Creating a Unified Community of Support: Increasing Success for Underrepresented Students in STEM

Adrianna Kezar, Elizabeth Holcombe (2017)

For decades, researchers have tried to boost the very low success rates of first-generation, low-income and underserved minority students in STEM education in college. Yet while more students from these groups have been entering colleges and pursuing STEM majors, the vast majority still are not earning STEM degrees. This report presents timely ideas for changing that trend.

Based on a study of the California State University STEM Collaboratives, a three-year project that provided immersive educational experiences to incoming STEM students on eight CSU campuses, this final report reviews findings on the value of the project for the broader campus community, the process of collaborating across departments and divisions and implementation challenges unique to creating integrated programs. The authors’ main takeaway is that specific interventions matter less than the integration of multiple support programs and collaboration across the academic affairs and student affairs divide.

Categories: STEM Reform

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