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A research and mentoring program was developed to provide local first-generation students, students returning to school after a professional experience, and underrepresented minority students resources and relationships to guide them toward a STEM degree from a four-year university. A multi-tiered mentoring community was formed including direct mentoring from graduate students and faculty advisors, peer mentoring among undergraduate students from different colleges and universities, and high school students to increase the accessibility of research opportunities for this demographic. Local students were recruited from Northwest Arkansas Community College and Upward Bound to combine community college and high school students in a novel manner. The programs were integrated whenever possible to emphasize peer mentoring, including mentoring lunches, research meetings, presentation sessions, conference presentations, and professional development mentoring sessions. ResultsOn the post-program survey, students indicated the community formed in the program supported their STEM identity development, provided them with quality relationships, and developed skills valuable to completion of a STEM degree. This identity development was further evidenced by the students presenting their work at a conference and obtaining additional research positions after the summer program ended. The post-program scores and continued efforts of different demographics of students to pursue STEM highlight the versatility of the multi-tiered mentoring community model to serve students from different ages, backgrounds, and demographics.
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Mentored Undergraduate Research at Community Colleges
This study investigates the impact of community college students’ participation in mentored undergraduate research, with an emphasis on STEM transfer students. The STEM Academic Research and Training (START) program at Wake Technical Community College was designed and implemented by community college faculty and staff and was evaluated in a randomized control trial. Early evidence showed statistically significant positive effects on students’ attitudes toward STEM.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2133600
- PAR ID:
- 10541028
- Publisher / Repository:
- Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2476-101X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 25 to 29
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Objective/Research Question: This research explores how community college students, who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and aspire to vertical transfer in STEM make choices about majors and transfer destinations. The question is important to advancing equity in STEM, which continues to perpetuate disparities in attainment for minoritized, first-generation, and financially disadvantaged students, who disproportionately enter higher education in community colleges. Methods: Using a longitudinal, qualitative research design, the study relied on semi-structured interviewing to generate in-depth evidence about student experiences. Results: Findings showed that career goals were uniformly influential to students, yet career information was unevenly available or comprehensible during community college. Students’ choices about what to major in and where to transfer were iterative and intertwined, with these choices deeply connected to students’ families and lifetime priorities. Delays in student decision-making tended to have less to do with uncertain individual preferences than to lack of information about a specific STEM major and its alignment with possible future degrees, transfer destinations, and career pathways, as well as contingencies associated with the transfer admission process. Conclusions/Contributions: This research demonstrated STEM-specific nuance in how underrepresented community college students navigate major, career, and transfer destination decision-making as well as the influence of family and location-based priorities in student choices. Future research should investigate how to best provide directional support for students’ major and transfer destination decisions, including major-to-career awareness and the academic and personal dimensions of transfer.more » « less
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Consistent with national trends, only about ½ of students who intend to major in STEM disciplines at Maryville College (MC) complete bachelor’s degrees in these fields. The Scots Science Scholars (S3) program was funded through the National Science Foundation’s STEM Talent Extension Program to increase the number of students graduating with STEM degrees from MC. The S3 program enrolls college freshmen who have an interest in STEM majors and math ACT scores between 21 and 27, with emphasis on students from groups underrepresented in STEM and first-generation college students. The program consists of a summer bridge, a living-learning community, early engagement in STEM research, a seminar series that exposes students to STEM careers and research fields, academic support through a first-year seminar class, peer tutoring, and time-management counseling. The program has enrolled 6 cohorts of students (n = 97) since 2013, (54% female, 22% underrepresented minorities and 35% first-generation college students). From 2013-2017, S3 compared favorably to the general college population: 96% of all S3 completed the first year of college, 69% declared STEM majors, and 85% returned to the college for a second year (compared to 71%, p < 0.001). Overall, S 3 students persist at the college longer than non-S3 students (P<0.01). Compared to a matched control group, S 3 had significantly higher STEM major declaration rates (68% vs. 38%), higher rates of STEM retention through the junior year (41% vs. 20%), and improved overall college persistence (P< 0.01). Students report high levels of satisfaction with the summer program. At the end of the summer program, students report gains in skills and attitudes that are important for success in STEM. They also perform significantly better on math and chemistry assessments after completing the program. College-wide, the number of students enrolled in STEM majors at Maryville has increased by 52% since the inception of S3 , and STEM undergraduate research productivity has increased markedly. Our data suggest the S3 program is an important component of institutional changes that are increasing the STEM population and building a robust and productive STEM culture at a liberal arts college.more » « less
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The authors discuss efforts at New York’s Suffolk County Community College to engage minority and nontraditional students in STEM research and presentation opportunities. Using mixed methods and quantitative descriptive analysis, their research examines the impact of extended research experiences on the students’ academic and career paths. The 182 students in the NSF S-STEM cohorts from 2007 to 2016 had dramatically higher retention and graduation rates as well as GPAs when compared to their STEM peers not enrolled in the NSF S-STEM program. Findings indicate that community college student researchers perform better academically than their peers who chose a more traditional path and that success in STEM encourages increased college persistence. Keywords: community colleges, minority student retention, partnerships, STEM, undergraduate research http://www.cur.org/publications/curq_on_the_web/more » « less
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PurposeSupporting community college transfer students represents a critical strategy for broadening participation in STEM. In addition to being a racially diverse group, students who pursue STEM degrees by way of community college report frequent interests in graduate study and academic careers. Thus, supporting and expanding transfer students’ PhD interests can help to diversify the STEM professoriate. This study aims to identify the experiences that predict PhD interests among students who transferred into the computer science major from a community college. Design/methodology/approachRelying on longitudinal survey data from over 150 community college transfer students throughout their first year at their receiving four-year university, we used regression analysis to identify the post-transfer college experiences that predict early interest in PhDs. FindingsWe found that receiving information about PhDs from a professor strongly predicted PhD interest among transfer students. Relationships with other variables indicate that the provision of information about graduate school was more likely to occur for students who participated in undergraduate research experiences than for those participating in internships. Descriptive data document inequities in who has access to these types of experiences. Originality/valueThis paper provides new insight into how STEM departments can develop targeted efforts to ensure that information about PhD training is equitably available to all transfer students. Working to ensure that faculty equitably communicate with students about PhD opportunities may go a long way in countering potential deterrents among transfer students who may be interested in such pathways.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.18833/spur/7/2/7
