Cross-Sector Partnerships, Experiential Learning, and Professional Development to Build Pathways to STEM Careers

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 1: Building Capacity project aims to improve STEM education and broaden participation in STEM. It intends to do so through a collaborative, cross-sector partnership model that will provide students and faculty with year-round, extra-curricular, STEM-related experiences. It is expected that these experiences will help increase the number of students who are retained in and successfully complete STEM degrees at HSI institutions. One of the unique features of this program is that faculty will be embedded with students during the extracurricular experiences. As a result, faculty will connect with professionals working at the forefront of their disciplines and be able to use their experiences to improve their teaching. The program is also expected to help increase the number and quality of cross-sector collaborations. The project team has already created partnerships with corporate, non-profit, and government organizations. The primary partners are Packet, MillerCoors Brewing, CSU Fullerton, Gravitational Waves Physics & Astronomy, City of Hope, The Explainables, The Right Question Institute, and the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. These organizations will provide students with experiences that range from workshops and demonstrations to coding boot camps and summer research internships. The project intends to serve 300 students, who will participate in one of three themed cohorts: 1. Geosciences; 2. Engineering, Physics, Mathematics & Computer Sciences; and 3. Biology and Chemistry. It is expected that participation in the cohort will broaden students’ understanding of career opportunities, introduce them to subfields within their disciplines, and provide internships or research opportunities, while building durable networks with peers and professionals. The research and evaluation components of the project will contribute to the literature regarding science identity. It is expected that this work may serve as a model for increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. 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.