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1. The Stewardship Model: An Inclusive Approach to Undergraduate Research

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096520001043  

   Becker, Megan; Graham, Benjamin A.; Zvobgo, Kelebogile (January 2020, PS: Political Science & Politics)

   null (Ed.)

   The field of social science lacks diversity, in both academia and industry. One cause is the “pipeline problem”. Too few students from diverse backgrounds—notably, first-generation college students and students of color—pursue social science undergraduate and graduate degrees. And, those who do are disproportionately likely to exit their respective fields. In response to these twin institutional failures, we have developed a new model of mentored undergraduate research experiences, the Stewardship Model of Mentoring, designed to enhance the presence and status of social scientists from diverse backgrounds through targeted recruitment, technical training, and multi-level mentoring. In this article, we detail the theory and practice of the Stewardship Model within our collaborative research laboratory, and we invite scholars to join a newly-piloted multi-institution survey effort to assess the effects of this and other undergraduate research experiences on the attitudes, skill development, and psycho-social well-being of students from a range of backgrounds. 

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2. Bridging the gap: A sequential mixed methods study of trust networks in graduate application, admissions, and enrollment

   https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2023045735  

   Villarreal, Cynthia; Posselt, Julie; Hernandez, Theresa; Rudolph, Alexander (January 2023, Journal of women and minorities in science and engineering)

   Undergraduate education in the US is racially/ethnically stratified, and there is limited mobility for Black and Latinx BS recipients in STEM majors into the PhD programs from which faculty hiring disproportionately occurs. Bridge programs are proliferating as a means of increasing minoritized students’ enrollment in STEM graduate programs, but little social science examines mechanisms of their impact or how impacts depend on the graduate programs to which students seek access. This sequential mixed methods study of the Cal-Bridge program analyzed trust networks and mechanisms of relational trust as factors in graduate school application, admissions, and enrollment decisions. First, using social network analysis, we examined patterns in the graduate programs to which seven cohorts of Cal-Bridge scholars applied, were admitted, and chose to enroll. Then, we conducted an in-depth case study of the organization in the Cal-Bridge network with the highest centrality: University of California, Irvine’s physics and astronomy PhD program. We find the positive admission and enrollment outcomes at UC Irvine were due to intentional, institutional change at multiple organizational levels. Change efforts complemented the activities of the Cal-Bridge program, creating conditions that cultivated lived experiences of mutual, relational trust between bridge scholars and their faculty advisors and mentors. Findings illustrate mechanisms and antecedents of trust in the transition to graduate education. We use these findings to propose a framework that may inform the design of future research and practical efforts to account for the role of trust in inequities and creating more equitable cultures in STEM. 

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3. Shifting the Paradigm: Cultivating Socially Responsible Atmospheric Scientists through Leadership and Action

   https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0077.1  

   Burt, Melissa A.; Fischer, Emily V.; Rasmussen, Kristen L.; Crosley Beem, Katie (September 2023, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society)

   The geosciences have the lowest racial and ethnic diversity of all STEM fields at all levels of higher education, and atmospheric science is emblematic of this discrepancy. Despite a growing awareness of the problem, Black, Indigenous, people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQIA+ persons continue to be largely absent in academic programs and in the geoscience workforce. There is a desire and need for new approaches, new entry points, and higher levels of engagement to foster a diverse community of researchers, scholars, and practitioners in atmospheric science. One challenge among many is that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are often siloed from many aspects of the scientific process, technical training, and scientific community. We have worked toward bridging this gap through the development of a new atmospheric science course designed to break down traditional barriers for entry into diversity, equity, and inclusion engagement by graduate students, so they emerge better prepared to address issues of participation, representation, and inclusion. This article provides an overview of our new course, focused on social responsibility in atmospheric science. This course was piloted during Fall 2021 with the primary objective to educate and empower graduate students to be “diversity champions” in our field. We describe 1) the rationale for a course of this nature within a graduate program, 2) course design and content, 3) service-learning projects, 4) impact of the course on students, and 5) scalability to other atmospheric science graduate programs. 

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4. 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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5. Transdisciplinary approaches to graduate student training for food–energy–water challenges

   https://doi.org/10.1002/nse2.20119  

   Gittlin, Madisen_L; Clarizio, Tessa; Lamino, Pablo; Michels, Alexandrea; Opejin, Adenike; Barrera, Emiliano_López (June 2023, Natural Sciences Education)

   Abstract Systems‐level approaches are required for addressing the world's major challenges at the food–energy–water nexus. Taking on complex issues, such as rising food insecurity, malnutrition, and food waste, concomitant with unprecedented levels of stress on environmental systems, will necessitate that future scholars and decision makers be prepared through transdisciplinary student training. However, in higher education, students tend to be siloed within their discipline. In this study, we present a case for the development of transdisciplinary graduate student training based on an inter‐institutional and fully remote group of graduate students who assembled during the COVID‐19 pandemic to address the issue of food waste. We use our wide‐ranging disciplinary backgrounds, high‐performance transdisciplinary team training, and stakeholder feedback to develop and conduct a weeklong social media campaign to share educational resources for reducing household food waste. This work offers valuable lessons learned through the student's lens to those seeking to create or improve future transdisciplinary training methods for tackling food waste and other global grand challenges. Key insights from this process include the importance of accountability and open communication when conducting collaborative teamwork, the utility of various mobile and online tools for effectively facilitating remote group work, and the vital role of transdisciplinarity in devising creative solutions. 

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