LSAMP BD: North Carolina A&T State University Preparing Future Minority Ph.D. Researchers (PFMPR)

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The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce by developing highly competitive students from populations underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity is to increase the quantity and quality of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations, with emphasis on PhD matriculation and completion. BD programs implemented in the nation's institutions of higher education contribute to addressing one of the objectives of NSF's 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, namely to "foster the growth of a more capable and diverse research workforce and advance the scientific and innovation skills of the Nation." The vision of this grant is to provide a national model to produce underrepresented scientists and engineers with doctoral degrees in STEM.The performance site for this LSAMP BD Activity is North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT), one of the eight universities included in the North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NCLSAMP) program. This project is designed to attract, retain, and graduate a cohort of underrepresented PhD students in STEM disciplines equipped with career readiness skills and self-efficacy to enter the STEM workforce. This holistic graduate student development model, includes academic and professional skills building for STEM careers alongside targeted activities involving a select combination of evidence-based strategies reflected in the literature on social cognitive career theory, self-efficacy, and STEM research identity. These will be conducted through a combination of competency-based academic success and career readiness workshops and a personalized, culturally reflective mentoring program that connects students with faculty at NCAT and at participating peer institutions. This project will positively impact the retention and graduation rates of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations in doctoral programs, thus producing a diverse workforce of STEM professionals.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.