Study Abroad Matters: Linking Higher Education to the Contemporary Workforce through International Experience

In today's competitive economy, it takes more than a college degree to convince employers that graduates are ready for the workforce.Study Abroad Matters: Linking Higher Education to the Contemporary Workforce through International Experience, from IIE and the AIFS Foundation, synthesizes leading-edge research to demonstrate that in this globalized era, study abroad has become one of the most powerful ways to prove to employers that graduates have in-demand skills for the contemporary workplace.This paper outlines best practices for high education institutions, industry, and graduates to better articulate the value of study abroad for the contemporary marketplace.

Exploring the Experiences of Underrepresented Students Pursuing Health-Related Graduate or Professional Programs

For many years graduate and professional education programs for the health professions have sought to increase the diversity of their student body to include students from a wider variety of backgrounds. Increasing the diversity of healthcare providers is an essential component of addressing inequities in healthcare. However, despite initiatives to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the health professions, these professions remain largely White and female. Previous researchers have sought to identify the reasons that racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in healthcare, and the barriers to persistence and success. Little research exists explaining why men are underrepresented in the healthcare professions, though many healthcare professions have historically been perceived as caregiving professions, and therefore, as “female work.” The purpose of this qualitative study was to add to the existing body of literature on underrepresented pre-health students by exploring the experiences of racial/ethnic minority and male undergraduate students on pre-health paths. This study included 11 participants who self-identified as intending to pursue a graduate or professional healthcare program and as African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Hispanic, or male; all were enrolled at one mid-sized, regional university in the southeastern United States. I utilized semi-structured interviews to investigate the experiences of the participants. The themes that emerged among the experiences of pre-health students, included common influences on career choice, what pre-health students believe they need to do to be competitive, challenges, fears and worries about the future, motivation to persist, resources and support utilized, and planning (or lack of planning) for alternate career paths

Solving the Equation for Higher Education and the Workforce: A 10-year Retrospective on the Posse STEM Program

The Posse Foundation identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. The Foundation extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multiculturalteams—Posses—of 10 students. The Foundation's partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars full-tuitionleadership scholarships.

Supporting Men of Color Along the Educational Pipeline

This brief outlines research on men of color in terms of access to and success in higher education, specifically pre-college programs, and policy initiatives designed to address these issues. It includes four interviews with practitioners and policy researchers and highlights exemplary programs that work with students of color along the educational pipeline and that can serve as resources for all who work to support men of color, primarily college access practitioners

Increasing Historically Underserved and Underrepresented Student Completion in STEM Pathways at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: An Action Research Study

There is a demand for accountability for higher education institutions to increase student completion, specifically for institutions that enroll many students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations (HUUP). Meanwhile, labor market analysis presents a demand for skilled and diverse workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSI) have an advantage when supporting student completion to meet this workforce demand. This inquiry employed participatory action research (PAR) through a partnership with an HSI in rural Washington State. Using transformative worldview as the theoretical framework, this study aimed to determine the influence of completion planning for STEM students who represent HUUP. Research participants were students in the institution’s mathematics, engineering, science achievement (MESA) program. Two research questions guided this study and centered on how Hispanic participants and their lived experiences may inform completion planning for students from HUUP. The researchers sought to understand to what extent the MESA program’s support services impact student participation at a rural institution. This study collected nonquantitative data through a two-phase approach consisting of a survey and focus groups. The data analysis determined two key themes related to the study’s research questions: student barriers to completion at entry and strategies to support completion. The study’s findings led to four program-specific recommendations and three implications for policy-making decisions for the community partner’s leadership and for other higher education leaders seeking to increase student completion for students from HUUP into STEM pathways

Las mujeres in the STEM pipeline : how Latina college students who persist in STEM majors develop and sustain their science identities

textOver the past decade, an extensive amount of scholarship and media attention have been devoted to understanding the unique educational experiences and challenges of STEM students, however, few studies have explored the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender, especially in terms of science identity development. Given the significant growth of the Latina/o community, understanding Latina STEM college experiences, specifically, will be critical to enhancing educational experiences for the Latina/o STEM community. Existing literature suggests that developing a strong science identity during college may improve persistence for women of color in STEM. This research study uses qualitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of how Latina college students at a public tier-one, predominantly white, research university make develop and meaning of and develop their science identities. The study found that Latinas develop their STEM identities primarily around aspects of building competence, recognition from self and outside sources, and performance of STEM behaviors. Their STEM identity development was influenced in terms of intersectionality, primarily by their gender and racial identities. This study is uniquely positioned to advance new knowledge regarding Latina students’ persistence in STEM fields, which may inform local, state, and federal STEM policies.Educational Administratio

College Success: An Exploratory Study of How Underrepresented Minority Students Enter and Persist in STEM Programs

Without the proper academic preparation and cultural capital, underrepresented minority students may not find their path to pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degrees. To gain a better understanding of how underrepresented minority students experienced college success, this study examined how they entered a STEM program of study and persisted in the program beyond their first year at the university. Three important contexts presented the greatest barriers to persistence: low socioeconomic status, first generation status, and under-preparation in math. Participants within these contexts were enabled to find a path to attend college and persist with targeted support and advice from cultural capital agents\u27 in secondary education and college. These cultural capital agents advocated for students, advised them towards STEM academic enrichment opportunities, and developed the students\u27 cultural capital. The support of the cultural capital agents coupled with student engagement in high impact socio-academic activities (for example: college transition programs, research assistantships, membership in student academic organizations) helped students to persist in STEM. By providing focused educational efforts designed to support underrepresented minority students to enter STEM fields of study and to persist towards timely degree completion, we can create a more diverse STEM workforce.\u2