Thriving or Simply Surviving? A Qualitative Exploration of STEM Community College Students’ Transition to a Four-Year University

Abstract

Community college transfer students will play a key role in increasing and diversifying the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, but these students face unique barriers when transferring to a university. This study utilizes Schlossberg’s model for analyzing human adaptation to transition to understand how STEM transfer students adapted to a 4-year university.

Motivation Differences in First-Semester Organic Chemistry: A Comparison between First-Time-in-College Students and Transfer Students

“…Institutions must take the lead in support and resource dissemination for transfer students. A student’s sense of belonging and integration to an institution are foundational. ,,, Transfer student orientation offered by institutions that integrate department leadership and faculty members engaged in teaching the courses in which these students are likely to be enrolled is a first step. Orientations provide a context to build relational networks within the institution that foster belongingness; involving faculty members in these orientations is critical.…”

“…, the state of the study site, where transfer rates from two-year institutions to four-year institutions are historically high . More and more students are completing four-year degrees in STEM fields after beginning their educational journeys at two-year institutions. , Thus, understanding the experiences and success of these students has a direct and lasting impact on the development of a robust STEM workforce. Research on transfer student success often focuses on the institutional or degree program level, with an emphasis on “predicting” success ( i.e.…”

“…1 More and more students are completing four-year degrees in STEM fields after beginning their educational journeys at two-year institutions. 2,3 Thus, understanding the experiences and success of these students has a direct and lasting impact on the development of a robust STEM workforce. Research on transfer student success often focuses on the institutional or degree program level, with an emphasis on "predicting" success (i.e., degree completion, particularly time to degree completion) based on grade point average (GPA) and other entrance measures.…”

The Value of Support: STEM Intervention Programs Impact Student Persistence and Belonging

“…, 2014 ). Some SIPs provide significant financial support, allowing students to spend less time working at a job, and more time focusing on their academics and perhaps other activities ( Gray et al. , 2022 ).…”

Siloed Efforts and Collaboration Among STEM Equity Initiatives: An Organizational Network Analysis

“…Research on the effect of SIPs suggests that many help improve academic preparation, self-efficacy, STEM identity, sense of belonging, and ultimately persistence in STEM [10]- [12].…”