Background: Undergraduate research programs have been shown to have positive effects on student outcomes like retention and academic achievement. This study contributes to the very limited body of causal research on mentored undergraduate research programs (also known as apprentice-style research experiences, or AREs) by measuring the short- and…

First-generation college students without broad support networks are more likely to leave STEM majors. In rural West Virginia, the First2 Network aims to improve STEM persistence by including students in creating solutions to STEM attrition. One solution, a research program for rising first-year students in STEM majors, is discussed here. The…

In 2015, 81% of counties in Texas were designated as full or partial Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas. To address this problem, we worked with a community-based association of mental health practitioners, using the social theory of career selection, to explore factors that influence students to join the mental health field. Our goal was…

In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the number of university students with disabilities in Spain, as in other countries. Access to and completion of studies in higher education has been identified as a factor that improves the educational and labor inclusion of these people. However, this group of students faces difficulties…

Year Up's Professional Training Corps (PTC) adapted its successful workforce program for low-income young adults to operate in college settings to reduce costs and enhance scalability. The one-year program provides six months of training in basic academic, professional, and occupational skills, extensive supports, a behavior contract, and a…

Senior year of high school can be a pivotal time in a young person's life. For some, it is the last step on the path to college and work. For others, finding stable employment or attending university after high school is far from guaranteed. Urban Alliance, headquartered in Washington, DC, helps students at risk of becoming disconnected from work…

The majority of research examining Undergraduate Research Experiences focuses singularly on student-reported outcomes, often overlooking assessment of the mentor role in student learning and outcomes after these experiences. The goal of the current study was to examine the student-mentor dyad at the beginning and end of a 10-week summer research…

This brief presents a third party, external perspective on the Akamai Workforce Initiative (AWI), highlighting some of the contributions of the initiative over the last ten years. AWI is a program that seeks to develop a skilled local STEM workforce to meet the needs of Hawai'i's growing high-tech industry. It began as an internship program…

To attract and retain more academically qualified students to science and mathematics, we developed a merit-based scholarship program for incoming students with STEM interests. Scholarship recipients participate for the first two years in an interdisciplinary learning community and declare a STEM major by the sophomore year. STEM Learning…