Geoscience's workforce lacks the participation of under-represented groups because of significant challenges to entering the field. Two-year colleges (2YC) are the main entry point for individuals from underrepresented groups into the geoscience career pipeline. However, many of these students drop out of Geoscience degree programs as they transfer to 4-year universities (4YU) because they face several challenges early in their transition. The goal of this project is to plug the leaky geoscience career pipeline through an extracurricular ?bridge? program between Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) and Oregon State University (OSU). We call it LBOS-GeoBridge. The very nature of this project addresses broader impacts of increasing diversity in STEM and the Geosciences in particular. Specific long-term broader impacts of this project are a stronger pipeline from 2YC to 4YU in geology/earth science in Oregon, more students from 2YC entering the geoscience workforce, and an improved model for improving success of community college students in geoscience.
Each year, six LBCC geology students (18 students during the 3-year period of the program) will enter this program to prepare them to navigate the academic, social, and institutional barriers transfer students to Oregon State University (OSU) face. During the Spring and Summer terms prior to transfer, students will participate in program activities designed to address transfer shock and build their cognate science knowledge and skills to lay the scaffolding for success in upper-level coursework. Using an existing network developed through earlier efforts, LBOS-GeoBridge will involve the student with a cohort and support system that is based on a mentored research project. Recruitment for this project will not be GPA-based but will focus on at risk transfers who meet the entrance requirements for OSU, many of whom are underrepresented. Our prior efforts suggest that with opportunity and access, these students can perform as well as their more privileged peers, and part of our research will be to assess if intervention at this critical juncture leads to future success in upper-level geoscience coursework, degree completion, and employment in the geoscience workforce.
