Zip to Industry: A First-Year Corporate-STEM Connection Program

University Of Akron, Akron OH

Investigators

Abstract

The importance of the "Zip to Industry" project is that it provides an opportunity for research on how job shadowing impacts student retention in STEM during the first year of college. Many freshman students in engineering or STEM majors have little understanding of what an engineer or STEM major does upon graduation. The project will identify students who may have a weak connection to STEM careers upon entering and provide them with job shadowing experiences during their first year. These first-year students will be paid for this exploration experience and can choose broadly or narrowly within STEM or engineering positions. The students will shadow current University of Akron students on co-operative education or internship placements. If successful, the project will be replicated at other colleges and universities, which can help increase the retention of students within STEM fields. Sustainability plans are twofold: 1) should outcome goals on retention be reached through the project, the institution will fund the project coordinator position to run the program and 2) participating regional industry partners agree to be part of a consortium to support funding of the first-year students to participate. The project's goal is to identify and recruit 2 cohorts of 50 STEM majors (totaling 100 students), explore their perceptions and knowledge of STEM careers, as well as their motivation for STEM careers. The students will have 10 job shadowing experiences during their first year. The students will be trained in relevant professional development skills prior to leaving for their job sites and will have the ability to reflect on their experiences through focus group discussions and individual reflection. The educational framework for the "Zip to Industry" project is Social Cognitive Career Theory, which proposes that a person's goals and efforts towards realizing those goals, are impacted by their interest, confidence, outcome expectations and prior learning experiences related to the goal. Job shadowing is conceived as a powerful learning experience that will impact knowledge and attitudes important for persistence toward a career goal. The University of Akron, which has the 5th oldest co-operative education program in the US, placed more than 1000 students in co-operative education/internship programs this past year. With this extensive employer network, the mechanism exists at UA to examine the impact of a job shadowing program on first-year STEM students and improve retention in STEM fields.