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. 2016 fall;15(3):es5.
doi: 10.1187/cbe.16-01-0038.

Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM

Mica Estrada  1 , Myra Burnett  2 , Andrew G Campbell  3 , Patricia B Campbell  4 , Wilfred F Denetclaw  5 , Carlos G Gutiérrez  6 , Sylvia Hurtado  7 , Gilbert H John  8 , John Matsui  9 , Richard McGee  10 , Camellia Moses Okpodu  11 , T Joan Robinson  12 , Michael F Summers  13 , Maggie Werner-Washburne  14 , MariaElena Zavala  15
Affiliations

Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM

Mica Estrada et al. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2016 fall.

Abstract

Members of the Joint Working Group on Improving Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) Persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-convened by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-review current data and propose deliberation about why the academic "pathways" leak more for URM than white or Asian STEM students. They suggest expanding to include a stronger focus on the institutional barriers that need to be removed and the types of interventions that "lift" students' interests, commitment, and ability to persist in STEM fields. Using Kurt Lewin's planned approach to change, the committee describes five recommendations to increase URM persistence in STEM at the undergraduate level. These recommendations capitalize on known successes, recognize the need for accountability, and are framed to facilitate greater progress in the future. The impact of these recommendations rests upon enacting the first recommendation: to track successes and failures at the institutional level and collect data that help explain the existing trends.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Current percentages of underrepresented minority, white and Asian/Pacific Islander populations with STEM degrees. URM includes African American, Hispanic or Latino/Latina, American Indian, and Alaskan Native. In this analysis, “STEM degrees” includes degrees categorized by the NSF as “Science & Engineering” (but excludes degrees in psychology and social sciences) in data tables prepared by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics based on data from the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS 2010 Completions Survey. Sources: population: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1, tables PCT12H, PCT12I, PCT12J, PCT12K, PCT12L, PCT12M, PCT12N, and PCT120; degrees: NSF, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey, 2001–10; and faculty: National Science Foundation statistics.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Action research model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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