NSF Award
1643489
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio will support scholarships for 23 talented and low-income students across a range of science majors. Students pursing undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, geology, and physics will receive scholarship and other supports designed to engage, retain and graduate these low-income, academically talented students. Retention strategies include implementation of a comprehensive network of mentoring consisting of faculty, peer, and alumni mentors. A professional academic advisor and career coach will also provide student support. Faculty-mentored collaborative research, including a new initiative to promote early research participation and shadowing, will be offered in addition to a learning community that provides freshman success seminars, review sessions in a gateway chemistry course, a guest speaker series, and tailored career-investigations and preparation workshops. Scholarships and support for low-income and academically talented students, who may not otherwise be able to obtain STEM degrees, will help to produce a well-trained workforce that will contribute to the economic well-being of the nation.<br/><br/>The comprehensive recruiting and support program is based on the analysis of local needs and issues found to influence student retention. The mentoring program based on anchored by an existing successful pilot test of an alumni mentoring program. In addition to supporting student success the project will contribute to the understanding of issues affecting student retention and success. The project will study how students' self-efficacy evolves over time through participation in the intended support activities. Student interactions over multiple years of mentoring will help the project team to discern which specific activities or points in time are most impactful in terms of student self-efficacy and their STEM attitude. This longitudinal study will track changes over time of STEM retention predictors such as scientific self-efficacy and STEM relevant attitudes.
