Increasing the Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation of STEM Undergraduate Student, with Emphasis on First-Generation College Students

This project will contribute to the national need for skilled scientists, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students at South Dakota School of Mines. About a third of first-year students enrolled in the South Dakota School of Mines are first-generation college students. On average, these first-generation students persist at a much lower rate than students whose parents have had successful experiences in higher education.

Although, on average, about 50% of the School’s undergraduate students earn bachelor’s degrees within five years, only about 24% of first-generation students do so. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide scholarships to at least 35 different full- or part-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in engineering, science, or technology.

The Scholars will be admitted in two cohorts and receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project intends to help the Scholars successfully navigate the higher education system from admission to graduation. Academic and social support will begin at recruitment and include mentoring by trained mentors.

The project expects that, reflecting demographics of the student body, at least a third of the Scholars will be first-generation students. The project will test the hypothesis that the success of first-generation STEM undergraduates is not limited by their interests or ability, but by the complex higher education system itself. Furthermore, the project predicts that supporting Scholar’s ability to navigate their college experience will increase their persistence and graduation.

Many first-generation undergraduates are from low income, diverse backgrounds. As a result, a significant broader impact of the project arises from its potential to help increase the diversity of talent in the STEM workforce.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project has three specific aims: 1) connect existing campus academic resources to enhance student success, particularly of first-generation students; 2) bolster Scholars’ social connectivity to campus by creating a network of students, faculty, and staff that Scholars trust; and 3) provide need-based scholarships to relieve financial burden and allow Scholars to prioritize their education.

The project activities are designed to support Scholars’ development of greater emotional intelligence, which will be assessed by a scientifically validated instrument that examines an individual’s social and emotional strengths and weaknesses (EQ-i2.0). Using evidence-based resiliency research, the project will implement supports that are particularly relevant to first-generation students.

It is predicted that the project’s research findings will demonstrate a positive correlation between increases in emotional intelligence and retention/graduation rates. Project findings will be disseminated nationally through publications, conference presentations, NSF S-STEM meetings, and a project specific webpage. A plan is included for formative and summative project evaluation by a private consulting firm.

This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.