Louis Stokes STEM Pathways and Research Alliance: OK-LSAMP Alliance Phase VI

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater OK

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 Oklahoma LSAMP (OK-LSAMP) program was established in 1994 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 Oklahoma. The Alliance is comprised of twelve institutions and provides a national model for addressing the paucity of underrepresented minorities earning STEM degrees and achieving success in professional careers. The institutions are Oklahoma State University, The University of Oklahoma, The University of Tulsa, Langston University, Northwestern State University, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, East Central University, Northeastern State University, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, The University of Central Oklahoma, and Cameron University. The four main objectives of the alliance are to: 1) Recruit, retain and graduate 25% more URMs in STEM fields; 2) Understand and implement key success factors for recruitment, retention, and graduation of transferring URMs in STEM fields from 2-year to 4-year institutions in Oklahoma; 3) Increase the number of scholars gaining international experiences by 30% with an emphasis on partnerships with international centers and international research opportunities; and 4) Increase the graduate school participation of URMs in STEM by 25%. These objectives will be accomplished by continuing successful programming from previous years while supporting scholars' scientific development in research, professionalization, graduate school preparation and international experiences to compete in a globally competitive workforce, which 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 educational research study will identify and talk across differences between Western and Indigenous paradigms. The multi-year, mixed methods research study will focus on three core areas of difference: career thinking related to higher education, the dialectical experience of STEM identify development, and educational experience (research, mentorship, discipline-specific, institutions, etc.). 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 project is jointly funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). 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.