October 1st, 2016 - September 30th, 2018 | PROJECT
General Summary
This project seeks to prepare female Hispanic students for leadership in the STEM workforce. The project seeks to determine if a blended set of STEM engagement activities including summer intensive laboratory-based experiential learning and out-of-school STEM activities, peer support, mentoring, and financial assistance can help to take target students through a traditional leaky workforce and educational pipeline resulting in matriculation to and graduation from undergraduate STEM programs. If successful, the work will increase participation and leadership of Hispanic women in the STEM workforce. To accomplish these goals, the PIs will: (1) work with partners to identify, recruit, and screen bright, energetic Hispanic females in their freshman year of high school who show promise and interest in STEM disciplines; (2) engage selected students and their families in formal and informal STEM learning both throughout the school year and during summer residential experiences to enable the students to further develop and clarify their STEM calling; (3)prepare the students to matriculate to undergraduate college; (4) provide program participants with full-tuition scholarships to ensure undergraduate education is attainable; and (5) at our institution and partner colleges, provide dedicated advisors and mentors and cohort activities to ensure undergraduate persistence and success.
Technical Summary
The PIs seek to prepare female Hispanic students for leadership in the STEM workforce. To compete in the global economy, maintain national security, and meet serious environmental challenges, more skilled graduates are needed to fill STEM jobs. An untapped source of talent exists in those populations that continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields, including women and people of color. This work will help to determine if a blended set of STEM engagement activities including summer intensive laboratory-based experiential learning and out-of-school STEM activities, peer support, mentoring, and financial assistance can help to take target students through a traditional leaky pipeline resulting in matriculation to and graduation from undergraduate STEM education. The work builds on research that shows that mentored research opportunities and peer support and interaction improves persistence in female students. It also builds on regional models of collective impact whereby a variety of corporate, nonprofit, and foundation organizations successfully join together for large-impact projects. If successful, the work will increase participation and leadership of Hispanic women in the STEM workforce.
Project Website(s)
(no project website provided)
Team Members
April Marchetti, Principal Investigator, Randolph-Macon CollegeCharles English, Co-Principal Investigator
Rebecca Michelsen, Co-Principal Investigator
Rachele Dominguez, Co-Principal Investigator
Laurie Massery, Co-Principal Investigator
Funders
Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: NSF INCLUDES
Award Number: 1649289
Funding Amount: $299,956.00
Tags
Access and Inclusion: Ethnic | Racial | Hispanic | Latinx Communities | Women and Girls
Audience: Educators | Teachers | Museum | ISE Professionals | Youth | Teen (up to 17)
Discipline: General STEM
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Afterschool Programs | Higher Education Programs | Informal | Formal Connections | Public Programs | Summer and Extended Camps