The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce through the development of highly competitive students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African-Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal of the LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity is to increase the number and competitiveness of STEM graduate students from historically underrepresented minority populations, with emphasis on STEM doctoral matriculation and completion.
The 2020-2022 Puerto Rico LSAMP BD (PR-LSAMP-BD) program will recruit twelve (12) alumni from the Territory and LSAMP institutions nationwide for STEM postbaccalaureate studies at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (UPR). UPR's BD program will provide multidisciplinary training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at the graduate level to enable a seamless transition from the STEM baccalaureate degree to STEM doctoral studies. Students will receive intense STEM mentoring through participation in faculty mentored research in disciplines such as biological sciences, math and physical sciences,computer science, environmental sciences, engineering and geological sciences. Activities also include STEM professional development activities such as national and international research and conference attendance. In addition, UPR's BD program will implement activities that develop mentoring and team-building skills. The Role Model Seminar series will bring the BD Fellows into contact with successful nationally and internationally recognized researchers thereby creating a mentoring environment that further equips the Fellows. A BD Council has been established to strengthen advisement, counseling and mentorship to the participants as well as address continued sustainability of the program.
Student support in the form of stipends and cost of education are provided for two years for each student. The institution commits to assisting the students financially through completion of the STEM doctoral program. Evaluative activities will assess outcomes of students' accomplishments relating to retention, degree completion, and career progress. Social psychological outcomes related to career goals and expectations related to STEM identity development will also be assessed. Outcomes will be disseminated broadly through the institution's website, scholarly journals, and presentations at STEM professional conferences. These efforts will increase the diversity of STEM academic leadership and contribute to the growing literature on broadening participation in STEM at the graduate and post-graduate level.
The program will continue to coordinate its activities with other NSF-funded projects that are managed by the Resource Center for Science and Engineering (RCSE) and by pertinent UPR graduate programs. The activities implemented will increase the number of Puerto Rican STEM undergraduate students who apply and are admitted to STEM PhD programs, and increase the number of these students who obtain STEM doctoral degrees. Since 2003, fifty-four BD fellows have earned STEM doctoral degrees and 154 students have participated in the program.
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.
