2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress (WIP) paper will share preliminary insights on action research evaluating the implementation of interventions in STEM learning environments impacting undergraduate engineering degree completion at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). While HBCUs only comprise three percent of post-secondary institutions in the United States, they enroll a high percentage of minority students (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022), and are often criticized for having low graduation rates, especially for low-income students (Gordon et al., 2021). To combat this concern, a public historically black land-grant university in the southeastern region of the United States was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant to increase engineering degree completion of low-income, high achieving undergraduate students. The project aims to increase engineering degree completion by improving student engagement, boosting retention and academic performance, and enhancing student self-efficacy by providing useful programming, resources, and financial support (i.e., scholarships). This work is part of a larger grant aimed at uncovering effective strategies to support low-income STEM students’ success at HBCUs.

The purpose of this action research study is to investigate academic, social, and cultural experiences that lead to HBCU-STEM student success and results in the enrollment, retention, and graduation of HBCU students in STEM disciplines. The HBCU-STEM Success Survey (Toldson, et al., 2021) was piloted with engineering students at the institution to increase understanding of the experiences of STEM students from low-income backgrounds who participated in the program. The survey includes constructs such as faculty relationships, personal psychosocial factors, school climate, and sense of belonging. The electronic survey was shared with all STEM students (i.e., S-STEM program participants and non-program participants) at the institution. Thirty-two engineering students at the institution completed the survey. Differences between program participants and non-program participants were explored.

The findings of the pilot survey provide valuable insight into student perspectives and experiences on the institution’s campus. Analyses of pilot data revealed that students in the S-STEM program (i.e., students that receive scholarships and attend regularly scheduled program meetings) averaged a higher-grade point average (GPA), with 71% of program participants reporting a GPA over 3.5. Additionally, most students reported plans to pursue a career in STEM immediately following graduation, regardless of program participation. Results also indicated that students participating in the program had similar on-campus experiences to non-program participants, with slight nuances that will be further explained in this working paper. This discussion will highlight the role of socio-ecological factors that support STEM navigation of engineering students from low-income backgrounds.

Future work will capture the perspectives of staff and student experiences at different points of their academic journey. Therefore, data collection will continue over the next two years. In addition to the electronic survey, staff interviews and student focus groups will be conducted to better understand factors contributing to student success. Study findings will be disseminated to the HBCU community, with special emphasis on engineering students from low-income backgrounds.