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The Garden State-LSAMP (GSLSAMP) alliance works collaboratively with the Northern New Jersey-Bridges to the Baccalaureate (NNJB2B) to greatly improve the graduation of community college students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups in STEM and their transfer rate to 4-years STEM programs. This is accomplished through several areas of enrichment. The two alliances sponsor joint activities to encourage a supportive community of 2-years and 4-years students. Community college students conduct research in the labs of mentoring faculty at 4-years programs where they interact with 4-years college students. A cross-campus near-peer mentoring program pairs recently transferred GSLSAMP mentors with mentees from the mentor’s community college of origin that eases and facilitates the graduation and transfer of mentees. In addition, the NNJB2B has adopted five proven high impact practices from GSLSAMP for their students. The results are that the graduation rate of the NNJB2B increased an average of 24.0% annually over the first 5 years of the program and the transfer rate improved 151.0% over the 2012 baseline. Four GSLSAMP 4-years institutions were especially active in the program and experienced an average increase of 62.9% over the 2012 baseline transfers from NNJB2B community colleges. 

Increasing academic participation among students from ethnic-racial underrepresented groups in STEM yields societal benefits including ameliorating economic ramifications of the labor shortages in STEM, improving scientific innovation, and providing opportunity, access, and participation in high-status STEM fields. Two longitudinal studies with students from underrepresented groups investigated the role of active learning interventions in the development of STEM self-efficacy and intentions to pursue STEM in the future. Study 1 longitudinally tracked high school students participating in a 4-week geoscience program that applied active learning techniques ranging from hands on experiments to peer discussion. High school student participants displayed increases in self-efficacy and STEM intentions from the start to completion of the program, an effect that was observed exclusively among those who reported strong program quality. Study 2 examined the role of mentorship effectiveness with a sample of community college STEM students interested in transferring to a 4-year college. Students’ relatively strong self-efficacy and STEM intentions at the start of the semester remained stable through the end of the semester. Altogether, the present research highlights the role of positive, inclusive educational climates in promoting STEM success among students from underrepresented group members. 

Over the past three decades, research efforts and interventions have been implemented across the United States to increase the persistent underrepresentation of minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This Element systematically compares STEM interventions that offer resources and opportunities related to mentorship, research, and more. We organize the findings of this literature into a multiphase framework of STEM integration and identity development. We propose four distinct phases of STEM integration: Phase 1: High School; Phase 2: Pre-College Summer; Phase 3: College First Year; and Phase 4: College Second Year through Graduation. We combine tenets of theories about social identity, stereotypes and bias, and the five-factor operationalization of identity formation to describe each phase of STEM integration. Findings indicate the importance of exploration through exposure to STEM material, mentorship, and diverse STEM communities. We generalize lessons from STEM interventions to URM students across institutions.