Adams, P. D., & Delgado Solorzano, X., & Lo, W., & Gattis, C. S., & Popp, J. S. (2020, June), Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34291

\bibitem{asee_peer_34291}
  Adams, P. D., \& Delgado Solorzano, X., \& Lo, W., \& Gattis, C. S., \& Popp, J. S. (2020, June), \emph{Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students}
  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line .
  10.18260/1-2--34291

Paul D. Adams, Xochitl Delgado Solorzano, Wenjuo Lo, Carol S. Gattis, and Jennie S. Popp Ph.D..  "Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students".  2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2020.  https://peer.asee.org/34291 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_34291}
  Paul D. Adams, Xochitl Delgado Solorzano, Wenjuo Lo, Carol S. Gattis, and Jennie S. Popp Ph.D..
  "Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students".
  \emph{2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2020.
  https://peer.asee.org/34291 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_34291
author = "Paul D. Adams, Xochitl Delgado Solorzano, Wenjuo Lo, Carol S. Gattis, and Jennie S. Popp Ph.D."
title = "Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students"
booktitle = "2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access"
year = "2020"
month = "June"
address = "Virtual On line "
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/34291}
number = {10.18260/1-2--34291}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - With the current shortage of STEM graduates in the United States and the demand continuing to increase, it is imperative that STEM students from previously untapped populations are recruited and graduated. The NSF-funded program, Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students (PTG), reaches into rural populations to recruit students from low-income families (Pell and/or subsidized Stafford loan eligible) into STEM disciplines at the University of Arkansas. The goal of this program is to not only support students’ financial needs but also provide accessible academic support and instructional guidance to help students succeed. In general, the recruited students come from small, underfunded rural school districts and thus lack typical academic preparation. Although they demonstrate as high-achieving students, their communities often lack a “college-going” culture. PTG initiatives are designed to remove financial, academic and social barriers and to provide a unique opportunity to support these rural students.

PTG recruitment reaches into the rural communities and recruits a diverse body of students with high school GPAs of at least 3.50 and ACT or SAT scores ranging between 23-27 or 1290-1550, respectively. These students demonstrate promising achievements (considering their learning environment) but are not often recruited and are often ineligible for large university scholarships due to their moderate ACT/SAT scores. Two cohorts of 27 students total were recruited to date, nine women and 16 underrepresented minorities. PTG will add at least 9 more students in 2020. PTG scholars receive scholarships and participate in a summer bridge program, faculty and peer mentoring, academic success advising, a first-year living community, and on-campus and industry-based research opportunities. Faculty mentors receive three training sessions to develop strategies to specifically engage this student population.
 
Insights on PTG’s impact are inferred by comparing PTG students with students not involved in PTG but with similar academic disciplines and demographics. To assess program effectiveness, the PTG team adapted Tinto’s student retention model and assembled the baseline and follow-up surveys. These surveys involving eleven subscales were developed or adapted from existing validated surveys. Two subscales (initial perceived social support and pre-college schooling) are surveyed only in the first semester, and two subscales (academic/social integration and institutional experiences) are only surveyed only in the second semester. The remaining seven subscales (academic self-efficacy, career self-efficacy, self-regulation, perceived social support and financial support attitudes, goal commitment, institutional commitment, and desire to finish college) will be surveyed each semester for the duration of the project. Results and discussion of the PTG surveys, student academic performance and retention data is presented.
AU  - Paul D. Adams
AU  - Xochitl Delgado Solorzano
AU  - Wenjuo Lo
AU  - Carol S. Gattis
AU  - Jennie S. Popp Ph.D.
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34291
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34291
ER  -