"We should treat every student as an individual who has the potential to be outstanding in science, but also we should also assume that there is tremendous diversity in ability, experience, cognitive style, social preferences, and other characteristics among students."
Jo Handelsman, Scientific Teaching
DIRECTORY OF PROGRAMS
The Science Leaders Programs was established in 2007 by Connecticut College in an attempt to increase the number of women and underrepresented students graduating with a degree and research in the sciences. The program engages students passionate about science through close faculty mentoring, hands-on research, and internship opportunities. It also provides additional mentoring and support in preparing students in applying to medical and graduate school.
Grinnell College Science Project
The Grinnell College Science Project was developed in 1992 with an aim to support historically underrepresented students interested in science and mathematics. The project includes a mentorship and community building programs as well as a pre-orientation program to help students more easily acclimatize to college life. Faculty members have also integrated pedagogical methods to respond to different learning styles and backgrounds. The project recently received an award from the White House for its dedication to increase the number of underrepresented students receiving science degrees.
Higher Education Opportunities Programs (HEOP) is a summer program offered to college students before they begin their first-year at Hamilton College in the fall. The focus of HEOP is to help students create a sense of ownership, to ease transitions and to support the Hamilton curriculum with a well-rounded approach that makes success possible. During this time students take a variety of courses that not only serve as an introduction to college level work, but also gives them a head start in their college career. It is offered to students that demonstrate great potential in succeeding and is free of cost. More information can be found here.
The Posse Foundation
The Posse foundation was founded in 1989. The program works to identify public high school students with strong academic and extracurricular backgrounds coming from underrepresented backgrounds and therefore might have been ignored by the traditional college selection process. The program places these students in a team of 10 other students, the posse, at participating institutions and provides them with full-tuition scholarships and weekly mentoring groups. A large component of the posse program is leadership development as the program strong aims to support and give students from diverse backgrounds a chance to be the leaders of tomorrow.
QuestBridge is an organization that offers a variety of programs catered to high-achieving, low-income students. QuestBridge's primary goal is to bridge the gap between the nation's brightest, under-served youth and leading institutions of higher education and to increase the percentage of talented low-income students attending the nation's best universities and the ranks of national leadership itself. This is to be achieved by providing a single, internet-based meeting point that links exceptional students with colleges, scholarship providers, enrichment programs, employers, and organizations seeking students who have excelled despite obstacles.
There are four main programs that QuestBridge offers. The College Prep Scholars Program and The Quest For Excellence Awards that are primarily catered to high school students in an attempt to connect students to top-tier colleges and universities and serve as a resource for navigating the college application process. The National College Match Program is a program designed to help students gain admission and scholarships to QuestBridge partner school found here. Finally, the QuestBridge Scholar Network is a network available to students that are deemed as Quest Scholars, connecting thousands of college students and alumni, serving as a resource for both college and after.
There are four main programs that QuestBridge offers. The College Prep Scholars Program and The Quest For Excellence Awards that are primarily catered to high school students in an attempt to connect students to top-tier colleges and universities and serve as a resource for navigating the college application process. The National College Match Program is a program designed to help students gain admission and scholarships to QuestBridge partner school found here. Finally, the QuestBridge Scholar Network is a network available to students that are deemed as Quest Scholars, connecting thousands of college students and alumni, serving as a resource for both college and after.
Smith College AEMES Program
The AEMES Program at Smith College was launched in 2007. The program was developed after a series of conversations between faculty and students about the things that would help underrepresented students better succeed at Smith College. The goal of the program was originally to increase the number and retention form underrepresented groups in STEM programs at Smith. AEMES Scholars participate in early research programs, learning strategy courses, peer mentoring, study groups and community wide events. AEMES Scholars participate in research with faculty members during the summer before entering their first year and continue to work with dedicated and trained mentors throughout their college experience. However, the Peer Mentoring Program in not limited to students in the AEMES program cohort. Any student interested in STEM, can request a mentor usually in a similar discipline for support and general networking throughout the academic year. Through the McKinley Program, juniors and seniors are encouraged to do independent research with faculty mentors leading to successful honors thesis completion while fulfilling their work/study obligation.
UMASS-Amherst STEM AMbassadors Program
At the University of Massachusetts there are many programs aimed at increasing retention and engagement of underrepresented students in STEM including the STEM Diversity Institute. The UMASS Ambassadors Program brings together students from diverse backgrounds in the STEM field to provide research opportunities, mentoring, and support in other ways. The program is based upon the foundations of inclusive pedagogy encouraging faculty student interaction, sharing power, creation of collaborative learning environment, and development and usage of voice and narrative. Through this program, students can receive resources and support for summer internship and research opportunities and preparation for graduate school. One important aspect of this program is the mentorship program the Ambassador program sponsors for middle school’s in the Holyoke area. Students have expressed the genuine interest of the younger children’s towards the material they present seems to heighten their own interest towards STEM, and further provides them with a close-knit community with the other mentors.
Vassar College Diving Into Research Program
Vassar College has a long history of including best practice pedagogy to increase the engagement of underrepresented students in STEM. The Diving into Research invites six first year students from underrepresented groups to come to campus and engage with research as Fellow for approximately four weeks before they enter their first year at school. Each student will work with a faculty mentor along with a current Vassar student participating in Vassar’s Summer Undergraduate Research Institute on research project. Fellows also participate in lunch talks with other faculty members and attend seminars on a range of topics including, acclimatizing to Vassar College, scientific writing and electronic library resources. These skills are designed to give fellows a chance to adjust to college life, while giving them a unique opportunity to gain valuable research skills working with faculty members. Students also remain connected with their student mentors continuing into the academic year. The New York Times recently recognized Vassar College as an institution dedicated to providing education to students from diverse background, especially students coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
