Supporting the Success of STEM Students Through Scholarships and Structured Professional Development

South Texas College, Mcallen TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians. It will do so by supporting the retention and graduation of students at South Texas College, a two-year Hispanic Serving Institution. Over five years, the project will provide scholarships to forty undergraduate students who are pursuing Associate degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and/or Physics. The project aims to increase the Scholars’ retention, transfer, and/or graduation by linking scholarships with structured professional development activities. These activities include faculty mentoring, tutoring, undergraduate research experiences, internships, and participation in scientific conferences. Because South Texas College has a high percentage of Hispanic students, this project is likely to broaden participation in STEM fields. In addition, results of the project’s research will produce new knowledge about how to improve the success of STEM students, particularly students at two-year institutions and from backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project aims to: (1) increase student awareness, skills, and sense of community for two sequential cohorts of 20 undergraduate students; (2) improve student retention; and (3) facilitate graduation or transfer of Scholars within the period of this project. Research indicates that financial support in the form of scholarships helps retain students in STEM fields; however, less is known about the impact of structured student professional development on the retention, persistence, transfer and/or graduation of low-income students majoring in a STEM discipline. Additionally, limited data are available regarding the impact of student cohorts on students' sense of belonging, especially on students from the demographic backgrounds represented at South Texas College. Research questions addressed in this project are: (1) To what extent does structured student professional development improve retention, persistence, transfer rates and degree completion of students majoring in a STEM discipline? (2) To what extent does participation in the program increase students' sense of belonging, and motivation to pursue STEM degrees and careers? To address these questions, the project will collect longitudinal data on connectedness, commitment, engagement, and student academic performance. This project will distinguish between the expected positive impact of activities on sense of belonging and student success by comparing data collected from participants to data from a non-cohort control group of STEM students with similar academic backgrounds and demographics. An independent internal evaluator will provide formative and summative evaluation of engagement and academic performance for each of the project's three objectives. Findings will be disseminated at internal professional development conferences, local and state STEM conferences, and through publications in STEM education journals. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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.