Equitable Learning to Advance Technical Education

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. Recognizing the importance of coupling financial support with an eco-system of research-based student-centered activities, and faculty/industry mentoring, Green River Community College, an Asian American and Pacific Islander Minority Serving Institution, in partnership with Muckleshoot Tribal College will award scholarships to at least 43 unique low-income academically gifted students, who are pursuing Associate of Applied Science (AAS) and Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degrees in Natural Resources.

Scholarship support is planned to be available through the completion of the scholars' programs of study. Scholarship recipients will participate in applied STEM student support activities, curricular and co-curricular cohort activities, and STEM faculty and industry mentorships. A planned research study will examine the effectiveness of these different activities on the retention, academic performance, and graduation of S-STEM eligible students of diverse background.

In addition the study seeks to determine how best to tailor individual and cohort-based activities to academically gifted low-income students.

To investigate the effectiveness of the project's planned activities, the project team will conduct a mixed methods study to examine the impact on student retention and degree attainment of student academic performance, career preparation, non-cognitive development (e.g., motivation, trust, social belonging, growth mindset), and student-centered program design. The research design integrates document analysis, analysis of student record data, project-tailored surveys, and observational site visits.

In addition, the project seeks to understand the viability of a partnership model in which minority-serving institutions lead an effort to increase the academic and career success of academically gifted low-incomes students. In this regard the project aims to demonstrate how STEM programs can work productively with employers and campus-based student support services and model how an inter-institutional career pathway between two minority serving institutions (MSIs) can work for other institutions of higher education, particularly MSIs.

This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented low-income 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.