EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GEOSCIENTISTS--CREATING A PIPELINE FOR WOMEN AND ETHNIC MINORITIES

The National Hispanic University is developing a joint degree program in partnership with its charter high school and San Jose State University to increase the number of female and minority geoscientists. The components of this collaborative effort include outreach, improvement of geoscience literacy, exposure to role models, and recruitment and retention of students in the geosciences.

Extreme Science, an NHU program in its charter high school, grooms Hispanic students to pursue science majors through exposure to hands-on science. Ninety-five percent of the 60 student participants plan to major in science at the college level. Three of the graduating seniors from the program will major in science, one of them in the geosciences.

Improvement of geoscience literacy includes field trips, special presentations, workshops and opportunities to interact with geoscientists fostering student interest in the geosciences and educator interest in strong teaching of geosciences.

Female science faculty have lunch with high school girls to discuss careers in science, personal choices, navigating life and academic study, and research interests. These dialogues inspire girls to pursue higher education, science careers and also provide role models for young female students.

The aforementioned activities engage students and foster a positive learning community. In addition, the Early University Program, which offers university courses to high school students for college credit, serves as an integral part of this pipeline. A pilot geosciences course was offered in which 100% of those enrolled were academically “at-risk” and members of underrepresented groups. Seventy-five percent of students completing the course stated that they would be interested in taking another geosciences course, 75% stated they would recommend the class to another student, and 50% stated that they were somewhat interested in a major or minor in the geosciences.

Preliminary results show that we were successful in increasing interest in the geosciences. Changes to be implemented include incorporating parental involvement, strengthening collaboration with our joint degree partner and promoting more career options in the geosciences.