RII-BEC: Securing STEM Island Pathways

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degree recipients often face uncertain job opportunities and employment lags that result in transitions out of STEM pathways to other on- or off-island employment. This loss has powerful impacts for both the territory’s and the nation’s STEM workforce, as the USVI population consists primarily of those from racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in STEM (76% Black or African American, additional 17% Hispanic of any race).

Meanwhile, territorial partners have existing, vacant, and emerging STEM workforce needs that could be filled by these individuals. Providing support to early career researchers has been demonstrated as one significant approach to preventing them from leaving STEM career pathways. This project will support 13 post-degree recipients from underrepresented groups in the geosciences.

Recipients will be prepared for local workforce positions and graduate school at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), the only institution of higher learning in the territory and one of only three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the country with master’s degree programs in marine science. The project will document the progress of these individuals and support them to pursue their career interests.

The project will increase diversity and inclusion in STEM, strengthen partnerships, provide critical support to the only HBCU located outside of the continental United States, and build critical capacity within an under-resourced EPSCoR jurisdiction.

The goals of the Securing STEM Island Pathways project are to (1) stabilize career pathways for UVI post-degree recipients through the creation of new short- and long-term job opportunities with territorial partners and support to attend UVI’s Masters of Marine and Environmental Science program, (2) increase STEM career interest, readiness, and sense of community, and reduce career anxiety for participants through these post-degree opportunities and other support structures like mentoring, placement agreements, and networking through local and professional society meetings, (3) connect participants to each other and to additional resources, expertise, and mentors, through the creation of new professional networks, and (4) strengthen existing and build new partnerships between UVI and STEM workforce partners operating in the territory and beyond, while building local and national STEM workforce capacity. The project will leverage partnerships, programs, and resources developed by Virgin Islands EPSCoR and the NSF INCLUDES SEAS Islands Alliance and build on the Alliance’s early successes and infrastructure.

This project bridges a critical period of uncertainty for many underrepresented post-degree recipients, especially those disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the establishment of STEM career placements (short-term, long-term, and graduate), the project will contribute to mitigation of STEM workforce losses and recipients' career uncertainty.

The project has potential to serve as a model program for the territory, other EPSCoR jurisdictions, and the nation for broadening participation in STEM.

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.