STEM Scholars: Supporting Graduation of Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics Majors by Developing Their STEM Ethical Knowledge and Identity as Scientists

This project will contribute to the national need for highly skilled scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students at Marian University. This University is a Catholic and Franciscan university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over its five-year duration, the project aims to fund scholarships to at least 15 full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, or mathematics.

The Scholars will be recruited in two cohorts of first-year students and receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project will provide Scholars with innovative support services focused on strengthening their understanding of the role of ethics in STEM and building their identities as STEM professionals. The project aims to advance understanding of the value of ethics instruction and identity-building activities in retaining and graduating STEM students. It also plans to diversify the local STEM workforce and help to meet STEM workforce needs.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. A known contributor to retention in STEM is the development of students’ self-identity as STEM professionals. However, the efficacy and impacts of ethics instruction on professional identify are scarcely researched aspects of STEM education.

Marian University will recruit students from local Catholic schools, public schools, and community colleges to study the effectiveness of early-career ethics coursework and STEM activities designed to build identity as a scientist. The project will be guided by two research questions: 1) How does the introduction of Responsible Conduct of Research principles and subsequent evaluation of case-studies impact a student’s ability to recognize and apply these principles to various research scenarios and make ethically sound decisions regarding their own research projects? 2) To what extent does the intentional discussion of identity issues surrounding STEM majors affect their self-identification as “scientists” throughout their undergraduate career and to what extent do these students cite specific aspects of identity development as contributing to their persistence in STEM?

Expected project outcomes include that at least 80% of the Scholars will remain in STEM majors into their third semester, at least 70% will graduate with a STEM major, and all graduating Scholar will be placed into STEM employment or graduate education. The project will be evaluated by an external evaluator based on student academic and career outcomes, student perceptions of themselves, and the value of participation in the project.

It will also synthesize these results into lessons learned for replicating and scaling the project. Project findings will be disseminated by investigators and participating students through peer-reviewed publications and regional research venues. 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.