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Disrupting deficit narratives in informal science education: applying community cultural wealth theory to youth learning and engagement

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Abstract

Informal learning organizations such as museums, zoos, aquaria, gardens, and community-based organizations are often positioned as having programming that fill a void that may exist in the lives of youth participants. Often these institutions do not recognize the assets that youth gain from their own homes and communities and bring to bear in these programs and that contribute to their success and persistence in STEM and academics. In this paper, we problematize the prevailing deficit-oriented approach to STEM enrichment programs for youth who are underrepresented in STEM. Drawing from Tara Yosso’s theory of community cultural wealth, we describe the STEM identity and trajectories of three individuals as they navigated a long-term, museum-based, informal science learning program. Using Yosso’s framework, we describe the capital that youth brought into the program and the ways that they leveraged this capital as they moved from middle to high school, and into their postsecondary studies and early careers in the sciences. Furthermore, we describe how their existing capital intertwined with capital they gained from the museum program in ways that fostered persistence and achievement in science.

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This material is based upon work supported by National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1710792.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Bobby Habig, Preeti Gupta & Jennifer D. Adams

  2. Department of Biology, Queens College, City University of New York, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY, 11367, USA

    Bobby Habig

  3. University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N1N4, Canada

    Jennifer D. Adams

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Habig, B., Gupta, P. & Adams, J.D. Disrupting deficit narratives in informal science education: applying community cultural wealth theory to youth learning and engagement. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 16, 509–548 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-020-10014-8

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