BCSER: Developing Expertise in Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) to Guide Investigations of Best Practices at HSIs Efficiently Graduating Hispanics with STEM Degrees

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Improving graduation rates of STEM majors for Hispanic students at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) will contribute to the goal of broadening participation in STEM career fields. Texas State University aims to identify links between investment inputs and success in graduating Hispanic students from Hispanic-Serving Institutions using data submitted to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Patterns in HSI inputs that are associated with institutions that are more efficient at graduating Hispanic students in STEM degrees will be identified and communicated with HSI stakeholders to help inform management and administrative practices. The project aims to advance knowledge in the field through increasing research on HSI practices and their impacts on graduation success. This knowledge will further impact the U.S. academic, technical, and professional workforce. The project employs optimized models incorporating Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a technique used to evaluate organizational efficiency. Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) at NCES, DEA will be used to provide a framework for decision-making at HSIs to effectively graduate Hispanic students in STEM majors with limited resources. The project is significant in that it aims to assist HSIs in mitigating the frequent concern of limited resources by identifying critical inputs that lead to effective graduation of STEM students. The project will build capacity for conducting education research through training in interpreting DEA data, building data science skills, and advancing data science education research networks. The project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals’ capacity to carry out high-quality fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.