An Interdisciplinary Approach to Success for Underrepresented Students in STEM

Small universities play an important role in maintaining a scientifically competitive workforce. To recruit underrepresented students with demonstrated financial need into STEM disciplines, Lock Haven University established the interdisciplinary Nano Scholars Program, offering National Science Foundation–funded scholarships, academic support, and social support. Small cohort sizes, a student-led science learning community (the Nano Club), and mentored undergraduate research fostered academic and cocurricular student engagement. Nano Scholars outperformed matched control peers on overall GPA, average number of credits per semester, graduation in 4 years, and graduate school placement rates. Financial support is necessary but not sufficient, to insure that such students stay in STEM, perform well, and graduate. A comprehensive program fostering engagement through individualized attention, a robust learning community, meaningful research opportunities, and peer and alumni support is essential. We believe that programs like ours can be replicated and that small colleges and universities must assess their role and responsibility in creating a diverse, scientifically skilled workforce and in making the difficult decisions required to support this goal.