Supporting Biology and Neuroscience Undergraduates with Scholarships and Development of Science Identity, Belonging, and Self-Efficacy

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky, the Commonwealth’s flagship institution, is a public land grant university that serves a diverse group of over 30,000 students.

Over its six-year duration, this project aims to provide scholarships to 45 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology or Neuroscience. First year students will receive four years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, including mentoring, research experiences, internship opportunities, career development, workshops, and a capstone experience.

Cohort activities will include a tiered mentoring system, which will provide S-STEM scholars with an undergraduate peer mentor, a graduate student mentor, and a faculty mentor. Curricular programming will span the scholarship period, beginning with a section of the university’s academic orientation designed for S-STEM scholars and culminating with a capstone experience.

Scholars will have the opportunity to conduct research with a faculty mentor both during their first year and as upper-level students. Programming includes a partnership with the Career Center to offer new internship opportunities and alumni mentorship for students entering the workforce after completion of their bachelor’s degree. Interventions aimed to increase science identity and self-efficacy will be embedded throughout the curriculum.

Co-curricular activities will build community, offer networking opportunities among cohort members and mentors, and support students’ sense of belonging in the larger scientific community. The S-STEM program has potential to help achieve the mission of the University of Kentucky by preparing S-STEM scholars for graduate and professional programs or to enter the workforce.

Ultimately, this work is likely to inform expanded approaches for fostering the success of all students in undergraduate STEM majors, encouraging retention and degree progression.

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) provide scholarships for academically talented Biology and Neuroscience undergraduates with financial need, 2) implement evidence-based curricular and co-curricular programming to develop STEM skills and strengthen science identity, belonging, and self-efficacy, and 3) generate knowledge that will be disseminated to the broader STEM education community.

Psychosocial factors including science identity, belonging, and self-efficacy are known to affect STEM persistence. Importantly, high impact practices, especially mentoring and research experiences, have been shown to positively affect students’ self-beliefs and motivation to engage in STEM domains, particularly for students who have been historically underrepresented.

This project will study the effectiveness of a number of high-impact educational practices in promoting science self-efficacy, belonging, and STEM identity. The project will be evaluated using a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures including surveys, journals, and interviews to measure STEM identity, belonging, and self-efficacy. Retention and persistence in STEM fields will also be tracked.

This program has potential to increase the knowledge base of effective curricular and supportive learning practices and to generate knowledge about effective recruitment and retention of academically talented low-income students in STEM disciplines. Knowledge will be disseminated to campus leaders as well as the broader STEM education community through presentations and publications.

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.