Using Interconnected Career Pathways and Success Coaching to Enhance Student Success in STEM

Rowan College Of South Jersey -- Cumberland Campus, Vineland NJ

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 1 project seeks to improve the success of students in STEM fields. It will do so by developing a regional model of culturally inclusive STEM career pathways that span from high school to STEM careers. The pathways will focus especially on careers in cybersecurity and mechatronics/engineering, which have high workforce demands and offer well-paying career pathways. This STEM career pathways model will be designed to enhance relationship-oriented student supports and coaching to help students across critical transitions, such as the transition from high school to college. It is expected that these supports will result in increased success rates among STEM students, particularly students from Hispanic or low-income populations. The project will also support improvements in STEM curricula, implementation of high-impact practices such as active learning, and access to research and work-based learning experiences. By enhancing the STEM learning experience, the project seeks to increase enrollment, retention rates, two- and four-year degree completion rates, and career placement of students. The project seeks to generate effective practices for designing a STEM career pathway model and will share its findings with the broader higher education community. The project aims to generate new knowledge about how to enhance student success in STEM by defining career pathways and supporting students in those pathways. By embedding transfer program pathways in cybersecurity and mechatronics/engineering, the project will enhance opportunities for students to enter the STEM workforce in these fields. Project goals are to: 1) Increase retention, credit-hour accumulation, graduation, and STEM career entry outcomes; 2) Increase engagement of students, including Hispanic and low-income students, in course-based undergraduate research and experiential learning through cross-sector partnerships; 3) Improve academic and career outcomes for students through innovative STEM teaching and learning strategies and curricular models. The project evaluation includes a quasi-experimental impact study to examine results by comparing outcomes for cohort and non-cohort students, enabling assessment of differential outcomes between groups. Mid-project outcome-trend reports, as well as the post-grant impact study, will be disseminated via presentations at STEM conferences, publications, and outreach to non-NSF funded HSIs. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. 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.