Advancing STEM Retention and Career Readiness through Comprehensive Support Systems

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. A total of 30 scholars pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, and environmental science will receive scholarships averaging $12,900 for up to five years. Scholars will receive faculty mentoring and the project will build strong scholar cohorts through a weekly “Leadership in the Sciences” meeting, annual scholar retreat, and a dedicated study and meeting space for scholars. Additional activities include academic boot camps, access to research opportunities, industry site visits, and opportunities for community outreach to K-12 students. The overall goal of this Track 2 Scholarships in STEM project is to increase STEM degree completion of academically talented, low-income undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There is a significant national need to grow the STEM workforce and nurture key talent that will ensure economic competitiveness and provide domestic leadership across critical sectors. This project directly speaks to this need by supporting STEM student success, which will strengthen the workforce in biotechnology and other key areas of need. The project will be assessed by an experienced evaluator that will assess project progress through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and the data generated will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies to support talented, low-income students in STEM. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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. NSF Award ID: 2527805 | Program: 1300PYXXDB H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF | Principal Investigator: Maria Santisteban | Institution: University of North Carolina at Pembroke, PEMBROKE, NC | Award Amount: $1,999,818 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2527805 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2527805.html