Creating Opportunities for High-achieving Students in Science and Mathematics through Scholarships, Research Experiences, Leadership, and Community

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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 at Occidental College, a private liberal arts college. It will do so by providing financial, academic, and personal support to academically high-achieving students with financial need majoring in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics and Physics. Over its five-year duration, the project will support two annual cohorts of ten second-year students with scholarships of up to $10,000 per year for up to three years. The project builds upon a successful prior Track 1 S-STEM award and will provide Scholars with opportunities for scientific research, internships, intellectual growth, and professional skill development. The project will generate and disseminate knowledge about promoting student success and increasing students’ perception of belonging in STEM. The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The plan to achieve this goal includes recruiting, inspiring, and developing a diverse group of low-income, academically high-achieving STEM majors to identify as scientists and leaders in STEM. The project will complement and strengthen support services at the College by creating and implementing five initiatives: 1) a new first-year, writing-intensive STEM-focused seminar course; 2) a new third-year seminar course for STEM majors centered around scientific communication, career readiness, and professional development; 3) providing guaranteed opportunities for scholars to participate in undergraduate research, internship experiences, and disciplinary conferences; 4) enhanced advising and strategic mentoring; 5) multiple leadership opportunities in various settings and modalities, including peer-to-peer, community-based, role-modelling, volunteer, and direct assistance. The efficacy of the project components will be evaluated both formatively and summatively using multi-modal approaches to collecting and analyzing data associated with the project’s stated goals and objectives. The project has a robust research agenda that centers on determining barriers in STEM, their effects on retention and persistence, and how STEM identity evolves as students traverse their academic trajectory. The research plan includes closely tracking two entire classes of entering first-year college students through graduation to monitor how an age-structured cohort may provide younger students with inspiration and mentorship and older students with leadership skills and a deepened understanding of scientific practices that will inform their subsequent careers and education. 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.