15 research outputs found
The role of work-based learning for student engagement in vocational education and training: an application of the self-system model of motivational development
An entrepreneurial training model to enhance undergraduate training in biomedical research
The Deaf Mentoring Survey: A Community Cultural Wealth Framework for Measuring Mentoring Effectiveness with Underrepresented Students
Metacognition in Upper-Division Biology Students: Awareness Does Not Always Lead to Control
The Relationship Between Students’ Casual Interest in Science and Their Perceptions of the Undergraduate Laboratory Environment
Increasing Persistence in Undergraduate Science Majors: A Model for Institutional Support of Underrepresented Students
The 6-yr degree-completion rate of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at U.S. colleges and universities is less than 40%. Persistence among women and underrepresented minorities (URMs), including African-American, Latino/a, Native American, and Pacific Islander students, is even more troubling, as these students leave STEM majors at significantly higher rates than their non-URM peers. This study utilizes a matched comparison group design to examine the academic achievement and persistence of students enrolled in the Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences (PEERS), an academic support program at the University of California, Los Angeles, for first- and second-year science majors from underrepresented backgrounds. Results indicate that PEERS students, on average, earned higher grades in most “gatekeeper” chemistry and math courses, had a higher cumulative grade point average, completed more science courses, and persisted in a science major at significantly higher rates than the comparison group. With its holistic approach focused on academics, counseling, creating a supportive community, and exposure to research, the PEERS program serves as an excellent model for universities interested in and committed to improving persistence of underrepresented science majors and closing the achievement gap