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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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This content will become publicly available on May 16, 2026
Graduate STEM students as role models for high school students
IntroductionSTEM graduates are important to U.S. research development and innovation, adding diverse perspectives and talents to communities and the academy, and enhancing the financial stability of universities. Graduate STEM students’ work on funded research occasionally engages them in outreach opportunities with K-12 schools and students. Yet, few graduate students participate in professional development that prepares them for these roles. MethodsThis exploratory, descriptive case study chronicles the experiences of eight graduate STEM students (six international and two domestic) who visited high school classrooms, via Zoom, as part of a federally funded sustainability project. This study investigated the factors graduate STEM students considered most important when planning and implementing their Zoom outreach visits, what they perceived as the supports, benefits, and challenges, and in what ways their Zoom visits and reflections correspond to the Motivational Theory of Role Modeling. ResultsThe findings demonstrate graduate students’ focus on engaging students, the relevance of science to society, and job opportunities in STEM fields. Graduate students perceived challenges associated with making the complex academic language and research understandable to high school students and felt supported by university team members and high school teachers. DiscussionImplications for role models and professional development for graduate STEM students are discussed, along with novel contributions to the theoretical framework.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2134664
- PAR ID:
- 10656280
- Publisher / Repository:
- Frontier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Education
- Volume:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2504-284X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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