Unpacking STEM Students’ First-Year Experiences at a Newly Designated Hispanic-Serving Institution

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding STEM Student Experiences: Wayfinding, Advising, and Climate (Table 31)

Abstract

As a part of National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program), a mixed method study was conducted to explore students’ first-year experiences in STEM education at a large public newly designated HSI. The findings underscore the critical role of a sense of belonging and academic and social support from TAs and peers with similar racial/ethnic backgrounds in promoting first-year STEM retention at the institution. However, disparities in the sense of belonging based on students' underrepresented racial minority (URM) status, the competitive nature of STEM programs, and the lack of representation of Latinx people in STEM fields also highlight the need to consider various institutional factors when assessing “servingness” of an HSI.

Authors

• Jihye Lee, Hunter College - CUNY

• Christine Nick, Hunter College - CUNY

• Nicora Placa, Hunter College - CUNY

• Christina Medina-Ramirez, University of California - San Diego