A MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO INCREASING DIVERSITY IN GEOSCIENCES: HIGH SCHOOL CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT, SUMMER BRIDGE, COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING, AND EARLY RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

The GETUP (Geoscience Education Targeting Underrepresented Populations) project is designed to assess the effectiveness of a multifaceted approach to increase recruitment, retention, and ultimately graduation rates and career placement of geoscience majors, focusing on underrepresented Latinx and female students at Weber State University (WSU) in Ogden, Utah. Over the past decade the number of Latinx students attending WSU has risen, and women now comprise >50% of all students, however, enrollment in STEM majors lags significantly for both demographics. Despite a growing demand for qualified geoscientists, many students entering WSU have a poor understanding of what geoscience majors learn and the types of employment available to them upon graduation. To overcome these challenges, this program integrates varying combinations of early outreach to high schools, early undergraduate research experiences, community engaged learning, and multiple pedagogies to support varied learning styles. Specific activities include: a Geoscience concurrent enrollment class taught in collaboration with high school teachers that incorporates project-based learning activities and promotes early recruitment; a summer bridge program that helps with a transition to college; community-engaged learning in an environmental geoscience course; a summer research program where students conduct collaborative projects centered around a soon-to-be-constructed Great Salt Lake field observatory; and student cohorts who take a structured sequence of core classes and work with a mentor throughout their time in the department. Two pathways will be compared: one in which students enter the pipeline earlier in high school and have a summer bridge experience; and a second where students are recruited from college courses. The project has just begun and herein we report results from an initial concurrent enrollment class and summer bridge experience for students as well as the proposed program design.