This project contributes to the national need for a highly-capable, diverse STEM workforce by supporting the success of low-income undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide 15 students with four-year scholarships to support their attainment of bachelor's degrees in Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, or Computer Science. A key component of the project's intellectual merit is the application of high-impact academic and social support activities and emphasis on helping students develop skills in connecting mathematics and science. It is expected that the set of supports will address common barriers to success in gateway courses and lead to increased retention and academic achievement of STEM students. This project has the potential to serve as a model for preparing bilingual STEM professionals for the nation's STEM workforce.
The project seeks to address the national shortage of qualified STEM workers and provide a critical match between STEM careers and students in an economically depressed region. Consequently, the project will develop relationships with industry partners to expand internship and job opportunities for the Scholars. The project objectives include achieving an increase in students' academic achievement as well as an increase in the retention and graduation rates of STEM majors. Faculty and peer tutoring, a first-year course, and STEM workshops will be designed to help the Scholars make connections between mathematical and scientific skills and to understand the close relationships between mathematics and science. The project will also provide supports to prepare the Scholars for placement in STEM careers or for entry into graduate school. The project will investigate the impact of the math support activities on the Scholars' persistence and retention in the STEM major, especially for low-income, Hispanic STEM students who are a significant proportion of the College's student population. The project results may be used by other institutions as a model of effective strategies to address the mathematical barrier for STEM students. This project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
