Adapting and Broadening the Meyerhoff Scholars Model to Improve Persistence and Achievement in STEM

This project aims to implement a first-year STEM advising and success program to improve outcomes for diverse first-year students interested in STEM based on the well-regarded Meyerhoff model. This model is widely acknowledged for removing barriers and supporting underrepresented students through undergraduate STEM degrees and into Ph.D. programs. However, replication is difficult due to the program’s duration, breadth, and the amount of resources required.

This project will adapt principles of the model to build an intensive, inclusive first-year program instead of a four-year, limited cohort model to maximize impact while creating a financially sustainable program. Much of the research on the Meyerhoff model focuses on African American students, while this adaptation project will focus heavily on Hispanic and low-income students and the program’s impact on their science identity and career choices.

This adaptation of the Meyerhoff program will serve a broader population of first-year students and provide a more feasible model at HSIs and similar institutions, contributing to a better prepared and diverse STEM workforce.

This project’s core goals are to address students’ needs, to focus on improving overall graduation rates, and to increase the number of students who graduate with a professional placement in a STEM field. Specifically, this project will pursue five objectives. First, is to create a first-year STEM advising and success program including a dedicated first-year advisor and first-year STEM Readiness Seminar.

Second, is to reduce equity gaps in gateway STEM courses. The third and fourth objectives are to improve first- to second-year retention for Hispanic and low-income students, and provide community-building activities for participating students and their families. Fifth, is to improve student satisfaction with the first-year advising experience.

Project research will study how the adapted approach to the Meyerhoff model affects student-level and institutional-level outcomes and answer the following research question: How and to what extent does the adapted model improve course success rates in gateway courses, retention from first to second year, graduation rates, and paths to STEM professions for Hispanic and low-income students? The project will be disseminated externally through an outward facing webpage and publications in peer-reviewed journals.

This project is funded by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and increase the capacity to engage in efforts to improve STEM learning and teaching at HSIs.

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.