Creating Pathways to Increase Retention and Transfer Rates of STEM Majors at Two Los Angeles-Based Hispanic Serving Institutions

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to address the problem of low retention and transfer rates of underrepresented minorities in STEM at two sister Hispanic Serving Community Colleges in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Valley College-LAVC and Los Angeles Pierce College-LPC). Between LAVC and LAPC, Biology is the most selected STEM major (and third largest major overall), yet only 17-20% of students (a majority of whom are under-represented) complete the degree or transfer as a STEM major.

Partnering with the University of Southern California (4-year university) and Bioscience LA (life science workforce development organization), this project will support 176 LAVC/LAPC students over three years using research-backed intervention methods designed to retain and attract students in STEM. Recruitment will target new students for early engagement in activities that will include academic resources and transfer support that scaffold onto new, modified, or existing courses at LAVC/LAPC.

Activities will also include research experiences, internship opportunities, and introductions to a broad network of STEM academic and industry professionals. Anticipated outcomes include higher retention of LAVC/LAPC students in STEM, higher transfer rates to 4-year institutions as STEM majors, and insights into actual and perceived barriers for program administrators to inform ongoing intervention strategies.

Two leading research questions guide the framework of this program: 1) Which factors most influence the decision of under-represented students to persist in STEM; and 2) How can the educational experience of STEM students at 2-yr institutions be improved to increase persistence? This program will apply interventions to improve student performance and motivation, with the goal of improving the retention and transfer rates of marginalized students.

Strategies will include exposure to diverse career paths, academic coaching, developing a learning community, faculty and near-peer mentoring, early exposure to research experiences, and an immersive opportunity at a research field station. Quantitative data from program evaluations will document the impact of these early interventions on student retention and persistence.

Qualitative data via focus groups will provide insight on additional impact factors and outcomes of the program. Results will be disseminated via NSF annual reports, presentations at regional and national conferences with sessions that focus on STEM education and partner institution’s websites. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.

Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.

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.