State of the STEM Intervention: Alliance Insights on Supporting STEM Transfer Through Intentional Institutional Practice

The state of STEM interventions focused on broadening participation remains uncertain due to federal funding cuts made by the Trump administration. Though long-standing STEM interventions, such as Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, no longer exist in the same format, we argue that evidence from these interventions can assist researchers and educators in their pursuit of STEM equity moving forward, especially concerning STEM transfer students. Our qualitative embedded multi-case study sought to investigate how racially minoritized STEM vertical transfer students (i.e., community college transfer to 4-year institutions) navigate the transfer process within institutions that make up the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation. Leveraging Perna’s college access and choice model and Ray’s theory of racialized organizations, our study was guided by the following research questions: (1) How do racially minoritized students experience and interpret the transfer process from a two-year institution to a four-year Alliance institution, particularly in relation to organizational structures, practices, and interactions? (2) How does the Alliance organize, enact, and institutionalize transfer support across partner two-year and four-year institutions, and how do these processes shape racially minoritized students’ transfer experiences? Findings highlight a racialized transfer process that includes multiple contextual layers. Contextual layers are discussed in relation to the current state of STEM interventions, and considerations moving forward are provided.