Perspectives of Black female STEM majors: culturally responsive online teaching practices among higher education institutions

Abstract

Purpose

Culture is important and influential in how students learn STEM. This study aims to examine whether there is a pedagogical nexus between culturally successful teaching practices, i.e. culturally responsive teaching (CRT), online learning management systems (LMS) and STEM pedagogy among Black undergraduate women in STEM during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Using descriptive data from a quantitative survey exploring the four domains of the CRT framework: care, communication, curriculum and instruction, this study examines the teaching practices experienced via online learning of 26 Black female STEM majors regarding learning management systems and methods utilized.

Findings

The analytic framework utilized in this study was Gay’s (2000, 2002) framework for CRT. Using data from a purposive sample of Black female STEM majors, researchers examined if students experienced culturally responsive teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team also explored the LMS and the method(s) of instruction.

Originality/value

Because of the limited publications on the culturally successful learning experiences of Black STEM majors in online learning spaces, this work offers the use of CRT as an analytic frame to examine the use of CRT practices with Black female STEM majors.

Citation

Terrell Shockley, E., Ellis, V. and Ivy, K.K. (2025), "Perspectives of Black female STEM majors: culturally responsive online teaching practices among higher education institutions", Journal for Multicultural Education, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 28-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-08-2024-0095