This "science posse" project is piloting and assessing a program designed to increase the total number of STEM majors from underrepresented groups. Building upon successful models already developed by The Posse Foundation and the Meyerhoff program at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, this program is enrolling 12 students per year in each of the first three years of the grant period. The posse program is recruiting students who display an interest in and aptitude for science from inner city high schools. Each science posse participant engages in a four-week pre-matriculation program introducing them to laboratory research and a series of enrichment workshops illustrating the connections between the sciences and mathematics. Each participant also receives an opportunity to take part in an eight-week summer collaborative student/faculty research experience at Dickinson after either their first or second year of study, as well as an additional eight-week summer capstone research experience at another academic or industrial research laboratory following their junior year. The goal of the program is to achieve an overall increase of at least 28 STEM graduates and to establish a cohort of science major role models for future students among underrepresented minority groups. Methods and results of the program's activities will be disseminated widely within the broader science education community through journal publications and presentations at professional meetings to serve as models for other institutions.
