Engaging Two-Year Students in STEM: A Professional STEM Society’s Efforts to Support Community College Students

Roberta Rincon; Beth C McGinnis-Cavanaugh; Sohn Paul Cook

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Conference: 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: February 9, 2025
Start Date: February 9, 2025
End Date: February 11, 2025
Conference Session: Track 3: Technical Session 4: Engaging Two-Year Students in STEM: A Professional STEM Society's Efforts to Support Community College Students
Tagged Topics: Diversity and 2025 CoNECD Paper Submissions
Page Count: 12
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/54082
Download Count: 7

Paper Authors

biography

Roberta Rincon Society of Women Engineers

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Roberta Rincon, Ph.D., is the Director of Research and Impact for the Society of Women Engineers. She is responsible for overseeing the research activities for the organization, including collaborative research projects with external researchers and dissemination of SWE research through academic conferences, the SWE Research website, and the annual SWE State of Women in Engineering magazine issue. She is the Principal Investigator for the NSF INCLUDES-funded Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative, whose mission is to work cooperatively with other organizations to provide resources to create a supportive, encouraging, and inclusive environment in the engineering workplace. Her SWE research centers on equity issues in STEM education and the workplace, with studies on gender bias, the development of an engineering identity, and the community college transfer pathway. Prior to joining SWE, she worked in higher education policy research and on programs focused on faculty productivity and student success. She received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, MBA and M.S. in Information Management from Arizona State University, and Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from UT Austin.

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biography

Beth C McGinnis-Cavanaugh Springfield Technical Community College orcid.org/0000-0001-9073-358X

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Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh is a professor at Springfield Technical Community College, where she teaches courses in physics, engineering mechanics, and structures. A graduate of the engineering transfer program at STCC, McGinnis-Cavanaugh holds a B.S. and M.

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Sohn Paul Cook Society of Women Engineers

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Abstract

Community college is a popular pathway for underrepresented students in STEM. Approximately half of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian undergraduate students are enrolled in community colleges, and more than 40 percent of undergraduate women students attend community college [1]. Notably, more than 80 percent of community college students indicate a desire to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher, and those who do transfer have been found to have higher baccalaureate completion rates than students who begin their studies at a four-year university [2, 3, 4]. Unfortunately, only about 1 in 3 students make it to transfer, regardless of major.

Through a phased research study of STEM transfer students, researchers discovered that women in community college who declared a major in engineering or computer science were much more likely than men to switch out of those majors. In addition, community college students are less likely than their university counterparts to belong to professional societies, which offer exposure to academic and professional networks, mentors, and career opportunities. To address this, a professional STEM society created programming in 2023 to increase community college women’s membership and support their engagement in societal activities. The program reduces financial barriers with free memberships and stipends for community college groups to host events and activities, engages community college students through a society affinity group, and offers virtual and in-person sessions at society events focused on two-year students.

This paper will discuss the programming design, process, and results to date, specifically focusing on whether the new offerings are increasing community college student membership and engagement with the society and how the program is identifying and responding to challenges specific to this group given its diverse makeup and unique needs. The paper will also discuss additional challenges facing women on the community college pathway towards a STEM bachelor’s degree, and the evaluation plan in place to track the retention and completion of community college student members’ STEM degrees.

[1] Digest of Education Statistics. (2024). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.

[2] L. Horn & P. Skomsvold. (2011). Community college student outcomes: 1994-2009. National Center for Education Statistics.

[3] National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2017). The role of community colleges in postsecondary success: Community colleges outcomes report.

[4] R. Rincon. (2017). Diversifying STEM: Student success and community college transfer in engineering and computer science in Texas. Society of Women Engineers.

Citation
Format

Rincon, R., & McGinnis-Cavanaugh, B. C., & Cook, S. P. (2025, February), Engaging Two-Year Students in STEM: A Professional STEM Society’s Efforts to Support Community College Students Paper presented at 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD), San Antonio, Texas. https://peer.asee.org/54082

TY - CPAPER
AB - Community college is a popular pathway for underrepresented students in STEM. Approximately half of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian undergraduate students are enrolled in community colleges, and more than 40 percent of undergraduate women students attend community college [1]. Notably, more than 80 percent of community college students indicate a desire to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher, and those who do transfer have been found to have higher baccalaureate completion rates than students who begin their studies at a four-year university [2, 3, 4]. Unfortunately, only about 1 in 3 students make it to transfer, regardless of major.

Through a phased research study of STEM transfer students, researchers discovered that women in community college who declared a major in engineering or computer science were much more likely than men to switch out of those majors. In addition, community college students are less likely than their university counterparts to belong to professional societies, which offer exposure to academic and professional networks, mentors, and career opportunities. To address this, a professional STEM society created programming in 2023 to increase community college women’s membership and support their engagement in societal activities. The program reduces financial barriers with free memberships and stipends for community college groups to host events and activities, engages community college students through a society affinity group, and offers virtual and in-person sessions at society events focused on two-year students.

This paper will discuss the programming design, process, and results to date, specifically focusing on whether the new offerings are increasing community college student membership and engagement with the society and how the program is identifying and responding to challenges specific to this group given its diverse makeup and unique needs. The paper will also discuss additional challenges facing women on the community college pathway towards a STEM bachelor’s degree, and the evaluation plan in place to track the retention and completion of community college student members’ STEM degrees.

[1] Digest of Education Statistics. (2024). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.

[2] L. Horn &amp;amp; P. Skomsvold. (2011). Community college student outcomes: 1994-2009. National Center for Education Statistics.

[3] National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2017). The role of community colleges in postsecondary success: Community colleges outcomes report.

[4] R. Rincon. (2017). Diversifying STEM: Student success and community college transfer in engineering and computer science in Texas. Society of Women Engineers.
AU - Roberta Rincon
AU - Beth C McGinnis-Cavanaugh
AU - Sohn Paul Cook
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2025/02/09
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Engaging Two-Year Students in STEM: A Professional STEM Society’s Efforts to Support Community College Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/54082
ER -