Internships are considered "high-impact practices" offering students transformative opportunities to develop new skills and professional identities while immersed in workplace culture. They have also been pinpointed as key to improving student success and employment within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.…

In this dissertation, I present readers with three studies about the ways in which science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research experiences impact undergraduate learning, perspectives, and academic/career activities. In the first two studies I focus on this topic by investigating the ways in which undergraduates were impacted…

This study examined opportunities for enhancing transfer outcomes for community college students through summer research opportunities at a university. It emphasizes the significance of academic capital, derived from Bourdieu's cultural capital theory, in facilitating successful transfers. By offering ten-week paid summer research opportunities at…

The nation's need for a diverse and competent Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce contributing to economic growth, global competitiveness, and innovation is a primary policy driver for broadening participation in STEM. Yet, social justice and ethics policies dating as far back as the civil rights movement and earlier…

People of African and Latinx descent are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a result of systematic marginalization and bias. While there is a great deal of research that investigates the problems underlying underrepresentation, there is less research that centers the perspectives of African and Latinx…

This study investigated the difference in specific internship program outcomes of undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences as a function of the length of the experience. The study employed analysis of archival data representing a sample of over 1,000 undergraduate STEM students who…

This study researched educational/career aspirations of thirty-one Hmong students attending high school in the Midwest United States. Historically, Hmong students have faced a variety of barriers in their schooling. Schools need to address the hidden equity issues facing Hmong students. The social and cultural messages in the classroom speak to a…

Experiential training is an essential learning tool that offer students practical learning skills during their college years to compliment classroom theory, and it provides an employment advantage after graduation. Accordingly, African American students and graduates also gain pragmatic job skills with experiential training, which compliment…

The U.S. government, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), makes significant investments in the upcoming generation of scientists and researchers through undergraduate research programs (UR) and internships. These programs are thought to motivate students to finish STEM degrees and provide authentic training under the mentorship of…

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education play a very important role in preparing students with skills necessary to obtain better jobs, solve real-world challenges, and compete in the global economy. STEM education develops critical thinking and the ability to solve complex problems. Research showed that 8 out of 10 most…

The lack of American STEM talent is especially problematic for African American and Latino students who are pursuing math-science degrees at far lower rates than their White counterparts (Osei-Kofin & Torres, 2015). Yet, employers often cite the scarcity of American students, especially minority students, pursuing math-science degrees as a…

This qualitative research study describes perceptions of Northwest Arkansas' business, industry and post-secondary institutions as to the Don Tyson School of Innovation (DTSOI) and its ability to prepare students for Northwest Arkansas' college and career needs. Designated as one of the first schools of innovation in Arkansas through ACT 601 of…

Black faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) have historically been underrepresented and made to endure with academic isolation, scholarship marginalization and other challenges to the tenure process. When it comes to science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM, as it relates to race and success, little is known of…