Supporting student success in Emerging Technologies through scholarships, mentoring and leadership training

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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 Miami Dade College. Miami Dade College is one of the largest and most diverse public colleges in the nation and one of the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Over its four-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 60 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in emerging technology (EmTech) concentrations such as data analytics/data science, cybersecurity, and information systems technology. Students will receive two-year scholarships. The project will address the critical STEM workforce crisis by graduating numbers of well-trained and experienced professionals in these emerging technology fields. The project has the potential to serve as a framework for evidence-based best practices to broaden participation and access in STEM/EmTech learning experiences. This project intends to prepare low-income students (with a focus on underrepresented populations such as women of color) for the workforce through upskilling and reskilling in EmTech fields.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The objectives of the project are: 1) increasing retention and completion of enrolled project scholars seeking Bachelor of Science degrees in targeted EmTech fields; and 2) increasing workforce placement of project scholars. Project activities include: recruitment and outreach; mentorship; financial literacy education; a Summer Leadership Rotation Academy; and a STEM seminar series. Through iterative design and evaluation efforts, the project will develop an innovative model for workforce preparedness by demonstrating: 1) how financial assistance and academic supports will affect student retention and graduation; and 2) how psychosocial constructs will change students’ outcomes over time with social cognitive career theory-based interventions. Project results will be disseminated through internal, local, and national presentations, a project website, social media, and publications in peer-reviewed journals. 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.