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1. HBCU College Presidents and their Multi-layered Racially-Consciousness Approaches to Diversifying STEM

   McGee, E.; Parker, L.; Taylor, O.; Mack, K.; Kanipes, M. (July 2021, The journal of Negro education)

   Taylor, O. (Ed.)

   HBCUs have outpaced all other institutions of higher education in graduating Black students who are empowered to pursue graduate programs and contribute to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ecosystem. These successes are due, in part, to Black presidents who are at the helm of these institutions. This study examined the practices of thirteen Black HBCU presidents or senior administrators. The authors interviewed these leaders and relied upon Gallos and Bolman’s four frameworks to explore university presidents’ decision-making to understand the skillsets and values that enabled them to create educational environments where Black STEM students thrived. These HBCU presidents utilize multiple leadership frames concurrently, while operating under a race-conscious approach to understand, identify, and counter the structures of systemic racism. 

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2. “I See the Potential in You”: Provosts’ Purposeful Perspective-Taking on HBCU Students to Promote Broadening STEM Participation

   Blackmon, A. T.; Askew, K.; McKayle, C.; Engerman, K.; Clavier, N. (July 2021, The journal of Negro education)

   Taylor, O.; Campone, F.; Retland, N. (Ed.)

   Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were established to provide African Americans with higher education access. This article used phenomenological analysis to illuminate HBCU provosts’ perspectives on leadership styles and successes to broaden STEM participation within higher education’s historical hegemony. A diverse group of provosts representing public and private HBCUs was interviewed. The conservation of resources (COR) theory was used as an analytic framework. Findings showed that provosts exhibited nurturing behaviors in STEM leadership, characterizing their leadership styles as collaborative, supportive, and inclusive. Provosts used personal resources to facilitate STEM success, focusing on students’ potential through purposeful perspective-taking. The strategy of purposeful perspective-taking has implications for future research and leadership training. 

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3. BOARD # 287: NSF S-STEM: Advancing STEM Undergraduate Success and Persistence through Scholarship, Mentorship, and Increased Sense of Belonging

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--55651  

   Chang, Jen-Mei; Trajkovic, Jelena; Galvez, Gino (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   This paper examines the impact of a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (NSF S-STEM) Program at a large, Minority-Serving institution in the western U.S. Despite growing efforts to diversify STEM fields, underrepresented minority (URM) students continue to face significant challenges in persistence and success. This scholarship program addresses these challenges by providing financial support, faculty and peer mentorship, and skills development opportunities to academically talented and low-income URM STEM students. This study evaluates how participation in the program enhances key noncognitive skills, such as students' sense of belonging, leadership and collaboration skills, and science identity, which are critical to STEM persistence. Using both survey and university-based data among the 47 participating scholars, results reveal that program participants report strong levels of sense of belonging, high efficacy in leadership and collaboration skills, and strong science/math identities. Additionally, compared to university rates, scholarship students showed above-average retention and graduation rates, with the majority pursuing graduate studies or careers in STEM. These findings highlight the importance of comprehensive support programs that integrate financial aid, mentorship, and professional development to promote persistence and success among URM students in STEM fields. 

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4. The HBCU Student STEM Success Survey: Developing and Validating a Measure of the Academic, Social and Cultural Experiences of STEM Students at HBCUs

   Ivory A. Toldson, Mahlet Megra (July 2021, The Journal of Negro education)

   Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are important for diversifying the science technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. This study aims to develop a scale to understand the experiences of HBCU STEM students to spur research on the factors associated with HBCUs’ success with recruiting, retaining, and graduating Black STEM students. Nearly 3,000 undergraduate STEM students across 30 HBCUs participated in this study. The authors conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the construct validity. The survey had a seven-factor structure with a comparative fit index of 0.9 and high reliability with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.68-0.91. Five factors significantly predicted student outcomes, indicating predictive validity. The resulting survey, HBCU Student STEM Success Survey, provides a reliable and valid measure for HBCU STEM students’ experiences. 

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5. Impact of Peer-Assisted Learning and Leadership Development on Undergraduate Students

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--41968  

   Fogarty, Julie; Altman, Robin; Lundmark, Jennifer (August 2022, ASEE Conferences)

   With college advisory boards and potential employers consistently voicing their desire for engineers and scientists who can communicate well, work effectively in teams, and independently problem-solve, the Colleges of Engineering & Computer Science (ECS) and Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) at Sacramento State University, a large, public, primarily undergraduate institution, have deployed two programs to explicitly address these skills for undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. The goals of the NSF-funded Achieving STEM Persistence through Peer-Assisted Learning and Leadership Development (ASPIRE) project are to increase retention and decrease time to graduation for STEM students, as well as increase retention of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) in the STEM workforce by implementing evidence-based practices to promote student success during two critical transitions: 1) from lower-division to upper-division coursework in engineering; and 2) from upper-division coursework to an entry-level STEM career. ASPIRE aims to achieve these goals by: 1) adapting and implementing the NSM Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program in gateway engineering courses; and 2) developing the Hornet Leadership Program which includes scaffolded opportunities for students to explore their leadership capacity and develop leadership skills. The main research questions for this study include: (1) Will the ECS PAL model and Hornet Leadership Program result in increased persistence and workforce readiness in STEM majors at a large, diverse university? (2) What attitude changes will this project have on students and faculty and the relationships between them? The first question is addressed through pre- and post-implementation student surveys and student course/GPA data. The second question is addressed through faculty surveys, faculty focus groups/interviews, and pre- and post-data from a faculty professional development workshop. In general, preliminary results from this study indicate the new ECS PAL program successfully attracts URM students and thus has the potential to support their persistence and STEM workforce readiness. Additionally, undergraduate students across both Colleges who participated in the inaugural Hornet Leadership Program gained non-technical skills and experiences directly linked to competitiveness and preparation for workforce entry and graduate programs. Finally, faculty surveys and the faculty professional development workshop indicate that faculty value student leadership development, but identify barriers to accomplishing this work. 

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