Early Research Experiences and Mentoring to Increase the Numbers of Biology and Chemistry Graduates Prepared for Careers in Science

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This project will contribute to the national need for highly skilled scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students at Keene State College. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide scholarships 14 undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology or Chemistry. The Scholars will enter in two cohorts and receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with an effective a cohort-based support system designed to build a sense of community among the Scholars. Students will be supported academically by tutors and peer mentors in key biology and chemistry gateway courses and will benefit from paid opportunities to work with faculty on undergraduate research projects. To prepare Scholars for their future careers, they will work with faculty, career advisors, and alumni mentors to develop workforce skills. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Specifically, this project is expected to increase the number of students in rural New Hampshire completing a baccalaureate degree in Chemistry or Biology. The project plans to explore the role of early research experiences on Scholars' academic success and on development of their self-identity as scholars and future scientists. In both year one and two of the award, a cohort of seven entering first year students will be recruited. During their first year, Scholars, together with other chemistry and biology students, will engage in a set of experiences aimed at promoting their success, include a writing course designed for chemistry and biology students, peer and faculty mentoring, community-building experiences, and an opportunity to engage in scientific research. Such student support activities are not in place at Keene State College and may be limited at similar public liberal arts institutions. Using an Expectancy Value Theory framework, the project will examine how early research experiences, in combination with other support structures, affect students’ intentions to persist and their actual persistence in their STEM major. Findings from this research, along with other aspects of this project, will be disseminated to the STEM education community, thus contributing knowledge about how to best support STEM majors, particularly those coming from rural environments. 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.