THE UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT CAYEY METAS+ : Maintaining, Engaging, and Tracking Alumni in Science and Health Research

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Despite significant advances to diversify the biomedical workforce, the proportion of Ph.D. degrees awarded to Latinos is still 7% and only 48% of those who enroll in a doctorate program complete their degree. The project METAS+ (Maintaining, Engaging, and Tracking Alumni in Science and Health Research; also GOALS+ in Spanish) seeks to diversify the biomedical workforce by testing, with well-designed scientific approaches, the efficacy of training interventions that can equip Latino undergraduates to successfully transition to biomedical graduate programs. The University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (UPR-C) is ideally positioned to address this challenge because its student population is 100% Latino. Approximately 300 UPR-C students engaged in UGR yearly and most seek to pursue graduate studies in STEM or biomedical areas. METAS+ seeks to test the effectiveness of 1) previous mentored UGR experiences provided at UPR-C and 2) an innovative on campus and on-line group coaching intervention that is envisioned as a reinforcement to such UGR experiences. Results will be assessed at three stages of a student’s pathway into science: 1) college graduation, 2) enrollment in a biomedical graduate program and 3) the first year of graduate school; something not done previously. To achieve robustness in the analysis, we will use Propensity Score Matching, a statistical method that mimics experimental approaches and controls for self-selection-bias by identifying and matching Latinos with similar socio-demographic and academic characteristics who only differ in the treatment variable (UGR). To test the efficacy of the new coaching reinforcement, we will use an experimental design by randomly assigning 80 students to a control group (no intervention) and an experimental group (coaching). In the long-term, the project is expected to reveal the benefit of evidenced-based sustainable interventions that can cast a broad net of participants at Minority Serving Institutions to truly diversify the scientific workforce.