PERSIST Promoting Engagement, Retention and Success in STEM Training

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This National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project at the University of California-Riverside will provide scholarships for low-income, talented students with demonstrated financial need pursuing bachelor's degrees in the sciences. In addition to scholarships, the program will provide academic and other support to increase the persistence of academically talented, low-income students. Project efforts focus extensively on sophomores to facilitate transition to upper-level science coursework. The project has identified the sophomore year as a time when many capable students leave science majors. The results of this project will be applicable to other institutions seeking to increase retention of second-year science students. Scholarships and support for academically strong students, who may not otherwise be able to afford college, will help to produce a well-trained workforce that will contribute to the economic vitality of California and the nation.Progress has been made in identifying some of the factors which can help improve the success of undergraduate science students in the first year. However, a challenge remains as a significant percentage of students do not persist in science majors beyond the end of their sophomore year. This project will focus on sophomores to facilitate upper division continuation at a time when many students leave science majors. The scholarships will decrease the need for low-income students to work part-time and thus increase their opportunities to be involved in second year undergraduate research and internships with industry. The academic support will include curricular and co-curricular activities such as research methodology, peer mentoring and career exploration workshops. The project will eliminate or reduce the need for low-income students to work part-time and increase students' aspirations towards further participation in STEM research and internship experiences. An additional emphasis will be on talented students who begin in precalculus. These students were found to have lower graduation rates in STEM compared to students who are ready to take calculus in the first year. Lower graduation rates are due in part to a need to pay extra tuition to catch up in mathematics and science courses the summer after the first year. By focusing on a time that is particularly important for undergraduate persistence in STEM and on a particular sample of students who have an even less likelihood of persisting, this program hopes to positively impact the trajectory of talented low-income students typically underrepresented in STEM fields. The findings from the program will be disseminated widely to the STEM education community and help increase understanding of the attributes and practices of successful student scholarship and support programs.