December 13, 2019
Data note on the Complexity of STEM Transfer for Underserved Students
We’re pleased to release a new data note from CCRI’s research on STEM, authored by research scientist, Elizabeth Apple Meza titled, Underserved Community College Students and the Complexity of STEM Transfer.
Abstract
Community college students aspiring to transfer into STEM majors at a four-year institution face a complicated and nuanced admissions process. In some cases, students may be admitted to the four-year transfer institution but face additional requirements to enter a STEM major. This study of community college underserved students of color, women, and first-generation students in a program aimed to help them succeed in STEM finds gaps in knowledge around transfer and STEM specific major requirements. These findings point to the need to build more knowledge about STEM-major transfer requirements and processes among community college students as well as advisors and STEM faculty so they can better inform students of transfer pathways. This research also points to the need to strengthen transfer partnerships between two-year and four-year institutions in support of community college students who aspire to a STEM baccalaureate degree.
This research was supported by grant #1304776 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Education & Human Resource (EHR) through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP).