Why are some racial minorities so underrepresented as degree candidates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? Why are they so underprepared for college-level math and science courses? Why are their grades and other achievement indicators disproportionately lower than their white counterparts? Why do so many of them change their majors to non-STEM fields? And why do so few pursue graduate degrees in STEM? These five questions are continuously recycled in the study of students of color in STEM. Offered in this volume of New Directions for Institutional Research are new research ideas and frameworks that have emerged from recent studies of minorities in STEM fields across a wide array of institution types: large research universities, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and others. The chapter authors counterbalance examinations of student underperformance and racial disparities in STEM with insights into the study of factors that enable minority student success. Book jacket.