Providing Research, Professional Development, and Mentorship Opportunities as a Way to Retain and Enhance the Experience of Biological Sciences Majors

Students often leave college or switch majors for a variety of reasons. This is especially so for women and racial minority students majoring in science disciplines. Often referred to in the social sciences as the leaky... [ view full abstract ]

Students often leave college or switch majors for a variety of reasons. This is especially so for women and racial minority students majoring in science disciplines. Often referred to in the social sciences as the leaky pipeline, scholars show that as women and racial minorities progress in math and science, an increasing number decide to not pursue STEM careers. Funded by an NSF S-STEM grant, a research team across three universities, Southern Illinois University, Arkansas State University, and Murray State University, is attempting to reduce attrition from the biological sciences, particularly with respect to first generation college students, women, and racial minorities. To do this, scholarships were created that provides students with money (over three years) but more importantly requires them to be active in the discipline by participating in research studies with professors, interacting with other students (undergrad and graduate), participating in yearly summer institutes, attending professional development seminars, and participating in conferences. To assess the success of the scholarship program, scholarship recipients are compared to non-scholarship recipients in the same majors with respect to student retention, perceptions of the major, participation in the discipline, and overall engagement in professional experiences. I will discuss the results of the first year.