BiOengineering Research Education to AcceLerate Innovation in STEM

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BOREALIS - Abstract ”Engineering has a persistent diversity challenge,” states a recent National Academies report. The most impactful science comes from diverse teams working together, and diversity in the STEM workplace improves work engagement and performance, enhances the quality of research and provision of health care, and promotes innovation. The current homogeneity in engineering, both regionally at Clarkson University (CU) and nationally, motivates the BiOengineering Research Education to AcceLerate Innovation in STEM (BOREALIS) Scholars program, and inspires Clarkson’s equity-minded approach to better engage sociodemographically diverse regional students. To address these opportunities, BOREALIS is designed to recruit and enroll three cohorts of five sociodemographically diverse students (including Black and Indigenous People of Color and students with disabilities) especially from the rural, economically depressed North Country region of New York State, and educate, encourage, and support them to enter the bioengineering workforce via pursuit of graduate study in bioengineering. Students from the North Country often face challenges entering STEM fields and building scientific identities, such as scant academic preparation, an unwelcoming atmosphere from faculty, and navigating intersectionality of identities. Through a series of integrated and complementary educational experiences—(1) a summer bridge program; (2) first- and second- academic year activities; and (3) summer research experiences—combined with evidence-based mentor and mentee training, CU will foster BOREALIS Scholars’ successful transition into and completion of the Honors Program, positioning them to pursue graduate school in bioengineering or a related field. This new pathway leverages existing resources for student success. The research education plan includes new initiatives for student success during the first undergraduate years, and faculty training in and use of inclusive pedagogy and effective mentoring. The BOREALIS Scholars program at CU represents one small step towards maintaining America’s scientific leadership by investing in sociodemographically diverse students from the North Country. By the conclusion of the project, we will have: (1) created an evidence-based mentored portal and pathway for research-curious students to explore biomedical engineering early in their undergraduate career and (2) built and sustained cohorts of sociodemographically diverse students from rural backgrounds engaged in biomedical science and engineering research, leading to (3) an increase in the number of rural, diverse students pursuing bioengineering graduate study. These three aims will enable our goal of increasing the number of rural, diverse students pursuing bioengineering graduate school after CU.