Mentoring to Accelerate Retention and Change Outcomes in Science (MARCOS)

Nevada State University, Henderson NV

Investigators

Abstract

The Mentoring to Accelerate Retention and Change Outcomes in Science (MARCOS) Scholar Program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project at Nevada State College. The project is designed to recruit and guide talented low-income students from local high schools through college graduation and graduate school enrollment in biology-related fields or employment in the workforce. The project will recruit and enroll at least 16 talented, low-income students in biology concentrations, supporting them with financial aid, faculty mentoring, blocked classes, graduate school preparation, and other programs. The program aims to meet at least 60 percent of the unmet need of the SSTEM scholars. This is based on analysis of data indicating that students with greater than 60 percent unmet need have notable lower retention rates. The project aims to encourage these talented biology students to consider pursuing advanced degrees in biology-related fields. Encouraging low-income talented students to obtain advanced degrees in scientific fields will help to produce a well-trained workforce that will contribute to the economic well-being of the nation. The MARCOS Scholar program will study factors that contribute to students' understanding of graduate school admissions criteria. Pilot data shows that first-generation, low-income students have inaccurate views regarding criteria for graduate admission. The project will evaluate which activities increase the entry of biology students into graduate programs. Research will focus on the impact of social belonging, research opportunities, course assistantships and graduate preparation experiences. The project will develop and articulate a replicable model to encourage talented low-income students to consider graduate training in STEM, relying on low-cost approaches. Efforts include financial support based on an institutional data-driven unmet need threshold that correlates with strong retention; incrementally increasing financial support each year to incent retention and completion; and integration of other paid employment opportunities that are known to benefit students academically, such as summer research positions, summer internships, and course assistantships. These methods will collectively result in a program that serves more students with less funding, maximizing the breadth of impact of support. Creating pathway programs that guide low-income students from high school toward graduate-level success is critical from an educational standpoint, and doing so in STEM fields is of critical importance for the nation's economic competitiveness in advanced technologies. The findings from the program will be disseminated widely to the science education community.