The Path to Graduate School in Science and Engineering for Underrepresented Students of Color

Over the past decade, the numnber of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students attaining bachelor\u27s degrees in science and engineering fields has increased substantially. In 2004, 13.9% of all bachelor\u27s degrees in science and engineering fields were awarded to students from these three groups, up from 11.2% in 1995 (Hill & Green, 2007). Although Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians continue to be underrepresented among bachelor\u27s degree recipients in science and engineering fields relative to their representation among all bachelor\u27s degree recipients (13.9% versus 16.9% in 2004, Hill & Green, 2007), these trends suggest that progress is being made

Institutional Variation in Enrollment of Low-Income Students: The Role of Prices, Financial Aid Policies and Selectivity

Socioeconomic diversity in tertiary education has come under increased scrutiny over the past few years. Policy makers and practitioners within higher education have devoted greater attention to encouraging more low-income students to pursue a college degree. This paper estimates the influence of prices (both sticker-price and net price), financial aid policies, and selectivity on the matriculation decisions of low-income students, across postsecondary institutions. All three factors are significant in determining the representation of Pell grant recipients as a percent of an institution’s entering class. A focus on net price, while important, ignores the significant influence of sticker-price (shock), selectivity, and financial aid policies on low-income students’ enrollment decisions, particularly at private institutions

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Leading Our Nation's Effort to Improve the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Pipeline

This article examines the contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in improving the achievement of Black students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. We couple recent descriptive statistics with an extensive review of the literature to elucidate the conditions and best practices, which exist at many HBCUs and characterize these institutions as models for majority institutions for the support of all Black and other racial minority students. We conclude with a discussion and recommendations.Educatio

Factors Impacting Women\u27s Participation in STEM Fields

Women are highly underrepresented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field professions (Beede, Julian, Langdon, McKittrick, Khan, & Doms, 2011). This has been a persistent issue since the study of mathematics and science has begun. The problem is well documented by research and there have been several efforts to remedy this issue, yet men are still dominant forces in the STEM world (Eccles, 1994; Xie & Shauman, 2003; Roberts & Ayre, 2002). It is clear that we need more women in STEM professions, but in order to make this happen, we need to determine what factors impact their participation. This thesis analyzes the way the media, stereotype threat, education, and the work environment impact women in STEM, and it concludes with some ideas for the future

Cultivating High-Level Organizational Engagement to Promote Novel Learning Experiences in STEAM

Traditional partnerships in K-12 public education often produce low-level organizational engagement among its partners—one partner funds, the other uses the funds Typically a “partner in education” donates funds, which may benefit students through the purchase of new equipment, staff development experiences, or scholarships. In some cases, an organization may send an expert over to speak with the students about their field. This type of philanthropic outreach is indispensable for schools that need additional support and important for students to gain information from the “real world” but does not necessarily translate into deep, meaningful academic impact

Collective Impact: Theory Versus Reality

Collective impact is an increasingly popular approach to addressing persistent social problems, but such strategic, cross-sector collaboration is challenging. This brief draws on the experiences of five committed collective impact communities participating in the Ford Foundation’s Corridors to College Success initiative to expose some of the practical obstacles to translating the theory of collective impact into action. The authors highlight three major challenges faced by Corridors stakeholders: developing a shared understanding of collective impact work, maintaining organizational competencies in a coordinated system, and using data to support collective impact work. They also consider whether the incentives for collective impact are sufficient to drive the work despite the funding and capacity constraints faced by participating organizations. Thus, the brief provides a lens for understanding why well-intentioned collective impact efforts may not take root

Establishing the Backbone: An Underexplored Facet of Collective Impact Efforts

Coinciding with a growing interest in collective impact efforts, an increasing number of foundations, policymakers, and practitioners are recommending that multi-sector partnerships make use of a backbone. A backbone is an entity that functions independently as a centralized management team for partnership efforts. While the idea of using a backbone has gained currency, little attention has been paid to how to establish a backbone. Instead, much of the prevailing discussion has focused on what a backbone should do after it has been formed. Research on the Ford Corridors of College Success initiative reveals that communities that want to engage in the collective impact approach need more help in the process of creating a backbone. This brief describes the challenges that early-stage collective impact communities face as they work to identify potential backbone organizations and establish a backbone structure

Examining the Potential of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

This article reviews the extant literature on distance learning technologies and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In the context of increased attention to massive open online courses (MOOCs), this article argues that HBCUs’ challenges with respect to their technological infrastructure suggests that they may be better suited to serve as advocates for bridging the persistent digital divide in the nation rather than adopters of MOOCs as a new instructional platform. The authors offer some suggestions for further research to ensure that HBCUS leaders can address larger systemic issues affecting the quality of education on their campuses