HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Latinidad STEM Program

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Latinidad: Transforming Latinx College Experiences through Mentoring and Research Practices in STEM With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to establish a mentoring program at New Mexico State University (NMSU), an HSI that serves a large population of Mexican American students, also known as Latinx. The HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Latinidad: Transforming Latinx College Experiences through Mentoring and Research Practices in STEM program will be an alliance between faculty, researchers, graduate, and undergraduate students. Our goal is to build community – a family-type relationship that provides reciprocal growth, development, and success through academic, emotional, navigational, and socio-cultural support. The program will support underrepresented undergraduate STEM students in their academic journeys to expand their network and build community with other students and faculty, especially where representation of underrepresented minority students including Latinx in STEM programs such as engineering, computer science, and mathematics is low. The program will provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to be involved in research activities guided by faculty and graduate students. The mentoring component and research involvement will contribute to the increase in the number of underrepresented students pursuing graduate degrees, thereby improving underrepresented faculty representation. The project aims to explore the impact of mentoring experiences on underrepresented undergraduate students in STEM who try to find role models, career guidance, culturally relevant approaches, and academic/science identity. The research questions will address: How does the participation of undergraduate students in mentoring through the Latinidad STEM program help shape their short and long-term goals concerning their educational and career paths? How does the involvement of undergraduate students in research activities through the Latinidad STEM program influence their perception as scientists? Through a mixed methods approach, the leadership team will use surveys, interviews, observations, ongoing participant feedback, and evaluation team reporting to help respond to research questions and inform decisions. 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.