Project Profile

In meeting the national need for a stronger and more diverse future workforce, NSF supports contributions from all segments of the STEM community through investments in programs targeting underrepresented populations and institutions. Responding to the Life STEM initiative, this workshop will use information from NSF's longstanding efforts for broadening participation to help minority serving institutions create, implement, and evaluate innovative models of intervention in STEM for the students they serve in life science and bioscience. These models will focus on underrepresented students from elementary school through undergraduate studies. This workshop will support efforts of participants and minority serving institutions to prepare successful research proposals. 

Xavier University of Louisiana will host this workshop that brings together more than 100 participants in teams of STEM faculty and education researchers, deans and department chairs, and university administrators. The two-day workshop will be held June 12-13, 2017. Since minority serving institutions lead the nation in the number of minority graduates advancing into post-secondary training in STEM, this workshop will help bring visibility to the work being done at participating institutions. Outcomes from this workshop will include highlighting best practices, new approaches to research, and examples of model interventions effective in retaining underrepresented students in STEM fields. Outcomes will also include information about how to help students overcome stresses that interfere with their trajectories in STEM fields.