Transforming Community College Engineering Transfer Networks and Data Sharing Through Research

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Emerging Faculty Research Track (ETSE-EFRT) project aims to improve our understanding of the transfer student experience in STEM education by examining the experiences of community college students transferring into STEM degree programs at universities. STEM transfer students represent a vital source of domestic talent and a growing proportion of future STEM professionals, yet there is little research on their educational journeys or the institutional partnerships that facilitate their degree completion. By studying the lives of community college STEM students and the collaboration between Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) that send and receive transfer students, this project will advance our understanding of STEM education systems. Additionally, through data sharing and fostering a community of researcher-educators, this project plans to enhance educational outcomes and improve transfer partnerships for our nation’s future STEM professionals. This project will advance engineering education research and STEM broadening participation research by conducting a mixed-methods investigation of community college STEM students’ time use, course-taking patterns, and transfer pathways. The specific research goals are: 1) to characterize the lived experiences of these students, 2) create a longitudinal database tracking transfer student progress from enrollment to degree attainment, and 3) analyze the structures of transfer partnerships across multiple institutions, with a focus on HSIs. Additionally, the project will foster a reciprocal community of research-practitioners, linking community college faculty and university partners to support discipline-specific transfer programs and career preparation. Findings will inform education policy, improve transfer program designs, and build upon previous engineering education research. Improved STEM education ecosystems will increase student transfer, increase STEM degree completion, and improve the global competitiveness of related-industries. The research team will create and maintain a project website to share project ideas, such as new transfer partnerships, research methodologies, and study results. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and increase capacity to engage in the development and implementation of innovations to improve STEM teaching and learning at HSIs. 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.