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Moderator: Robin White, Westfield State University

Rethinking Scholarship Program Recruitment, Evaluation and Interviewing for Greater Equity

Rickey Caldwell, MACHS Scholar Director and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Merrimack College

Brandi Baldock, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and MACHS Scholar Co-PI, Merrimack College

Gwyne White, Assistant Professor of Psychology and MACHS Scholar Co-PI, Merrimack College

Russ Olwell, Assoc Dean, Education and Social Policy, Merrimack College

Students transitioning from high school to undergraduate STEM education face many hurdles, including inadequate preparation, loss of motivation, and difficulty adjusting to the college environment and classroom. Many students who might find success as STEM majors are unable to gain admission or are unable to afford to attend STEM college/university programs. Many students and families are put off by the loans needed for these programs, and see them as unaffordable, turning to work after high school instead. In addition, a large percentage of students who initially matriculate as STEM majors switch to non-STEM majors or leave higher education altogether (Radunzel et al., 2016).

Merrimack College’s MACHS Scholars program aims to improve the numbers of academically talented, low-income students who graduate with STEM degrees, and matriculate on to graduate schools, professional schools, entrepreneurship, or STEM careers. The program has applied research on unbiased recruitment, selection and programming for an undergraduate scholarship program that would provide substantial scholarship funding as well as wrap-around support for STEM majors beginning this fall. The recruitment and selection of students was guided by processes developed to help interviewers and reviews be more aware of their own biases, and to build structures that keep those biases from passing over otherwise strong applicants. This included team training in bias and how to prevent it, development of common rubrics, and practice scoring to calibrate the team to be prepared to interview and select the first class of MACHS scholars.

Improving our STEM Equity Walk

Rachel Stahl, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Bridgewater State University

Jacqueline Anderson, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Bridgewater State University

Martina Arndt, Interim Associate Dean, Bridgewater State University

Thomas Kling, Professor of Physics, Bridgewater State University

Faculty and staff members in the Bartlett College of Science and Mathematics (BCoSM) at Bridgewater State University (BSU) participated in a discussion of the book From Equity Talk to Equity Walk (McNair et. al., 2020). The fall 2020 book discussion was robust, challenging at times, and uplifting, and the majority of the participating faculty and staff members agreed to continue to meet during the spring 2021. The spring goals of the group were to: develop an equity data collection, distribution, and professional development plan for STEM faculty and staff members. The group worked with the Offices of Institutional Research, the Provost, and the Registrar to: learn about equity data collection strategies already implemented or planned, discuss new data collection strategies which might be most useful to STEM faculty and staff, talk about ways in which our institution can make equity data more easily accessible at a variety of different levels (College, Department, and Individual), and brainstorm about the types of development which would prove helpful to those who want to make a difference for students, particularly those identifying as Black and Brown.

Learning to Learn: An Inclusive Approach to Acclimating Students to STEM Fields

Marcos Ortega, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, California State University Fullerton

Merri Lynn Casem, Professor and Chair Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Fullerton

Despite development of interventions in STEM fields, the lower retention of underrepresented minority (URM) students continues to be an issue of concern for higher education. The equity gap for URM students also impacts graduation rates and eventual diversification of STEM fields. To address issues of retention and graduation, we used an approach that sought to acclimate and impact students early in their college career. The focus of our approach is two-fold, utilize psychological aspects to increase confidence and sense of belonging for students while also delivering content focused on approaches and resources often utilized for student success. A pilot course offered through the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, was developed for STEM majors who were in their first year at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) or who had recently transferred to CSUF from a community college. The new course, STEMinar, was designed as an student-centered, interactive seminar to promote students’ identity as STEM majors and sense of belonging to the campus. The class has four areas of focus: (1) pedagogical approaches and methods/resources often utilized to help student develop academic skills for student success (2) growth mind set and sense of belonging to help students develop resilience and to feel included in STEM (3) realizing the importance of developing communication skills through writing and presentations (4) exposure to research and internship opportunities as well as careers in STEM. Initial assessment has shown positive results with students feeling more prepared as we transition back to campus in Fall of 2021.