Improve Retention Rate and Recruitment of Minority Students through Enhanced Mentoring and Summer Research Programs

摘要

According to the report to the President in 2012 [1] and previous literature [2], less than 40% of the students who enter into STEM undergraduate curricula as freshman will actually graduate with a STEM degree. Only about 20% of STEM-interested underrepresented minority students finish with a STEM degree. The retention of STEM majors is a national problem. Nationwide, less than half the freshman who start in STEM majors graduate with a STEM degree, and at least half of this attrition occurs during the freshman and sophomore year. Clearly, the first two years are critical for both academic success and retention of STEM students [3]. STEM students begin their college education with a set of attitudes about STEM fields and their abilities to succeed. These initial attitudes and their changes during the freshman and sophomore year affect students' motivation, performance, and ultimately pursuing a STEM degree. There is strong evidence of success showing that attitudes are the most correlated with retention among all factors studied [4]. Research [5] shows the dropout rate of STEM students is much lower among upper level students as compared to those in the first two years. The more students reaching upper level status means the more students completing STEM degrees. Research also suggests that few students, even those who have had some prior exposure to engineering, know what engineers do, which affects their commitments to the engineering majors [6].