Overlooked pathways into ecology and implications for representation, identity, and retention: A focus group analysis

Ariel Rawson, Becky Mansfield, Carmen R. Cid, Amy E. Kulesza, Maria N. Miriti. 2026. Ecosphere 17(4): e70625. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.70625

Abstract

This research seeks to develop pedagogical approaches that shift away from “deficit” approaches to broadening participation in Ecology and Environmental Science (E&ES) higher education. Rather than emphasizing what underrepresented populations lack in E&ES awareness and experience, this “anti-deficit” approach focuses on institutional barriers and student strengths. To inform strategies to broaden participation, we conducted focus groups to assess individual sense of belonging in E&ES fields. The focus groups were designed to investigate personal stories, shared experiences, and narratives of how individuals became practitioners in E&ES fields or not. Our 10 focus groups totaled 36 participants and included individuals typically represented and those underrepresented in E&ES based on ethnicity or race. Although outdoor experiences are frequently acknowledged as formative for developing an ecological identity, our analysis revealed additional pathways through which underrepresented students cultivated ecological identity. The less acknowledged pathways we highlight in this paper are subsistence/rural upbringing, personal experience with environmental change and disasters, and shifts in the generational zeitgeist around environmental care. In addition to identifying overlooked pathways for developing a connection with nature, we found that students' decisions about whether to choose ecology as a career pathway or not are influenced by their perceptions of whether ecological sciences embrace human–nature interactions, attend to issues of representation and identity, and put communities and care for others at their center. We conclude with implications for recruitment and retention in ecology and environmental fields.