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April Hill University of Richmond

April Hill University of Richmond. Moving beyond inclusivity: How Can we do a better job retaining underrepresented students in STEM disciplines?. HHMI: Call for Inclusion, Persistence, and Community.

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April Hill University of Richmond

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  1. April Hill University of Richmond Moving beyond inclusivity: How Can we do a better job retaining underrepresented students in STEM disciplines?

  2. HHMI: Call for Inclusion, Persistence, and Community • “HHMI grants have enabled colleges and universities to involve large numbers of underrepresented minority students in student research and other activities... However, their impressive potential still has not been realized as a substantial increase in the number of students from underrepresented groups who go on to careers in science.”

  3. “Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads.” • Committee on Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Workforce Pipeline; Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; Policy and Global Affairs; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine

  4. What is the challenge? • 21st century U.S. needs strong S&E enterprise: • Need solutions for pandemics, terrorism, natural disasters • Need for reliable energy and clean environment • Need for healthier people, better medicines • Need to develop new products to compete in global markets Yet, “the dominance of the U.S. in these fields has faded as the rest of the world has invested and grown their research and education capacities.”

  5. Finding America’s STEM Talent: • Our sources for the future STEM workforce are uncertain • The demographics of our domestic population are shifting dramatically

  6. Finding America’s Science and Engineering Talent

  7. Finding America’s STEM Talent: • Our sources for the future STEM workforce are uncertain • The demographics of our domestic population are shifting dramatically • Diversity is an asset

  8. Educational Attainment • Since the 1970s progress in overall education attainment has stalled in the U.S. • Prior to 1970s underrepresented minorities were largely and systematically excluded from many mainstream educational opportunities. • Thus, the period of inclusion for underrepresented minorities (from the 1970s on), coincides with stagnation in both public educational investment and overall levels of educational attainment.

  9. Needs for Educational Attainment Attain STEM degree? 2.7% African Americans 3.3% Native Americans 2.2% Hispanics and Latinos • U.S. ranks 20 out of 24 countries in the percentage of 24 year olds who earn degrees in STEM disciplines. • Goal is to increase the overall percentage from 6% to 10% (this benchmark is achieved by several countries). • To achieve this goal for underrepresented minorities we need to at least triple their proportions with a degree in STEM

  10. Underproduction of minorities at every level of STEM

  11. STEM Interest? • By the late 1980s, African American and Hispanic students begin college interested in majoring in STEM fields at rates similar to white and Asian American students.

  12. STEM Completion? • Completers were better prepared for postsecondary education because a larger proportion took a highly rigorous high school curriculum. • Completers were more likely to have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree • Completers came from families with higher incomes • Non-completers were more likely to work 15 hours or more per week

  13. Progress in increasing participation • However, this progress is comprised of large gains over a very small base – minorities remain underrepresented across STEM fields and academic levels.

  14. Where do we start? • Preparation • Access and Motivation • Affordability • Academic and Social Support

  15. Preparation

  16. Preparation: Why the persistent achievement gap? • Family and community differences • Poverty • Parents with less than high school education • Home language other than English • School context Access to AP by race/ethnicity. U.S. public schools 2009 • Low expectations and lack of advanced courses • Lack of exposure to role models • Lack of information about career opportunities

  17. Access and Motivation Caveat 1: Underrepresented minorities at 2-year institutions (who comprise more than half of all minorities enrolled in postsecondary institutions) have a low propensity to major in and complete STEM. Caveat 2: Underrepresented minorities who begin four-year institutions and aspire to STEM have a lower completion rate. • 26.2% of all undergraduates are underrepresented minorities (33.2% overall pop.). • Proportion of underrepresented minority freshman who aspire to STEM majors has also increased.

  18. Affordability • Possible consequences: • Self-support and loans create a larger burden for underrepresented minorities both during and after graduation. • Need to rely on outside work can mean less time to study and focus on research, lower grades, longer time-to-degree, and higher probability of attrition. • Debt of those that attend college and graduate school can serve as a market signal to deter other underrepresented minorities from attending, participating and completing STEM degrees.

  19. Academic and Social Support “While women are less likely to major in STEM than men, they have similar or higher persistence rates. By contrast, while underrepresented minorities major in STEM at the same rate as others, their completion rate is lower.” Source studies: National Center for Education Statistics and Higher Education Research Institute

  20. Academic and Social Support: Sustaining Self-Efficacy Self-Efficacy is strongly correlated with issues of persistence and achievement Barriers to self-efficacy: Campuses that construct a social structure to “weed out” students Racial stereotyping and “stereotype threat” Stigma of minority programs Underrepresented minorities are likely to find themselves academically and socially isolated (this is more prevalent in STEM). Students who come from economically and culturally disadvantaged backgrounds can find themselves in situations without the same level of information as their peers.

  21. Academic and Social Support: Student retention and Institutional transformation • Campus-wide commitment to inclusiveness is crucial: this must happen at all levels and must be sustained. • Deliberate self-appraisal is necessary • Develop plans for implementing constructive change • Ongoing evaluation to monitor effectiveness

  22. Best Practices: Programs That Work • University of Maryland Baltimore Park Meyerhoff Scholar Program • Georgia Tech Focus • Rice University Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAAM) • Leadership Alliance (Brown) • RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement program) NIH • Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participants (LSAMP) • HHMI EXROP

  23. Best Practices: Key Elements and Transitions Research Institutions Community Colleges Universities K-12 Summer research/bridge Summer research/bridge Mentoring/tutoring Faculty Upper division STEM courses & research Introductory-level course work Professional development Graduate courses Master & Ph.D. work Research and other engagement activities Family Learning communities Study groups Community-based learning

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