Louis Stokes STEM Pathways and Research Alliance: California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to diversify the STEM workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. These strategies facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM. For the United States (U.S.) to remain globally competitive, it is vital that it taps into the talent of all its citizens and provides exceptional educational preparedness in STEM areas that underpin the knowledge-based economy. The California Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) program was established in 1991 in response to the need for a more diverse and skilled technical workforce. That need still exists and is particularly acute in the State of California. Participating institutions include the University of California (UC) Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. The goals for the CAMP STEM Pathways and Research Alliance are to: (1) steadily and substantially increase the quality and quantity of minority students enrolled in STEM majors, (2) increase and sustain baccalaureate degree production, (3) expand undergraduate research opportunities, (4) increase enrollment in STEM graduate education programs, and (5) document the effectiveness of CAMP through robust evaluation and assessment. These goals support the National Science Foundation's strategic goal to "cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens." The goals will be accomplished by enhanced student recruitment, selection and orientations; providing transfer students with additional academic and social support; faculty-mentored research programs; science writing through critical thinking; enrichment through attendance at symposia and travel to conferences; GRE preparation and guided graduate school applications; and organized annual conferences to showcase student research and inform students about STEM internship and job opportunities. The said activities will produce higher rates of retention and graduation; and moreover, lead to a more talented and diverse STEM workforce. The knowledge generating research study will elucidate how faculty mentoring and the shared experience of presenting research at conferences impacts persistence and graduation rates in STEM fields as well as underrepresented minority student social-emotional parameters. The research project will provide a valuable data set that can be shared across California and the nation to further increase the impact of LSAMP on increasing the diversity of STEM professionals in the workforce. An external evaluation team will implement both quantitative and qualitative instruments to assess the overall quality of the programs on the individual campuses as well as the entire alliance related to the overall goals of the project. 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.