| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 29, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 29, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1742597 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Olivia S. Long
olong@nsf.gov (703)292-7897 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $974,698.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $974,698.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3400 S 43RD ST MILWAUKEE WI US 53219-4844 (414)382-6347 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3400 S. 43rd Street Milwaukee WI US 53219-4844 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Alverno College, an all-women institution. Over the five-year funding period, this project will provide scholarships to forty undergraduates who are pursuing baccalaureate degrees in biology, molecular biology, mathematics, chemistry, broad-field science, and environmental science. In addition to scholarship support, the project will also provide Scholars with closely integrated advising, mentoring, tutoring, and professional development. The project will build upon tested strategies for increasing engagement, persistence, and graduation among low-income, high-achieving women to address persistent underrepresentation in the field and increase employment rates. The project emphasizes development of close bonds between students and science instructors, which is known to be a key factor in retention of students in STEM fields, especially retention of women and students from other groups that are underrepresented in STEM. As both a women's college and Hispanic Serving Institution with a high percentage of students of color in Wisconsin's poorest county, Alverno College has a distinctive opportunity to broaden participation in STEM. Because Alverno College has a strong track record of placing interns and graduates at regional STEM employers, this project has the potential to strengthen the regional STEM workforce.
This project is an expanded version of the previous, successful S-STEM project at Alverno College (DUE-0850288). This expansion will add new offerings for a larger cohort of 40 total students over five years, increase focus on early engagement (first-year), and provide longer per-student involvement. The program emphasizes frequent interaction (student-to-student and student-to-faculty), and active participation, drawing on best-practices in undergraduate STEM education for low-income, high-achieving students and building results from the previous S-STEM award. National research indicates that the most important factors for predicting success of women in STEM are the development of a positive science/mathematics identity and undergraduate socialization. Consistent with that result, evaluation of prior work at Alverno College supports the value of social events, undergraduate research activities, and professional conferences. By expanding and integrating these proven activities with new approaches, such as including a first-year seminar and supporting students throughout all years in college with dual advising by faculty and professional advisers, the project aims to improve retention and graduation rates. The project will investigate the correlation between the amount and type of participation in the project activities and persistence and graduation in STEM majors at Alverno College. The project will share these research results with the public via press releases, websites, and traditional publications. In addition, it will present the results at national meetings of scientific and educational societies.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Final Report for Alverno College S-Stem Project
New Futures in Science and Mathematics: Supporting Engagement, Retention, Graduation, and Entry of Women into STEM careers.
January 2025
During the six years of this project (2018-2024), a total of 54 unique women students in Science and Mathematics undergraduate majors were supported financially and socially as they participated in a vibrant learning community created through activities and experiences supported by S-Stem funds. The interdisciplinary and multilevel community of learners provided mutual academic and social support throughout the years of their study. Scholars also acted as leaders within their classes, and many acted as academic discipline-focused peer mentors.
Project funding enabled the creation of regular, recurring activities, some of which were directed solely to New Futures scholars and their mentors, and some involving all STEM students and STEM faculty, such as pre-semester kick-off events, a STEM career exploration course, enhanced formal and informal faculty advising, formal and informal peer mentoring and tutoring. New Futures scholars often assumed leadership roles in these activities as well as within their classes. Scholars reported close relationships with STEM faculty, both advisors and instructors. They also mention enhanced support from peers in STEM disciplines, and a sense of belonging.
With grant support, New Futures scholars investigated and joined appropriate professional organizations, traveled to conferences, participated in summer and community-based research, and presented results of research at Alverno research symposia and external conferences such as the annual National Council for Undergraduate Research conference.
Our external evaluators have concluded that the New Futures project has had extraordinary success in retaining students in their programs and graduating within 6 years. Various components of programming were explored, and in the end, no significant differences were found among aspects of programming; taken as a whole, programming succeeded in assisting students to successfully complete challenging programs in science and mathematics.
Reflection, student feedback and external evaluation of the New Futures project have identified areas of strength and improvement for future programming. Many New Futures programs were institutionalized and complement existing programs. New Futures programming was used as evidence to secure five other federal grants and private funding supporting STEM students. Together, project programming initiated with S-STEM grants has made significant institutional improvement to the STEM division and Alverno and has helped create community support for the entire STEM community.
To summarize, the New Futures project addressed both the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria of the National Science Foundation.
Intellectual Merit
The New Futures Scholars project provided significant financial support for women students in Science and Mathematics undergraduate majors. Support extended far beyond finances alone; the project created a vibrant learning community within which students found academic and emotional encouragement, and enabled participants to build relationships among peers and faculty, resulting in high graduation rates, and high satisfaction with their studies. Students reported feeling part of a supportive cohort and having a strong sense of belonging within the STEM community. They reported feeling confident speaking with their faculty and developing foundational relationships with faculty from multiple disciplines.
The project involved interdisciplinary collaboration and planning among the faculty leaders; this collaboration led to new in-class projects and deeper understanding of the relationships among disciplines. Cross-disciplinary advising enhanced student confidence and comfort in working with faculty.
Broader Impacts
The project supported women students, the majority (37 out of 54) from underrepresented minority groups, to complete an undergraduate degree in Science or Mathematics. The estimated graduation rate among New Futures scholars is 83%. Many have gone on to graduate school or have entered the work force in a science or mathematics field.
Last Modified: 01/14/2025
Modified by: Lauralee F Guilbault
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