Improving the Odds of Student Success: Academic supports and more
Convener
John Matsui, University of California-Berkeley
To successfully reach educational goals, students need academic support, motivation, a sense of community, and professional opportunities. After reviewing what we have already learned about those needs - especially for underrepresented STEM students, participants in this session will develop strategies for helping their students find the services and support they most need, through courses, programs, and connections with college-wide programs.
Overview
What do we need to know to establish and run a successful STEM diversity program? Beyond implementing 'the list' of components that make-up STEM diversity programs across the country, what must we do differently to diversify who succeeds in STEM majors and careers?
This interactive workshop will build on the diversity section of the InTeGrate website.
We will focus on how to successfully implement 'the list' of recommendations to
- build community,
- motivate students to succeed,
- provide academic support,
- provide effective advising and mentoring, and
- engage students in research
in order to attract and support underrepresented students in STEM.
Using the latest social science research and 22 years of student success data from UC Berkeley's Biology Scholars Program, together we will analyze and problem-solve how to go from theory to practice to help us implement these recommendations with our particular institutions and students.
We will also grapple with the challenge and critical importance of rigorous evaluation data 1) to see what works, for whom, and under what conditions, and 2) to achieve buy-in of faculty and administrators that will lead to institutional change.
Finally, because 'life is not a conference,' we will strategize together our concrete 'next steps' as we prepare to return to the reality of our campuses and colleagues.
