2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BOARD # 319: Academic Persistence and Graduation of S-STEM Scholars at MSOE and Their Career Pathways into STEM Workforce

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

The overall goal of the National Science Foundation-sponsored S-STEM program at Milwaukee School of Engineering (Grant No. DUE-2027632) is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving mechanical engineering undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The program incorporates evidence-based strategies and corresponding activities to affect academic and career success of S-STEM scholars, with these objectives: 1) Enable scholar cohorts to persist in the undergraduate mechanical engineering program and to enter the STEM workforce or graduate school upon graduation. 2) Provide a conducive atmosphere for cohorts to thrive as they participate in social activities, peer tutoring, shadowing experiences (with industry engineers), student-faculty interaction, career guidance, and preparation for research opportunities and graduate school and/or industry, and 3) Generate knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of strategies and practices employed to enhance student persistence to graduation and beyond.
By the fourth year of the grant duration (September 2024), ten students have graduated and most of the remaining 8 scholars are poised for successful completion by Spring 2025. This paper will highlight the pertinent career pathways of the graduates and various demographics of the participants without individual reference (providing data in clusters and trends). It will include various opportunities in industry and research centers that prepared these graduates during the academic program. Salient observations and lessons learned in the process of advocating for STEM scholars by the STEM administration team are provided as pointers for other educators seeking to invest in the academic success and career enhancement of undergraduate STEM population. The observations of the External Evaluator are also included to validate the results. Both quantitative and qualitative results show the successful implementation of evidence-based strategies, the academic persistence of S-STEM scholars and their career transition into STEM workforce.

Authors

Dr. Subha K Kumpaty http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1466-7976 Concordia University Wisconsin/ Milwaukee School of Engineering [biography]

Dr. Subha Kumpaty, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has led several initiatives involving undergraduate students, such as Research Experiences for Undergraduates, International Research Experiences for Students and S-STEM. He has been the Principal Investigator of REU, IRES and S-STEM grants, all funded by the National Science Foundation This work is part of the S-STEM grant funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. DUE-2027632).
Dr. Mohammad Mahinfalah Milwaukee School of Engineering [biography]

Mohammad Mahinfalah earned his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1988 and is a distinguished educator and a fellow of ASME. He is currently a professor and program director of Mater of Science in Engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Mahinfalah has more than 30 years of experience with the impact of composites, solid mechanics, and experimental mechanics. He has been recognized for his teaching excellence by three different universities. Prior to joining the faculty at MSOE, Mahinfalah served as a faculty member at North Dakota State University (NDSU) for 19 years.
Dr. Jan L. Fertig Milwaukee School of Engineering [biography]

Dr. Jan Fertig is a professor in the Humanities, Social Science, and Communication Department at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), where she has taught sociology, psychology, and addictions for over 20 years. She was recently awarded MSOE’s prestigious Karl O. Werwath Applied Research Award for her ongoing research on diversity in engineering education and currently collects data as Co-Principal Investigator on the National Science Foundation-Funded S-STEM Grant (Grant No. DUE-2027632).
Mrs. Judith Eroe Grand Canyon University [biography]

Judith Eroe retired in 2022 after 35 years at Grand Canyon University. She taught German and ESL before becoming the Executive Director of Assessment. She continues to work as an Assessment Mentor for the Higher Learning Commission, as well as an External Evaluator for the Milwaukee School of Engineering's NSF grant REU and S-STEM Scholar programs.

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