Retention of Undergraduates in STEM: Reducing Barriers to Success in Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Science

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

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. This project will directly encourage, support, and provide resources to academically talented, financially disadvantaged students to pursue and succeed in four-year STEM undergraduate degree programs at rural Dordt University. Over the five-year award period, the project will provide up to four-year scholarships to fourteen students who are pursuing undergraduate degrees in engineering, mathematics, and computer science. The project will support the development of programs that enhance Scholars' perceptions of self-efficacy and STEM identity, and determine which factors most contributed to their success. The project has the potential to support a diverse group of graduates who will join the STEM workforce or pursue further STEM education. The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. To achieve this goal, the project will use multiple approaches focused on two specific aims: 1) support cohort experiences, including student involvement in foundational quantitative STEM courses, research colloquia, growth mindset training, and matched faculty, industry, and peer mentoring; and 2) develop new curricular pathways to enhance student transitions between two-year and four-year STEM degree programs. Throughout their college experience, Scholars will have access to evidence-based practices proven to foster STEM success and to reduce barriers to retention. The project will use mixed quantitative and qualitative methods through interviews and surveys to explore how program components and contextual elements impact overall student success. 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.