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This chapter challenges the notion that Black males in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are missing from the discipline and proposes a model that presents underrepresentation as a function of Black males being both intentionally undiscovered and/or deliberately disconnected from particular academic disciplines. Our work offers a tangible and implementable yet aligned theory/method/exemplar for supporting the STEM genius of Black males through a hip-hop development (HHD) approach that aligns with a unique pedagogical method rooted in hip-hop culture.

In this chapter, we describe a hip-hop based science program as an intervention that combats STEM undiscovery and disconnectedness. We suggest that this program (through its theoretical and methodological roots) provides a set of practices that have the potential to bolster both academic content knowledge and knowledge of self. We argue that this program supports the development of the students' full socioemotional selves – which is a necessary prerequisite to pursuing academic content knowledge.

Black Panther depicted a positive representation of Black culture. The film transcended Black minds to believe in power, excellence, and intelligence. Black youth posted images on social media using the Wakanda pose as a symbol of pride. The film not only countered the stereotypical generalized ideologies of African culture, values, and customs, but it capsized false narratives by including the historical context of Black scientist with a female character. Articles summarizing depictions of Black Panther and its influence on Black youth assert that the character of Shuri and her perfection of the sciences contributed to pathways for young Black girls to join science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. Other factors contribute to the increase of Black girls in STEM programs, but the image of Shuri's character in a position of power of the sciences pinpoints representation as key to cerebral pictures and reflections of Black female excellence in the sciences. However, representation is minimal among Black male youth in STEM programs.

Although it is true that African American male youth have Black male representation in media through sports figures, rappers, and hip-hop artists, inquiring minds need to know that Black male representation in the sciences and mathematics is the formula to how young minds view themselves and their relation to the world. Accordingly, this underrepresentation of Black male youth in STEM programs leads to the big “what if” question. If LeBron James conducted a critical analysis using physics and mathematics to make a 3-point shot, then what is the likelihood that young Black males' interest in the STEM programs would increase?

Purpose: This chapter outlines a cultural critique of the Gangsta as an exemplary figure to investigate the performance of social media identity. The main goal of the chapter is to illustrate some of the implications that social media have on the contemporary dramatization of the criminal, here framed as a collective techno-cultural process at the threshold between social stigma and branding. Despite using the term “Gangsta,” the author’s intent is not to “fix” this figure as an identity or a class of people, but rather to identify a broad cultural context that emerges from a glocalized hip-hop imaginary, stemming from gangsta rap and evolving alongside trap and drill.

Methodology/approach: The contribution is not intended as an empirical sociological study, but a critical cultural exploration of convergent media that bring together a glocalized gang culture and everyday social media interactions. In the second section, the author outlines his theoretical framework by identifying a point of convergence between recent studies of Instagram celebrities and criminological takes on the selective nature of gang identity. The author also explores the relationship between the “dissing,” a cultural form that is very relevant to the more aggressive sub-genres of rap, and the practice of tagging, a key affordance of social media platforms. In so doing, the author frames social media tagging as a form of identity labeling.

Findings: In light of the theory previously outlined, the author explains how tagging is used alternately to enforce social stigma and engage in recursive branding. The final section examines the aforementioned forms of tagging more in detail, in relation to specific media ecologies of YouTube videos that feature compilations of Instagram Stories originally posted by emerging Italian rappers.

Research limitations: Although it is aimed at offering an interdisciplinary contribution, this chapter adopts an admittedly media-focused perspective. Rather than producing more evidence about the use of social media by gangs, the author comments on existing sociological insight in relation to the affordances and esthetics of social media ecologies, re-problematizing certain forms of online interaction.

Originality/value: By focusing on the commonplace practice of tagging in relation to the figure of the Gangsta, the author emphasizes how online labeling practices can be more fraught that they appear, emphasizing the need for further critical reflections on the stereotyping potential of social media branding practices.

Research suggests there are at least three challenges to Black male interest and success in STEM careers: increasing access to STEM resources and curriculum, increasing Black and male inclusiveness in STEM initiatives, and increasing cultural and technical competency in STEM fields. African American schools typically do not have equitable STEM resources or instruction. In addition, there is limited research on supporting Black males' success in STEM in the culturally responsive computing (CRC) literature. Most STEM initiatives prioritize increasing the number of girls in STEM fields. STEM field employers are not active recruiters of Black male hires and have little experience with diversity and cultural inclusiveness. Research also suggests that Black students may not be interested working in White corporate America that undervalues their unique cultural perspectives and are more concerned with schooling that improves their communities. This chapter utilized CRC as a lens to examine the complexity of engaging Black males in STEM. As a result, the authors suggest adopting an equity ethic to help teachers help Black males connect themselves and their communities to STEM technology by utilizing smartphones and smartphone technology to engage Black males who may not have access to computers. We end with an example of CRC called barbershop computing, which combines computing, engineering, and innovation as a method to attract and retain Black males in STEM classes and help them persist in STEM careers.

Findings within the last decade reveal a core set of activities that have been correlated to student success metrics such as persistence, retention, and graduation (Kuh, 2008). These research-based activities are called high-impact practices (HIPs). Students who have participated in HIPs have shown gains in retention, in persistence, intellectually and in an overall positive college experience. This chapter provides an overview of 10 HIPs and their importance and benefits to underserved students, that is, first-generation college students, low-income college students, and underrepresented students of color such as African American, Latino/a, and Native American. Findings within the chapter also recognize how HIPs can be extremely beneficial for historically Black colleges and universities to build capacity and to ensure student success, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This chapter explores how the intersections of race, gender, and class combine to affect Black undergraduate women and their engagement with high impact practices (HIPs). Specifically, this chapter describes the extent to which Black undergraduate women engaged in HIPs of service-learning, research with faculty, and internships; describes factors that contributed to their engagement (or non-engagement) in the HIPs, while attending a PWI; and explores the role race, gender, and class had on engagement (or non-engagement) with these HIPs. This study used a two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, which consisted of an electronic survey (n = 190) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10). Survey items were taken from the National Survey of Student Engagement, The College Student Report. The study was conceptually grounded by intersectionality, which allowed an exploration of how social inequalities and power relations intersect to potentially influence the college experience of Black women. Findings indicate that Black women are engaging with HIPs. Factors contributing to engagement included positive faculty interactions, desire to make connections on campus and the need to acquire real world work experience. Factors contributing to non-engagement included lack of knowledge regarding HIPs and the impact of the campus climate on students' sense of belonging and occurrences of stereotype threat.

When implemented effectively and systematically across a curriculum, high impact practices (HIP) have the potential to increase student engagement and result in higher student achievement. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a four-year military university with a large liberal education core curriculum that provides the foundation for service and officership in the United States Air or Space Forces. Building on the liberal education core, the civil engineering (CE) major’s courses begin with the cornerstone field engineering course, paired with a two-week co-curricular experience for students at an Air or Space Force installation. With its motto “construct first, design later,” the field engineering course is an HIP and quintessential experiential learning course that gives students a practical frame-of-reference for future analysis and design courses. The CE major culminates with another HIP, the capstone design course, which gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, building confidence in their ability to successfully apply those skills to the increasingly complex problems they will face after graduation. This book chapter provides a case study of the CE major at the USAFA, documenting the HIPs across the majors’ program, and highlighting the key elements and benefits of each.

This paper builds upon a new era of research seeking to understand variability in how desirable outcomes result from engaging rap music as a health enhancing artifact. More specifically, the study explores the music mediated pathways to individual and community well-being. The study emphasizes female music engagement. Quantitative methods are used to examine listening habits and preferences associated with empowering rap music engagement among a female sample of 202 university students using an a priori established path analysis model. Results echo prior research that suggests the functional value of music in helping to define the self independently and articulate one’s social identity within the context of community (Dixon, Zhang, & Conrad, 2009; Hill, 2009; Travis & Bowman, 2012). Specifically, results suggest that among females in this sample, (a) their appropriation of rap music can be empowering, (b) specific factors play a significant role in determining the difference between females that feel more or less empowered from their interactions with rap music, and (c) female listeners were more likely to appropriate rap music for personal and community growth if it was their favorite music type, if they listened often, and if they tended to listen alone more often than with friends. These research findings offer promising routes for more in depth qualitative analysis to help uncover the nuances of preferred engagement strategies and to help define the subjective lived experiences that lead to feeling empowered by music to act toward positive change for oneself and others. Practical results indicate the possibility for gender-specific education, therapeutic or empowerment-based programs that utilize rap music as a rubric.