The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends increasing the number of minority health professionals as a key strategy to eliminate health disparities and it is expected that training American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) researchers can bring attention and focus to the issues that prevail in the AIAN population thereby reducing health disparities. Unfortunately, American Indians are the least likely to persist after the first year in a four-year college compared to other minority populations. Multiple reasons have been proposed for the underrepresentation and/or lack of persistence of minorities in the STEM (STEM) fields, one of which is goal incongruence. Reasons for low retention rates include vary but can include family obligations, financial difficulties, low academic support/academic discrimination and not being prepared for University academics. The Leadership in Health Equity for AIAN Development program (LEAD) promises to be the most successful AIRCH thus far. We propose to create and implement the Leadership in Health Equity for AIAN Development (LEAD) certificate program to: (1) mitigate the gaps that result from inequalities that are embedded in educational structures; (2) address the unequal access to opportunities that limit AI student competitiveness in a Tier 1 research institution and the HSTEM field; (3) build a team environment through cohort development where AIAN students experience success and accountability toward success as a collective process; and (4) provide a learning environment practicing AIAN cultural protocols that further enhances the students' abilities to realize their potential and mitigate potential barriers. Relevance: The LEAD program is a milestone in building greater capacity for culturally sensitive and community-relevant research to reduce health disparities. Successful completion of the proposed LEAD program will increase workforce diversity in biomedical research. LEAD will help to promote a cadre of AIAN scientists interested in health equity issues prioritized by tribal communities and integrates social and cultural assets to promote academic persistence.
American Indians are the most likely of any subpopulation in the U.S. to leave college after the first year. While many first year undergraduates intend to major in science, fewer than 19% finish their undergraduate degree in the Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) fields as compared to 37.5% of their White counterparts. There are multiple reasons for the low retention rates including, goal incongruence, familial obligations, financial difficulties, low academic support/academic discrimination and not being prepared for University academics. However, structured first year programs that offer developmental courses, embrace cultural and spiritual traditions, build AIAN social networks, and research and social service projects in the first year have found to improve retention rates. This project will help further understand the institutional barriers to AIAN persistence and progression in a four-year college, the impact of a structured first-year program that addresses such barriers, and will train 40 AIAN students in a certificate in Leadership in AIAN Health Equity.
