QUALITATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON THE STRANGE TRAILS OF PERSISTENCE IN STEM

In 2019, a Midwestern state university was awarded a $1 million NSF S-STEM grant to support scholarships for academically gifted, high financial need undergraduates enrolled in one of six designated STEM majors. Educational research was also funded by this grant, with the goal of identifying and contextualizing supports and challenges that impact persistence in STEM within the setting of a near-peer-mentored social support group during the fall of 2019. The purpose of this group was to provide social support and foster a sense of belonging for the twelve scholars. Such support is commonly lacking in STEM, yet is important for guiding students’ towards personal development and degree completion. This is highlighted as an important phenomena in the educational community, in that persistence in STEM is widely identified as low and therefore problematic for the growing demand for new scientists: According to a 2012 presidential report tracking 17,000 US college students, nearly 60% of STEM majors switched to a non-STEM field (31%) or dropped out (29%) (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012). Clearly, this systemic issue warrants a deeper understanding to contextualize the statistical data. In this qualitative study, we have taken a case-study methodological approach to understanding the factors that help and hurt students’ abilities to persist. Theoretical frameworks such as Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and Theory of Self-Authorship (Baxter Magolda, 2004) were used to formulate methods and program design, combining educational and psychological efforts. As theorized, students came into the program with various influences that impacted their abilities to persist. Factors were complex and often interwoven, such as the push and pull of self-regulation and familial support. More often, connections with others made a greater difference versus solely academic structures. This was evident after students’ experiences in the peer group, as well. Activities that prompted deep and meaningful conversations proved to be especially instrumental in accomplishing the goals of the group, allowing students the freedom to share about themselves in an environment void of judgment and other traditional academic constraints.