Attrition vs. Retention – Is it a Question of ‘Survival of the Fittest’?

Attrition vs. Retention – Is it a Question of ‘Survival of the Fittest’? Diversity in the Sciences Symposium University of Washington, SeattleOctober 28, 2006 Tuajuanda C. Jordan, Ph.D. Howard Hughes Medical Institute

What does it take for an entering college student to be retained and to persist in science and engineering disciplines? c Aaron McGruder UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Does he need an excellent secondary school education having AP courses and up-to-date labs? c Aaron McGruder UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Does he need to have high standardized test scores? A high grade point average? c Aaron McGruder UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Or, does he simply need to have money and the right network of associates?? c Aaron McGruder UW Diversity Symposium tcj

What is needed is a holistic approach to student development. An approach having many parts, dynamic parts; parts that can stand alone but must work together. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors for Student Retention • Having a sense of community • Knowledgeable Advising • Effective Mentoring • Curriculum Assessment • Academic Support • Financial Aid • Discipline-specific “Extracurricular” Activities UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Sense of Com m u n i t y UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) • XULA is • a small Catholic and historically Black university having a pre-Katrina enrollment of ~4,100 • Number one in the nation in placing African Americans into medical school (since 1993) • First in the nation in graduating students with Bachelors degrees in the life sciences • Ranked first in the country in the number of undergraduate degrees conferred to chemistry majors • Number one in the U.S. for producing students with a Bachelors degree in physics • The institution from which >25% of the country’s African American pharmacists earned their professional degree UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors – Sense of Community It means that the student should feel, from the outset, that she belongs in your program and that she is in a welcoming and supportive environment. Sense of community? What does that mean? UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors – Sense of Community • Frequent and “personal” communications from the department faculty, students, or staff as soon as the student is accepted into the university • A positive group identification or trademark • A readily identifiable and accessible gathering place that can also serve as a resource room UW Diversity Symposium tcj

d v i s i n g A c a d e m i c UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors – Academic Advising • Academic advising can be done either individually or in teams, by faculty or staff • The advising system should be consistent • The advisor(s) must be available, accessible, and knowledgeable of the academic programs and career options • Must be assigned as soon as the student declares her major UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors – Advising Example • Xavier’s Biology Department • Uses a “hands – on” approach • Is as consistent as humanly possible • Has an Advising Handbookdeveloped by one of the senior faculty members; distributed to all Biology faculty members • First year Biology faculty advisors are required to attend an advising workshop run by the senior faculty member • The advisor is assigned as soon as the student is accepted as a Biology major • The student is • required to meet with the advisor before she is allowed to register for courses • enticed to meet with the advisor on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to discuss progress in courses during the freshman and sophomore years UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Mentoring UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors - Mentoring • Effective mentoring requires • that an individual establishes a relationship with the “mentee” • the very basic, yet essential, understanding that the relationship is a humanistic experience and thus every experience will be different • guidance • a certain amount of nurturing • cultivation towards independence • empowerment • Two types • Peer mentoring • Faculty mentoring UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors - Mentoring • Peer mentor • is • successful upperclassman • knowledgeable of • the academic program • the institution • potential career paths • has • career aspirations • similar life experiences . . . a bonus UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Key Factors - Mentoring • Faculty mentor • Consummate professional at all times • Good listener • Accessible and available • Sensitive to issues of diversity • Team player • Character builder • Empowers UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Curriculum Reform UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Some Thoughts about Curriculum • You/Committee must be REFLECTIVE • What should the student know when he completes the course? • Course information must contain DIVERSEmethods of presentation • It must be SELF LESS • Assessment should begin with the discipline-specific INTRODUCTORY COURSES UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Will the introductory course sequence be a gatekeeper for or a gateway to the discipline? Introductory Course Dilemma UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Gatekeeper Courses and Attrition If the course is meant to be a gatekeeper, then most of the department’s attrition will happen during that first year. If a student gets through that course, the chances are good that she will persist in the major and graduate. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Gatekeeper Courses When the introductory course is a gatekeeper, we are describing survival of the fittest in its most basic form. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Gatekeeper Courses The student was adequately prepared to succeed when she entered into the institution. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Gatekeeper Courses The important point here is that she entered into the institution with virtually everything she required for success. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Gateway Courses If, on the other hand, consensus is reached that the intro course will be the gateway to the discipline, the concept of first year attrition is almost a non-entity as the phenomenon is better described as one of retention. … the Xavier story UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Did it focus its recruitment efforts on high-ability students? No, the standardized test results suggest that XULA’s students have scores that are pretty close to the national averages XULA – Curriculum Reform How did this small school in New Orleans gain national recognition for its programs in science? UW Diversity Symposium tcj

SAT Scores of Incoming Freshmen Score UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Much of XULA’s success in the sciences is due to the faculty and their desire to increase a student’s chance of success in the STEM disciplines. If the university didn’t recruit high-ability students, how did it become a national leader in the science education of underrepresented minorities. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Consequently, they implemented several features in most of the entry-level courses that have significantly contributed to XULA’s success in graduating under-represented minorities in the STEM disciplines. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Features of “Standardized” Entry-level Courses • Inquiry-based laboratory experiments • Exercises to improve critical-thinking and test-taking skills • Efforts to improve general, not scientific, vocabulary • Efforts to help students learn to visualize in three dimensions • Effort to get students to form study groups • Encouraging students to meet frequently with their academic advisor UW Diversity Symposium tcj

How do the faculty know that the modified entry-level courses are more effective than the traditional courses they offered in the past? UW Diversity Symposium tcj

General Chemistry Pass Rate Pre-reformation UW Diversity Symposium tcj

The change in philosophy of how best to train students, in general, and underrepresented minority students, in particular, in the sciences has had a significant impact on XULA STEM student matriculation. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Grad & Prof school enrolled Impact: STEM Student Matriculation UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Changing how the introductory-level courses are taught is just one aspect of the program XULA has in place that has served to increase retention and persistence in the sciences. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

XULA – Additional Support Mechanisms • Various programs offering tuition assistance • Extensive student support services • Tutoring and counseling centers • Pre-med Office • Center for Undergraduate Research • Graduate Placement Office • Career Placement and Counseling Office • Faculty development activities • Center for the Advancement of Teaching • Center for Undergraduate Research • A growing cadre of faculty actively engaged in research activities with undergraduates UW Diversity Symposium tcj

No. There are many examples out there where people are making a major impact on diversifying science, a task that calls for one to focus on retention rather than on attrition. Case in point, the University of Texas at El Paso. Xavier is a special place and this type of thing can only work at a place like Xavier! UW Diversity Symposium tcj

The University of Texas, El Paso • Unlike XULA, UTEP is • Public • Hispanic-serving • Large • Research-intensive UW Diversity Symposium tcj

UTEP: Undergraduate Profile • Average age of an undergraduate: 24 • ~16,000 enrolled • 72% Hispanic • 10% Mexican (International) • 82% from El Paso Community • 98% Commuter • 81% Employed • 96% Financial Assistance • 54% First-generation college students Dr. Benjamin Flores, UTEP. Taken from a presentation made at the NSF JAM 2006. Used by permission UW Diversity Symposium tcj

DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY CURRICULUM REFORM SENSE of COMMUNITY The UTEP Model • CirCLES – an entering student program for 1st-time science and engineering students; cohorts are formed • ACES (Academic Center for Engineers and Scientists); a place for commuter students to work on science & engineering academic and professional development activities • CETaL (Center for Effective Teaching and Learning) • REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) • CCLI (Curriculum, Course, Laboratory, and Instruction improvement projects) • WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Dr. Benjamin Flores, UTEP. Taken from a presentation made at the NSF JAM 2006. Used by permission UW Diversity Symposium tcj

UTEP * Dr. Benjamin Flores, UTEP. Taken from a presentation made at the NSF JAM 2006. Used by permission UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Review – Keys to Developing Successful Retention Practices • Community • Advising • Mentoring • Assessment • Academic Support • Financial Aid • Extracurriculars UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Conclusion • Diversifying the sciences requires a multi-faceted approach that includes • Student development • Student academic, social, and financial support • Faculty development • Curriculum enhancement • Attentive coordination of these efforts will result in significant improvement in student retention and persistence in science and engineering UW Diversity Symposium tcj

c Aaron McGruder c Aaron McGruder Epilogue Is the matter of diversifying science a question of ‘survival of the fittest’? The answer to this question is Yes, but there are more relevant questions. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

c Aaron McGruder Epilogue How does one define “fittest”? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that students are “fit” for success in the STEM disciplines? UW Diversity Symposium tcj

c Aaron McGruder Epilogue There are others who believe that if an entering student has the will and desire to be a scientist or engineer, the onus is on the institution to provide the resources for that student to try toachieve thatgoal. There are some who believe that high attrition rates are due to inadequate preparation of entering college freshmen and that the onus lies within the K-12 system. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Epilogue A college educator can positively and significantly impact science diversity in a relatively short period of time. Go ahead, be a change agent. Others will surely follow. UW Diversity Symposium tcj

Attrition vs. Retention – Is it a Question of ‘Survival of the Fittest’?