Providing a Cohort Model to Increase Self-efficacy and Career Success of High-achieving, Low-income Undergraduate STEM Students

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This project will contribute to the nation’s need for skilled scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians. To do so, it will support the graduation of high-achieving, low-income STEM undergraduates at Ohio Dominican University. Over its five-year duration, the project will fund scholarships to 14 full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and/or Environmental Science. First-year students will receive up to four-years of scholarship support. This project will combine scholarships with a student cohort model that includes common coursework, a designated learning community space, faculty mentoring, internship opportunities, a summer bridge program, research opportunities, graduate school preparation, and career counseling. Because of the University’s diverse student population, the project may increase the number of workforce ready STEM graduates from underrepresented populations. It also has the potential to improve understanding of how academic support and other interventions affect the success of undergraduate STEM students.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Through the creation of the St. Albert Scholars cohort, it aims to provide high-impact experiential learning and immerse students in a comprehensive experience that promotes access to student services and creates a College-to-Career culture. It is expected that achieving these aims will support increased Scholar retention, graduation rates, and career placement. Research has demonstrated that higher self-efficacy results in improved retention and persistence. The project’s research plan will study how support activities such as mentoring and undergraduate research impact student their impact on student self-efficacy and success. Ohio Dominican University’s student population has a diverse mix of students, presenting a novel opportunity to explore the intersectionality of student identities and the impact that the identities have on self-efficacy and success. A longitudinal study will examine the effectiveness of a multi-year, progressive set of academic interventions on two student cohorts from admission to graduation. The activities and results of this project may be applicable to other liberal arts institutions. This project will be evaluated by measuring student persistence to degree completion, self-efficacy, and placement in STEM careers or graduate programs upon matriculation. Research findings and best practices demonstrated by the project will be disseminated through publications and regional/national science education meetings. 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.