Successful Careers in STEM: A Program to Increase Diversity at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Analyzing Leadership Trajectories, Faculty Policies, Student Outcomes, and STEM Program Diversity at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

In response to the national need for an increased number of underrepresented minorities in STEM, a small regional Hispanic-Serving Institution in the South implemented a program called Successful Careers in STEM which sought to increase the number of Latinx and economically disadvantaged undergraduate students retained to graduation in STEM. This program employed a learning community which consisted of paid positions in peer mentoring, research assistantships, and internships with partnering employers in the community. Within a framework of Self-Determination Theory, this mixed methods study sought to answer research questions which addressed whether the program increased academic achievement and sense of belonging for those students who participated in the program as well as explore their perceptions of the program.

Authors

• Phuongdieu Jennifer Nguyen, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Renee Lastrapes, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Andrea Alvarado, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Amanda Hackler, NASA Johnson Space Center

• Kathryn I. Matthew, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• Sadegh Davari, University of Houston - Clear Lake