Building Biologists Using Assets for Scholar Success

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 Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC). Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 30 unique full-time students who are pursuing Associate’s degrees in biology or Associate’s general degrees with a biology emphasis.

Full-time students who have declared their intention to major in biology will receive $7,500 annually in scholarships for two years. The project aims to increase persistence to graduation and then in transferring or directly entering the STEM workforce by linking scholarships with effective support services. These services include asset-based mentoring, undergraduate research experiences, internship opportunities with industry partners, and participation in presentations and workshops that showcase the demands and rewards of a STEM path.

Because KCKCC has a high population of students from underrepresented groups, this project has the potential to broaden participation in a STEM field and to advance the understanding of the effectiveness of asset-based mentoring and high impact practices within the two-year college environment.

The overall goal of this project is to increase degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific aims: 1) establish a successful scholar fellowship program that recruits three cohorts of 10 students using existing infrastructure, collaborative efforts, and new support programs; 2) develop a robust asset-based mentoring and advising program; and 3) implement scholar engagement and enrichment activities to encourage learning communities and create a positive academic climate for all students.

Many research studies on STEM student persistence focus on what must be done to address students' real or perceived deficits. Educational disparity is often framed with stereotypical traits based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, and other factors. Students may be encouraged to take less rigorous educational trajectories as a result of these stereotypes.

Alternatively, asset-based interventions are an effective means for increasing student persistence by building upon the wealth of a student's culture, motivations, and dreams. This project seeks to investigate how the adoption of evidence-based, asset-based support practices, that is, asset-based mentoring, impacts the number of students obtaining an Associate’s degree in biology and Associate’s General Science with a biology emphasis.

Scholars will develop individual identities as scientists and obtain a high-quality biology education to prepare them to either enter the workforce or transition to a four-year STEM program. Two facets comprise the project evaluation. An annual external evaluation will be conducted by a non-profit organization that provides local/regional leadership in program evaluation, applied research, needs assessments, and strategic planning.

Internal evaluation will be conducted more frequently by KCKCC project management. Both formative and summative evaluation will be conducted. Knowledge from this project will be disseminated locally across campus through faculty seminars and discussions.

Results of this project will also be presented to the greater scientific community by publications in peer-reviewed journals and through presentations of findings at regional and national science and education conferences. 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.