Scholarships and Enhanced Mentoring to Support Graduation of Students in Science and Mathematics

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The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students pursuing STEM degrees. This S-STEM project at Northern Illinois University will provide scholarships and enhanced mentoring to support graduation of students in biological sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, computer sciences, geosciences, mathematics, or physics. Over a period of five years, the project will select forty-six Scholars from the population of rising juniors and transfer students from Illinois' community college system. This community college system is the third-largest in the country, serving more than one million students each year. Student support will feature a mentoring structure centered around student cohorts and student-faculty pairs, augmented by research opportunities. Student cohorts will meet regularly and will be guided by experienced faculty, near-peer, industrial, and government laboratory mentors. This project has the potential to increase understanding of the personal and institutional circumstances that affect students' participation in academic activities and persistence to degrees in STEM fields. This project aims to advance understanding of the role that multiple evidence-based, high impact practices play in improving persistence and graduation of upper-division STEM students. The project leverages existing infrastructure (including NSF STEP and REU programs) and offers students a mentoring program that includes faculty-student pairs, access to research experiences, and weekly cohort meetings to help students achieve their goals and reach their highest academic potential. The program is structured to support students' self-efficacy and science identity, as well as to build essential skills for technical and professional development (i.e., time management, task prioritization, scientific literacy, critical thinking, scientific writing and speaking, leadership, and resume writing). Students will also network with alumni and leaders from industrial, government, and academic laboratories to support the next steps in their professional development. Qualitative research guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory will generate knowledge about the personal and contextual factors, both internal and external to the university, that lead to persistence of economically disadvantaged students in science and mathematics.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.