Reflections on Experiences of a Successful STEM Scholarship Program for Underrepresented Groups

Abstract

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report in 2010 stated that there is a large interest in the achievement gap among underrepresented groups, especially women, in STEM fields. To alleviate these shortcomings, the National Science Foundation has been leading the efforts to increase the enrollment of minorities in these fields and reduce these gaps. Other federal agencies have also joined the efforts, since the National Academy of Science in 2007 warned that the eroding scientific base of the nation puts the United States at a disadvantage with regards to other nations. This paper deals with reflections on how to successfully implement a university STEM scholarship program to attain the simultaneous goals of increasing STEM enrollment and increasing diversity in the STEM fields. In particular, this paper highlights the necessity of strong and broad-based (peers, faculty, and industrial) mentors. Initial results are encouraging with regards to STEM scholarship student retention.

Action on Diversity: A Content Analysis of ASEE Conference Papers, 2015–2016

“…Other categories that were less present were first generation college students and LGBTQA+ communities. While some publications focused on specific intersections of demographics and organizational statuses such as pre-college black males (Tolbert & Cardella, 2016) or first generation Latinas in engineering (Verdin, Godwin, & Morazes, 2015), other publications targeted a blanket group of underrepresented groups in STEM such as women and minorities (Agili, Morales, Null, Smith, & Vidalis, 2015).…”

The Role of Customized Mentoring in a Successful STEM Scholarship Program for Underrepresented Groups

“…In a prior paper, the authors stressed the importance of support services for STEM scholars, including tutoring and mentoring. The three mentoring components identified in that paper were as follows: peer, faculty, and industrial mentoring 1 . The importance of mentoring on the success of students has been long recognized in the literature [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] .…”

“…Hence, the PSH NSF STEM Scholarship Peer Mentoring Program was implemented in order to help freshman STEM students transitioning to the first year of college. Peer mentors act as coaches and facilitators to help scholars navigate the Penn State University system, including the introduction of the environment, people, and new ideas 1 . Peer mentors, chosen from upper classmen, were close enough in age to the mentees to allow easier communication between mentees and mentors.…”

“…As explained in 1 , "the primary goal for faculty mentors is to help scholars identify with specific disciplines and walk a successful path through their studies." Faculty mentors have periodic meetings with their mentees through various means, including electronic communication.…”