Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM

Abstract

Members of the Joint Working Group on Improving Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) Persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), utilizing Kurt Lewin’s planned approach to change, describe five recommendations to increase URM persistence in STEM at the undergraduate level.

Differences in STEM doctoral publication by ethnicity, gender and academic field at a large public research university

“…Research on diversifying Chemistry [17] and STEM more generally [19,20] has focused largely on recruitment of women and URM students into graduate programs, as well as these students’ progress towards (and completion of) the Ph.D. This research highlights several important best practices for recruitment and retention efforts, including a visible commitment from institutional administrators, targeted scholarships, strong mentoring, and systematic benchmarking of both student progress and institutional goals.…”

The Influence of Affirming Kindness and Community on Broadening Participation in STEM Career Pathways

“…Science faculty and institutions have been called to “unleash the power of the curriculum” in order to address differential STEM attrition rates, particularly for HU students in entry‐level undergraduate courses (Estrada et al., ). By building partnerships across institutions, faculty have become instructional innovators that significantly shift undergraduate STEM education to increase critical thinking and agency (see the Partnership in Undergraduate Life Science Education [PULSE], the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, and Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities [SENCER] <http://sencer.net/> for examples) (Kezar, & Gehrke, ).…”

“…Specifically, we recommend collecting and tracking student data including (a) department level disaggregated demographic information (e.g., ethnicity/race, gender, socioeconomic status, first generation status), (b) participation in research training and support program, (c) mentorship, and (d) outcomes typically already tracked such as course progression, degree attainment, and time to degree. In support of this, funding agencies can require STEM degree attrition and attainment data from institutions that receive support in a standardized format that identifies disparity and equity (see Estrada et al., or recommendations in the National Academy of Sciences report, ). Posting summaries of this type of data on college and university websites also provides transparency and usability of the information.…”

“…National data examining retention of historically underrepresented (HU) (i.e., African American, Hispanic or Latino/Latina, American Indian, and Alaskan Natives) undergraduates, graduates, and faculty in STEM show that the disparity only increases the further people progress into these career pathways. Specifically, HU scholars comprised 29.3% of the U.S. population in 2010, but only14.7% of STEM awarded bachelor's degrees, 12.6% of master's degrees, 8.3% of doctorates, and 7.3% of faculty at 2‐ and 4‐year institutions (see Estrada et al., ). Much has been written about how to decrease these achievement gaps (Graham, Frederick, Byars‐Winston, Hunter, & Handelsman, ; Linn, Palmer, Baranger, Gerard, & Stone, ).…”

Using Journals to Assess Non-STEM Student Learning in STEM Courses: A Case Study in Cybersecurity Education

“…This might be a potentially fruitful area for future research, as we found no literature that specifically addresses non-STEM students in STEM courses. However, there is research that suggests that there are many students, especially women and underrepresented groups, who can succeed in STEM courses but fail to do so for non-cognitive reasons, such as a lack of self-efficacy or confidence [5][6][7].…”