A Community Assets Program that Fosters the Next Generation of STEM Leaders

Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington IL

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Illinois Wesleyan University, Heartland Community College, and Illinois State University. Throughout its five years of funding, this project will fund 280 annual scholarships for two cohorts, each containing up to 35 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in STEM. The project is built on the premise that the three partnering institutions of higher education can generate more, and more successful, STEM graduates by working together, and with community partners, than by working separately. The project will offer substantial four-year scholarships, research experiences, and mentoring to talented high school seniors who are interested in STEM, but for whom significant financial need and limited familiarity with STEM careers are obstacles to bachelor's degree completion. In this way, the program aims to increase the number, diversity, and preparation of STEM professionals in central Illinois. Research demonstrates that STEM students who participate in research and who are enculturated into their fields are more likely to complete bachelor's degrees and consider graduate study. Consequently, Scholars (and high school recruits) will participate in faculty-led, community-based research projects carried out by teams that span the three partner institutions. By working as part of a team to solve STEM problems for local agencies, Scholars will see the societal relevance of their degree programs, build technical confidence in their fields, develop soft skills that are needed in the workplace, and contribute to their communities. Moreover, the cross-campus nature of these experiences will broaden students' professional networks, raise their awareness of different degree programs and career paths, and allow them to find academic and social affinity groups beyond the confines of their own campuses. Scholars whose interests or needs change during their course of study will be able to transfer their scholarships between the three partner institutions. Scholars who start their educations at Heartland Community College will be guided in making the transition to a bachelor's degree program and gain increased access to resources at the two universities, including intermediate coursework and STEM-focused student organizations. Each Scholar will have three mentors: a faculty mentor; a college senior mentor in the Scholar's major discipline; and a sophomore mentor to help with the high school to college transition. The educational interventions built into the project include high-school to college bridge activities, mentoring, and student research, all of which are proven ways to increase the participation and persistence of low socioeconomic status students in STEM fields. With the goal of sharing effective aspects of the project with the broader STEM community, program faculty will use surveys, interviews, and students' academic records to study how program activities influence Scholar's persistence in STEM disciplines. The results of these studies will be disseminated through electronic media, peer-reviewed publications, and conference presentations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.