Innovative Scholarship Supports for STEM Pre-Professionals: Identity, Research, and Education

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at John Carroll University, a Jesuit institution. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships of up to $15,000 per year for up to 4 years to 33-36 unique full-time, first-year students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, and/or Psychology. This project aims to increase persistence and success in STEM majors by offering students concrete opportunities to build a sense of STEM identity and self-efficacy, particularly early in their college careers. Scholars will receive intensive advising and supports in addition to scholarship funding to significantly enhance their ability to successfully complete STEM degrees and fill critical gaps in the regional workforce. Supports include participation in a Summer Bridge Program, living in a STEM Living-Learning Community (LLC), research and internship opportunities, and coursework designed to augment the transition to the STEM workforce. Emerging regional markets in biotechnology, healthcare, and other science-based industries fuel demand for the academically-talented students this project will recruit, support, educate, and graduate at high rates. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Toward this end the project team will pursue three specific aims. First is to increase the GPAs of first-year scholars to be at least equivalent to non-low-income peers, and achieve persistence and graduation rates at least equivalent to institutional averages. Second is to build on and adapt evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities to best support scholars based on an earlier Track 1 project (DUE #1741814). Third, and finally, is to encourage an institutional culture shift by increasing knowledge and sensitivity about issues affecting low-income students among STEM faculty. Interventions and supports for scholars will include a two-week summer bridge program for entering first-year scholars, living in a STEM Living-Learning Community for up to two years; offering three courses on research, STEM workforce, and STEM Entrepreneurship; research and internship opportunities; and structured cohort advising throughout their four years. This project will examine the effect of multiple interventions aimed at supporting STEM students and fostering their sense of identity, belonging, and self-efficacy, which are psychosocial factors known to promote persistence in STEM. The project also will advance understanding of the effect of one versus two years of living in a STEM LLC on study habits, persistence to degree completion, and sense of belonging. STEM faculty will participate in workshops on inclusive pedagogy in the first three years of the project to cultivate cultural awareness and institutional change surrounding issues affecting low-income students. Results will be shared on-campus and at relevant professional meetings and published in peer-reviewed education journals for the greater STEM education community. This project is funded by NSF’s 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 STEM workers, 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.