Urban Coders Guild Student Outcomes: Building STEM Identity and Persistence in College and Career Pathways

Urban Coders Guild (UCG) is dedicated to fostering an environment where students can thrive academically and professionally by experiencing comfort, confidence, courage, competence, and a sense of community of belonging. These outcomes are essential for nurturing students' STEM identity and supporting their persistence in post-secondary education and STEM career pathways.

Comfort:

Students from underrepresented communities, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and female-identifying youth, often face systemic barriers in STEM fields. UCG creates a safe, inclusive space where students can engage with challenging material, building a sense of comfort. Research shows that a supportive learning environment is vital to retaining students in STEM, particularly those from historically marginalized groups (Estrada et al., 2016).

Confidence:

Confidence in one's technical abilities grows through hands-on learning and achieving industry-recognized certifications. UCG’s curriculum builds students' self-efficacy through real-world projects that mirror industry demands. Studies indicate that confidence and self-efficacy in STEM significantly increase retention and success among underrepresented students (Chemers, Zurbriggen, Syed, Goza, & Bearman, 2011). This outcome helps students believe in their capacity to excel in STEM disciplines, which reinforces their STEM identity.

Courage:

UCG empowers students to face challenges and persist despite obstacles, a critical skill for underrepresented students in fields where they may not always see themselves represented. This resilience helps students overcome societal barriers and remain committed to their academic and career goals. Courage in navigating these challenges supports long-term persistence in STEM college programs (Estrada et al., 2016).

Competence:

Technical competence is the backbone of UCG’s programs. By mastering core STEM skills in cybersecurity, web development, and mobile app development, students gain practical abilities that prepare them for college and the workforce. Research underscores the importance of early technical competence for increasing STEM degree completion rates (Estrada, Hernandez, & Schultz, 2018). UCG’s project-based learning approach ensures that students build these competencies early and continuously.

Community of Belonging:

At UCG, community of belonging means creating a space where students feel valued, seen, and supported by peers and mentors who understand their journey. This sense of community is particularly important for underrepresented students, who may feel isolated in STEM environments. Studies have shown that when students feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to persist in STEM fields (Walton & Cohen, 2011). UCG’s partnerships with organizations like Black Tech Street and Tulsa Innovation Labs further reinforce this community, connecting students to local tech ecosystems and providing them with role models and mentors.

In a city like Tulsa, where the legacy of Black Wall Street and the 1921 Race Massacre are deeply embedded in the community, creating spaces of belonging in STEM is not only essential for student success but also a powerful act of healing and empowerment. By fostering this belonging, UCG provides students with the social and emotional support they need to persist in their academic and career pathways.

Nurturing STEM Identity and Persistence

The outcomes of comfort, confidence, courage, competence, and community of belonging are essential to developing a strong STEM identity. A strong STEM identity helps students see themselves as capable and deserving of success in STEM, which is critical for long-term persistence in these fields (Estrada et al., 2016). UCG students not only gain the technical skills necessary to succeed but also develop the self-belief and community support needed to persist through the challenges of college and career paths.

Why This Matters

In Tulsa, a city working to rebuild its legacy as a center for Black excellence after the destruction of Black Wall Street, ensuring that underrepresented students have access to STEM education is more important than ever. UCG’s commitment to nurturing student outcomes is critical to building a diverse, inclusive tech workforce in Tulsa’s emerging role as a national tech hub. By empowering students with the skills, confidence, and community they need, UCG is ensuring that Tulsa’s next generation of tech leaders reflects the diversity and resilience of the city’s history and future.

References

Chemers, M. M., Zurbriggen, E. L., Syed, M., Goza, B. K., & Bearman, S. (2011). The role of efficacy and identity in science career commitment among underrepresented minority students. Journal of Social Issues, 67(3), 469–491.

Estrada, M., Hernandez, P. R., & Schultz, P. W. (2018). A longitudinal study of how quality mentorship and research experience integrate underrepresented minorities into STEM careers. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 17(1), ar9.

Estrada, M., Woodcock, A., Hernandez, P. R., & Schultz, P. W. (2016). Toward a model of social influence that explains minority student integration into the scientific community. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 129–148.

Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331(6023), 1447–1451.