, but you were allowed to explore.”
- Familial support—drawing on systems of encouragement and support from family and feeling spiritually connected to ancestors
- “You came from strong stock and your ancestors were always behind pushing you all the way,” writes Dr. Evans.
Riley writes that Black girls’ learning can be stifled in classrooms, noting that teachers may find Black girls asking a question as “sassy, disruptive, aggressive, or loud.” She proposes that curricula in schools “give ample space for young Black girls and other minoritized groups to explore their curiosity and communicate their thoughts, questions, and ideals without punishment.”
“For science teachers who desire to help their students be seen within the science content and to express themselves in the science learning spaces process, they must consider frameworks of liberation and anti-racism—for example, inviting students who are community members to science fairs, debates, or presentations to increase public awareness and giving students space to make sense of climate change or climate denial and issues related to COVID-19 in the classroom,” says Riley.
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