2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
BOARD # 460: Supporting pre-STEM Majors while Closing Equity Gaps: Mentoring in a Multi-Disciplinary S-STEM Program
Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II
The S-STEM supported program [program name blinded] started at the [location blinded] as a Track 1 grant in 2018 and continued as a Track 2 grant in 2022. Since its inception, it has supported 124 students over 7 cohorts. [Location blinded] is an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution (AANAPISI) with a high proportion of racial minority and first-generation college students. The [program name blinded] is multidisciplinary across STEM majors including Mathematics, Environmental Science, Biomedical Sciences, Information Technology, Computer Science and Systems, Computer Engineering and Systems, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. Program scholars receive full scholarships for their first two years, and partial scholarships for their third and fourth years. Students can participate in a summer bridge precalculus or research experience course, and project-based Introduction to Engineering or Introduction to Research courses in their first year. Individual faculty mentoring, quarterly Success in STEM seminar courses, and an optional on-campus STEM living learning community help scholars form a cohesive community through group mentoring. Our S-STEM program is distinctive in focusing on pre-STEM majors in their first and second years on campus to facilitate the entry into STEM majors, and we provide mentor training for ~30-40 faculty in teaching and mentoring diverse student populations, thus impacting all students in our majors.
Our goal was to evaluate how the program supports retention and academic success of our program scholars, and whether this program helps to close equity gaps for students who identify as low socioeconomic status, underrepresented minorities, women or non-binary, or first generation in college. We compared our program scholars to a comparison group of students who met eligibility requirements but did not participate in the program. Overall, program scholars had higher first year retention, and higher GPAs, particularly for individuals belonging to groups that are historically underrepresented in STEM. Retention was markedly higher for program scholars during the pandemic, suggesting that the program may have been particularly impactful for students as they endured the emotional and financial stresses of the pandemic. Survey and interview responses emphasized the importance of mentoring and access to resources, particularly during the pandemic. In future work, we will use survey and interview data to better understand student experiences and impacts on faculty mentors participating in the program.
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Emily Cilli-Turner University of San Diego
The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025