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S-STEM scholarships are provided to academically talented low-income engineering students with the intent of increasing retention as well as successful transfer and subsequent graduation rates for a bachelor's degree in an Engineering or Computer Science (ECS) field. Since the spring of 2020, 71 unique students have been awarded scholarships. At this time, there are 22 active scholars, 34 have already successfully transferred to complete their ECS degree and a quarter of those scholars have since graduated. Beyond the financial support, NSF S-STEM programs center on providing academic, social and professional development. In addition, the research component of this program at a midwestern HSI community college is exploring the following questions: Do students recognize themselves as engineers prior to transfer? Do students feel a sense of belonging in their Engineering and Computer Science programs? Does being an NSF S-STEM Scholar impact either of these outcomes? The importance of developing a strong engineering identity as an indicator of persistence to degree completion has been the focus of considerable research over the last fifteen years. However, there is limited understanding of how community college experiences influence engineering identity development. Since the spring of 2020, students have been completing surveys during the first six weeks of the fall semester and during the last four weeks of the spring semester. Engineering identity was explored with questions centered on interest, recognition and competence as well as self-efficacy in skills such as tinkering, design and experimentation. Sense of belonging indicators were examined in terms of inclusion, sense of belonging to the community and sense of belonging to their major. This paper will provide quantitative analysis of the data examining outcomes based on demographics including ethnicity, gender, scholar status and length of time in the program. 

This paper and corresponding poster describe the impact of implementing an NSF S-STEM program on the overall engineering program culture at a Hispanic-serving community college. Lessons learned in earlier grants, including the importance of intentional advising, strong support services, the value of an internship, and the benefits of a makerspace environment shaped the latest proposal. Building an Academic Community of Engineering Scholars, the current grant program has continued these efforts along with collecting quantitative survey data. Scholarships are provided to academically talented low-income engineering students with the intent of increasing retention as well as successful transfer rates in order to graduate with a bachelor's degree in an Engineering or Computer Science (ECS) field. Since the spring of 2020, 43 unique students have been awarded scholarships. At this time, there are 16 active scholars, 18 have already successfully transferred to complete their ECS degree and 50% of those scholars received an additional S-STEM transfer scholarship. The remaining students have switched to applied degree programs or left college to pursue full-time employment. To develop a better understanding of the factors influencing student success, a series of overarching questions were developed for the program to examine. The focus was on the concepts of self-efficacy and sense of belonging as they relate to tutoring, experiential learning, (formally in the classroom and informally), and commitment to their degree program. One particular question has been influential in the pedagogical approach to engineering course design over the last four years. “By engaging students in experiential learning, problem-based activities, and prototyping in the Innovation lab at the beginning of their studies; can we increase both the overall number of students in the ECS program and their persistence rates? Does this hold equally true for women and under-represented minorities?” The effects of this question on the overall engineering curriculum, broader community engagement, as well as the obstacles encountered during the pandemic will be discussed as the first three years of the five-year program are examined. 

The observations to date for an NSF S-STEM Research project will be shared as a work in progress. The NSF S-STEM program has enabled academically talented lower income scholars at a community college to receive scholarships and intentional advising since 2006. This support resulted in higher success rates based on GPA as well as higher graduation and transfer rates. In addition, the percentage of students who are historically underrepresented in the engineering and computer science fields was greater among these NSF scholars in comparison to the overall program comparison group. Starting in 2020, a research component was added to the scholarship program with a desire to better understand the development of student self-efficacy and sense of belonging. In particular, the impact of enhanced community building activities at the college using the Fablab as a central hub was of interest. The lab was developed in part to encourage commuter students to engage in more experiential learning and social collaboration between classes. While considerable research has been conducted on self-efficacy, sense of belonging and student success, there is limited data available on connections to a Fablab / makerspace environment and even less in a community college context. For the last four semesters, the NSF engineering and computer science scholars and a comparison student population have completed a survey to provide a measure of their self-efficacy relative to engineering, tinkering and design, sense of belonging, and inclusion. Observations and survey results to date will be shared. Since the timing of these surveys is such that only one occurred prior to the pandemic, there will be an attempt to disentangle the effects of the remote learning experience and discussion of the virtual approach to support services. In addition, the self-efficacy and sense of belonging measures will be analyzed for different student populations including the NSF scholars and overall comparison group as well as exploring underrepresented status in terms of gender and ethnicity. Next steps will be discussed for the following three years of the research program.