Changing Campus Climate for Science Scholars' Success

University Of St. Thomas, Saint Paul MN

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic liberal arts university in Minnesota. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 23 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, and computer science. Academically talented, low-income undergraduate students will receive four-year scholarships. This Track 2 project builds on lessons learned from St. Thomas’s previously funded NSF Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion program (STEP) and other programming focused on improving student success. This project will advance understanding of how institutions can build equitable support systems and a strong sense of community to increase low-income STEM students’ degree completion, as well as the importance of transforming university practices and campus climate in advancing students’ academic success. Four key activities will underpin the project's execution. First is to establish enhanced on-campus scientific student job opportunities and streamlined access to campus support services. Second is developing a science-themed Living Learning Community. Third is to create a new one-credit culturally responsive Foundations of Science Success course and a partnership with the Minnesota Academy of Science to enhance student networking. Fourth, and finally, is to hire a social work wellness intern who will support STEM scholars, including by incorporating psycho-education into a new one-credit First Year Experience course. The project will achieve broader impacts for low-income STEM students by establishing pathways into on-campus leadership positions such as peer mentors, lab assistants, and student researchers. By serving in these roles, students will develop a scientific identity and deepen connections to faculty members and peers. By integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional development for all STEM faculty, St. Thomas will assure strong intercultural competency within STEM pedagogy to support retention and success for all students. The project’s intellectual merit will be achieved by disseminating findings about the retention and academic success benefits of infusing academically rigorous, DEI-infused STEM curricula, as well as academic and social support into STEM disciplines for low-income STEM students. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Four key objectives guide the project. First is to reduce low-income academically talented science students’ financial pressure and unmet need by providing scholarships. Second is to retain scholars in science majors from first to second year at a rate of at least 80%. Third is to graduate at least 80% of scholars with a science degree within four years. Fourth is to have at least 85% of scholars who graduate report having applied to a STEM job or graduate program, and at least 70% to have entered a STEM job or graduate program within four months of graduation. From previously funded NSF projects, St. Thomas has adopted strategies to improve inclusivity in science education with culturally responsive pedagogy, redesigned introductory STEM courses, and strengths-based mentoring in academic advising. From these efforts, the institution has learned that the direct benefits to students from strengthening institutional capacities, training staff, and improving resources have had longer lasting benefits and were more sustainable than efforts to address specific student deficits. The knowledge generated from this project will inform St. Thomas’s policies and practices across all majors. Research questions include: (1) To what extent do Science Scholars interventions support students’ psycho-social needs? (2) How well does a science-themed living learning community support students’ sense of belonging at the university and in their majors? and (3) How well does a career-focused STEM professional development course increase self-efficacy and nurture STEM identity formation? The project’s anticipated outcomes are that low-income science students will demonstrate an increased sense of belonging, a strong STEM identity, and emotional and financial wellness, leading them to graduate with a science degree and pursue STEM careers at high rates. The project team and independent evaluator will conduct a mixed methods evaluation to assess project implementation, provide for ongoing improvements, and to monitor the extent to which goals and objectives are achieved. The evaluation will study the effectiveness of efforts to increase scholars’ success, retention, and graduation by minimizing financial and psychosocial stressors, increasing professional identity as a scientist, and nurturing belonging for low-income STEM students. 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.