- Felisha Herrera
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu
- Assistant Professor & RESISTE Director
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
- Gabriela Kovats Sánchez
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriela_Kovats_Sanchez
- Senior Research Analyst
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
- Victoria Rodriguez-Operana
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
- Ariana Romero
- Research Analyst
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
- Anthony Villarreal
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu
- Research Affiliate
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
- Marlena Wolfgramm
- Research Analyst
- EDSYSTEMS: Educational Settings Yielding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Success
- http://res-iste.sdsu.edu/index.php/about/about-style-5/
- San Diego State University, Research & Equity Scholarship Institute on Student...
Public Discussion
Continue the discussion of this presentation on the Multiplex. Go to Multiplex
Victoria Rodriguez-Operana
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
The ED-SYSTEMS project is funded by National Science Foundation. We investigate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathways for students who began at community colleges, with a specific emphasis on how students move and transition across multiple institutions, and the role of minority serving institutions, which are important for underrepresented racial minorities (URM), specifically African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos. We are examining these trajectories at the national and regional level with student data and locally within the San Diego/Imperial County region through interviews with successful students who have navigated community college STEM pathways. This video focuses on one of our major findings, which was the critical support received from campus support programs and institutional agents (i.e., faculty and staff in positions of power and authority) who provide students with access to STEM knowledge and resources to successfully navigate their college experiences.
Barbara Komlos
It's inspirational to hear from these students. For me the importance of support systems for URM students in STEM or otherwise isn't anything new. So, I would be interested in hearing if there is anything else you are learning from all the students you are interviewing.
Gabriela Kovats Sánchez
Senior Research Analyst
Thanks for your comment. Yes, this is only a snapshot of a larger study that includes other elements including students' perceptions of STEM disciplinary culture. What we did find unique about this particular finding is how institutional agents from STEM support programs at community colleges continue to support students even after they've transferred to a 4-year university. We will be posting new digital narratives about the other findings from this study on our website, we invite you to check it out. https://res-iste.sdsu.edu
Thanks again!
Danielle Watt
Danielle Watt
Director of Education, Outreach, & Diversity
Thank you for sharing your project! It is interesting that you mention the finding of how community college STEM support programs continue support when students transfer to a 4-year university. Can you comment on how the mentoring continues, what mechanisms does the program have in place to facilitate the follow up after students transfer?
Gabriela Kovats Sánchez
Senior Research Analyst
Thanks for your comment! More than the structure or mechanisms of these support programs, it's the institutional agents themselves that stay connected. We are still in the early stages of our data analysis and will be adding more digital narratives and publications to our website, I hope you can check us out! https://res-iste.sdsu.edu
Jay Labov
Thank you for preparing this video! The messages from the students are both very telling and profound. Could you provide a url about where viewers can obtain more detailed information about the project and especially about any data that you might have made available up to this point?
Also, viewers of this video may also be interested to know that the Board on Higher Education and Workforce of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is currently drafting a report from a study that it has undertaken about the roles and importance of minority serving institutions (MSIs) in STEM education and in preparing the next generation of STEM workers. The title of the study is "Closing the Equity Gap: Securing Our STEM Education and Workforce Readiness Infrastructure in the Nation's Minority-Serving Institutions." Additional information is available at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/bhew/msi...
Gabriela Kovats Sánchez
Senior Research Analyst
Thank you for your comment! You can find more information about your study on our website: https://res-iste.sdsu.edu. We are gradually adding more information regarding our study including other digital narratives and publications. Thank you so much for sharing the report with us, very important work!
Felisha Herrera
Assistant Professor & RESISTE Director
Thank you for your comment, Jay Labov! The work of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is critical. I am very interested to further explore how the work of the board aligns with our study findings. In particular through our national and regional data, our study provides some unique insights into challenges and opportunities as students move through MSIs and across multiple institutions and the system-wide partnerships, programs, and policies that need to be further developed, which aligns with the research questions (#2 & #4) that are addressed in the National Academies' study. This is such important work!
Whitney Erby
Doctoral Student
Great video! I was wondering if you have statistics on the outcomes of URM students at community colleges. Do the majority go on to 4 year universities? Is that the goal? Community college and CTE training, especially in certain STEM careers can be amazing on its own as well. I was wondering if there are any trends in the data you have gathered on career and higher educational outcomes of these students.
Felisha Herrera
Assistant Professor & RESISTE Director
Thank you for your comment! Community colleges contribute to STEM pathways in a variety of ways and one of the critical roles is preparing students for STEM careers through certificates, associates degrees, and other career training. Cited below are a few selected publications where we examine STEM students educational outcomes nationally; however, our data does not capture STEM career outcomes.
Herrera, F.A., Kovats Sanchez, G., Navarro, M., Villarreal, A., & Zeldon, M. J. (in press). Latinx students in STEM college pathways: A closer look at diverse pathways through Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). In T. T. Yuen, E. Bonner, & M. G. Arreguín-Anderson (Eds.), (Under)Represented Latin@s in STEM: Increasing Participation Throughout Education and the Workplace. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Herrera, F.A. & Hurtado, S. (2014). Community college pathways in the science technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline: National trends and implications for increasing representation. In J. L. Wood & R. T. Palmer (Eds.), STEM Models of Success: Programs, Policies, and Practices in the Community College. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Alexander Rudolph
This video really resonates for me. Our Cal-Bridge program (http://stemforall2018.videohall.com/presentatio...) includes SD State and many of the community colleges you work with, and we definitely find that students who come from MESA and other college support programs have a huge leg up when they make it to their four-year institution and beyond. Our goal is to create a seamless pipeline from community college to four-year institution (including the CSU) and for those who want, onward to a PhD in their field.
One of our challenges is to make those connections between the community colleges and CSUs or UCs stronger, so work like yours is critical. Keep up the good work!
Victoria Rodriguez-Operana
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Thanks for your comment and sharing your video with our team, Alexander! We look forward to learning more about the Cal-Bridge program. Because so many of the STEM transfer students and alumni we spoke to talked about the critical support that they received from campus support programs and institutional agents, we felt that this was an important part of their stories to share. We are still in the process of analyzing our data, but it seems that having a consistent support system from community college throughout the transfer process and at the university level is crucial. There is definitely a need for stronger connections between community colleges and universities in California. We will be posting new digital narratives about other emerging findings from this study on our website, we invite you to check it out: https://res-iste.sdsu.edu
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