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1. NSF S-STEM EPIC Scholarship Program

   Atwood, Sara A; DeGoede, Kurt (January 2020, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   Results will be presented from a 5-year NSF S-STEM scholarship program for academically talented women in engineering with financial need. Elizabethtown College’s Engineering Practices with Impact Cohort (EPIC) Scholarship program was launched with an NSF S-STEM grant awarded in 2013. The program developed a pathway for academically talented and financially needy women interested in engineering to successfully enter the STEM workforce. The program targeted three critical stages: 1) recruiting talented women into the ABET-accredited engineering program and forming a cohort of scholars,  2) leveraging and expanding existing high impact practices (including an established matriculation program, living-learning community, collaborative learning model, focused mentoring, and undergraduate research) to support women scholars during their college experience, and 3) mentoring scholars as they transitioned to the STEM workforce or graduate programs. The goals of the scholarship program were to increase the number and percent of women entering engineering at our institution and to increase the graduation/employment rate of EPIC scholars beyond that of current engineering students and beyond that of national levels for women engineers.   At the end of this grant, we have roughly doubled the number of women (22.7%) and underrepresented minority students (14%) in the engineering program. This is comparable to the 2016 national average of 20.9% women and 20.6% underrepresented minority bachelor's graduates in engineering. We have also remained at a consistently high level of enrollment and retention of low-income (18.6% Pell-eligible) and first-generation college students (61%). 83% of the scholars have been retained in the engineering program or have graduated with an engineering degree, which is above the institutional and national average. The remaining scholars transferred to another major but have been retained at the institution. All of the scholars participated in a living-learning community, tutoring, focused mentoring, and a women engineers club. Almost all participated in a pre-matriculation program. 17% of the scholars additionally had an undergraduate research experience and 28% studied abroad. 100% of the scholars had engineering workforce jobs or graduate school acceptances at the time of graduation. This program successfully increased the population of underrepresented minority, low-income, and first-generation women entering the engineering workforce.  

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2. Lifting an LI, FG, and/or UR Support Program Off the Ground during COVID-19: Successes and Lessons Learned

   Bayas, L. K. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Annual Conference)

   Researchers describe a need for increased access to and transitional support into STEM graduate education for low-income, academically talented, first-generation and/or underrepresented and minority (LIATFirstGenURM) students [1]. In October 2019, we were awarded an NSF scholarship grant to build infrastructure and provide support to low-income, academically talented, firs-generation, underrepresented, and minority (LIATFirstGenURM) graduate engineering students. As part of the internal evaluation of the program, we interviewed seven enrolled and funded graduate student beneficiaries to determine if they encountered any barriers during their recruitment and first semester of graduate study. Additionally, we asked them what support they valued most. We found that these students valued the organizational program support system, and as a result, we also found several opportunities to improve the system. In this paper, we share our findings and discuss implications for program updates 

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3. The Motivation of Low-Income Engineering Transfer Students that Influences Choosing and Pursuing a Baccalaureate Degree Attainment in Engineering

   Salgado, Leo (January 2020, Proceedings of American Society of Engineering Education)

   The transfer pathway in engineering disciplines, especially for low-income students, is often seen as an opportunity to expand the science and engineering workforce, particularly when transferring from a two-year community college to a four-year institution. This study focused on low-income transfer students’ motivational factors that led them to choose and continue to pursue an engineering baccalaureate degree(s). This studied used Eccles's (1983) expectancy-value theory of motivation as the guiding theoretical framework to show the relationship between competence and value beliefs as the motivated actions towards earning an engineering degree. It relates competence to, “Can I earn an engineering degree?” and task value beliefs to, “Do I want to earn an engineering degree?” Twenty students (12 first-year and 8 second-year low-income engineering transfer students) were interviewed about their experiences in engineering. Additionally, these twenty students completed a survey collecting data on their demographics, recognition, social belongingness, performance, and value beliefs. A qualitative analysis showed that students mainly chose to pursue a baccalaureate degree in engineering due to the financial reward, family influences, faculty support, and early childhood interest. Furthermore, students’ motivation to continue to pursue an engineering degree was attributed to prestige, engineering experiences acquired, financial and academic support, faculty and peer support, and gain of engineering knowledge throughout their academic journey. Implications of the study were: a) a set of small samples of data was analyzed, and b) examination of students belonging to a specific cohort. This cohort was provided with financial and academic support to navigate through their studies. Future studies could consist of various topics. For example, a longitudinal research study is required to track students’ motivation and how it transitions over time. Also, a study that compares two-year community college students transferring to a four-year institution who received financial support by applying for it versus students that were provided with a full financial tuition package. Furthermore, a research study about low-income engineering transfer students who do not belong to a cohort and are not receiving financial support. Overall, the study intended to further explore low-income engineering transfer student’s experiences, in terms of motivation, which led them to choose and continue to pursue engineering. 

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4. A Mentor’s Reflection on Challenges of Practice in a Scholarship Program for Lower-Income Computing Students

   Solis, T; Secules, S; Kumar, N; Georgiopoulos, M (June 2024, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference)

   This paper describes an NSF (National Science Foundation) S-STEM-funded scholarship program, representing a collaborative five-year grant project among three prominent universities in the Southeast region of the United States. Its primary objective is to support dedicated scholars in graduating and finding a professional pathway. Each institution recruited a cohort of 15-20 scholars annually for three years. The project offers scholarships and provides curricular and co-curricular support to academically talented but financially challenged students in the computing disciplines, including Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Information Technology majors, starting from their junior years. The program aims to impact 150 scholars, most of whom are underrepresented in computing. Scholars receive support throughout their graduation and beyond should they pursue graduate studies in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) discipline at any of the three participating institutions. 

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5. Strategies for Developing, Expanding, and Strengthening Community College Engineering Transfer Programs

   Enriquez, A.; Langhoff, N.; Dunmire, E.; Rebold, T; Pong, W. (June 2018, American Society for Engineering Education)

   Broadening participation in engineering among underrepresented minority students remains a big challenge for institutions of higher education. Since a large majority of underrepresented students attend community colleges, engineering transfer programs at these community colleges can play an important role in addressing this challenge. However, for most community college engineering programs, developing strategies and programs to increase the number and diversity of students successfully pursuing careers in engineering is especially challenging due to limited expertise, shrinking resources, and continuing budget crises. This paper is a description of how a small engineering transfer program at a Hispanic-Serving community college in California developed effective partnerships with high schools, other institutions of higher education, and industry partners in order to create opportunities for underrepresented community college students to excel in engineering. Developed through these partnerships are programs for high school students, current community college students, and community college engineering faculty. Programs for high school students include a) the Summer Engineering Institute – a two-week residential summer camp for sophomore and junior high school students, and b) the STEM Institute – a three-week program for high school freshmen to explore STEM fields. Academic and support programs for college students include: a) Math Jam – a one-week intensive math placement test review and preparation program; b) a scholarship and mentoring program academically talented and financially needy STEM students; c) a two-week introduction to research program held during the winter break to prepare students for research internships; d) a ten-week summer research internship program; e) Physics Jam – an intensive program to prepare students for success in Physics; f) Embedded Peer Instruction Cohort – a modified Supplemental Instruction program for STEM courses; g) STEM Speaker Series – a weekly presentation by professionals talking about their career and educational paths. Programs for community college STEM faculty and transfer programs include: a) Summer Engineering Teaching Institute – a two-day teaching workshop for community college STEM faculty; b) Joint Engineering Program – a consortium of 28 community college engineering programs all over California to align curriculum, improve teaching effectiveness, improve the engineering transfer process, and strengthen community college engineering transfer programs; c) Creating Alternative Learning Strategies for Transfer Engineering Programs – a collaborative program that aims to increase access to engineering courses for community college students through online instruction and alternative classroom models; and d) California Lower-Division Engineering Articulation Workshop – to align the engineering curriculum. In addition to describing the development and implementation of these programs, the paper will also provide details on how they have contributed to increasing the interest, facilitating the entry, improving the retention and enhancing the success of underrepresented minority students in engineering, as well as contributing to the strengthening of the community college engineering education pipeline. 

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