by Luke Pierik
Introduction
Though there has been recent development in the representation of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM and Physics, URMs remain underrepresented in STEM degrees conferred even when accounting for academic preparation [1]. This is largely due to significant rates of URM attrition relative to their peers, with 52% of Asian-Americans and 43% of Whites completing a STEM degree six years after first enrolling versus 22%, 29%, and 25% for Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans [2]. Perceived causes for these disparate attrition rates include a lack of engagement with departments, feelings of inadequacy in the STEM community, and psychologically driven achievement gaps [3][4]. Notably, the physical sciences, including physics, experience the highest rates of attrition among STEM majors [5]. The stagnancy of physics curriculum in the last 50 years as well as URM’s notable insistence of a return on university investment leaves physics departments particularly vulnerable to undergraduate attrition. Such concern becomes existential when considering the standard physics curriculum does not impart skills necessary for physics majors when they enter the workforce due to traditional focus on academic careers [6]. This worry is corroborated when noting the underemployment rate of Physics (34%) relative to its engineering (~22%) and math (28%) peers [7]. Thus, there exists an ongoing problem of URM attrition in STEM alongside specific existential risks to physics programs. Ameliorating both issues could increase a university’s prestige while acting as a case study for other programs to follow.
This article will identify the best practices for increasing URM STEM retention in physics. After noting factors benefiting a URM-conscious STEM/physics department, a brief review of the USC Physics departments will illustrate the degree of correspondence to best practices. Additional programs at USC which show congruence with the literature in retaining URMs in STEM and developing engagement will then be recognized. Finally, three reasonable recommendations will be made considering best practices, which the USC Physics department may implement to increase URM persistence, student engagement, and program effectiveness.
Best Practices
In the literature addressing URM retention in STEM and Physics, both the department and program levels emerge to influence the engagement and integration of URMs. At the department level, a deliberately inclusive culture offering frequent opportunities for informal conversation and community-building as well as focused mentorship and undergraduate research opportunities are paramount to promoting undergraduate confidence, socialization, and competence. STEM and Physics programs that offer flexibility, relevance, and cooperative structure ultimately improve the effectiveness and relevance of the degree.
Department engagement is a primary factor for URM retention and may be improved by maximizing opportunities for informal interactions in the department with the intent of establishing an inclusive and active community [8]. Such measures were seen in physics programs by the SPIN-UP (Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics) task force, which looked at overperforming undergraduate Physics institutions around 2000. Among the means to create a departmental culture include spaces for informal gatherings like California Polytechnic University’s h-bar lounge, which formed high community spirit and cooperation between students and faculty [9]. Bryn Mawr College also fostered community between its undergraduate students by hosting a mini-symposium, which allowed Upper-level students to provide presentations of their research to freshmen [9].
Department-led faculty mentorship and undergraduate research form a vital backbone for engaging and benefiting URMs, as both mentorship and research have been shown to simultaneously increase student retention and prepare undergraduates for STEM careers [10]. Such deliberate formation of this faculty-student relationship is found in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater STEM Boot Camp (SBC), which facilitates faculty and peer mentorship, research opportunities, and an educational summer workshop; together, these measures increased second year URM retention (96% for SBC, 71.5% for URMs, 80% Non-URMs) and URM performance in gateway STEM courses [11]. Similarly, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors Program at Louisiana State University (LSU-HHMI Professors Program) targets underperforming first-year students in STEM and attempts to reverse a pattern of underachievement while socializing students into the STEM community, and these actions led to a greatly improved graduation rate for blacks in the LSU-HHMI program relative to Blacks outside the program (>50% versus ~21%) [12].
Effective programs offer a variety of degrees and innovative coursework. Harvard, for instance, has an honors program as well as joint degree programs like physics and chemistry, physics and mathematics, and physics and history of science [9]. To promote excellence for URMs in fundamental STEM courses, actions like Bridgewater State University’s implementation of small-group and inquiry-based learning led to increased retention in STEM (48% prior to the program, 59% with the program) and higher URM performance in gateway courses [13]. Additionally, actions to combat URM-specific challenges in the classroom have been made, such as a California universities’ “knowledge is power” method of reducing the influence of stereotype threat during examinations [14].
USC Physics
It is useful to examine current, department-level initiatives for engagement and integration as well as program-level opportunities for effectiveness and relevance. USC Physics provides frequent newsletters and symposiums as well as a student lounge. Additionally, the department has a 1-Unit colloquium for freshmen, which introduces students to some of the department’s current research. Faculty mentorship and undergraduate research are currently initiated by the student who would typically find faculty research from the USC Physics webpage. However, physics and career advisors may assist a student with finding relevant resources and opportunities. USC Physics offers five undergraduate programs, some of which have both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts option: Physics, Physics and Computer Science, Physical Science, and Astronomy [15]. The degrees represent several career pathways such as academia, law, technology, and teaching, and such diversity may appeal to a variety of students, including URMs.
Model USC Programs
USC houses organizations which exemplify department and program initiatives that model many of the best practices of the literature in reducing attrition and increasing URM participation in STEM. USC Viterbi’s Center for Engineering Diversity provides opportunities for URMs to participate in peer-to-peer mentoring, professional development opportunities, and community-building activities like faculty meals and organized events [16]. Meanwhile, The Keck School of Medicine offers a focused Bridging the Gaps program pairing mentors and research with URMs summer to promote diversity in the biological and medical fields [13 17]. Finally, the Research Gateway Scholars Program allows motivated undergraduates to participate in a streamlined program which incorporates classwork, research, mentorship, and presentations to prepare a student for graduate school [14 18].
Other USC Science departments also offer unique and diverse programs which may attract URMs and boost student retention. Mathematics has an honors degree program with an additional progressive degree program, which allows students to attain their undergraduate and graduate degree in five years [16 19]. USC’s Chemistry department offers a topical environmental chemistry minor which may be applicable to the workforce and attract URMs [17 20]. Also, USC Viterbi’s Biomedical Engineering department has “emphasis” programs which serve to not only provide a more diverse education but also specialize them in preparation for the marketplace [18 21].
Opportunities and Recommendations
Given the literature’s best practices, several opportunities within exist within Physics to increase student engagement, program relevancy, and undergraduate retention, especially with respect to URMs. Three immediate opportunities are seen by the author as practical and effective measures for benefiting the department.
First, incorporating peer-to-peer mentorship in the 1-Unit Physics colloquium, as seen in Bryn Mawr’s symposium, could develop community between undergraduates while offering more interactive education about Physics research at USC.
Second, fostering more deliberate research and mentorship programs within the department would increase engagement with students including URMs. For example, Physics student participation in programs like the Research Gateway Scholars could be fruitful, and a renovation of the USC physics website to include invitations and opportunities for undergraduate student research would be a cost-effective means of building relationships and activity within the department. More ambitiously, a USC-Science Boot Camp adapted from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater or a “Center for Science Diversity” could provide URMs with streamlined means of integrating into a scientific community and participating in research, while diminishing the effect of early achievement gaps.
Finally, program innovation which incorporates innovative pedagogy as seen at Bridgewater State University and additional degree diversity in the form of honors programs or progressive degree programs would increase appeal and effectiveness of the program. Promoting students for careers in academia or research could be accomplished with mandatory programming coursework like computational physics, and the department could offer applicable courses like climate physics; both would increase the diversity in the department and provide opportunities to learn marketable skills.
Author Bio
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My name is Luke Pierik, and I am a Senior at USC studying Physics and Applied Mathematics. I have been tutoring mathematics at a local elementary school through USC’s Joint Education Project for two years. Throughout the experience, I have become interested in the outsized impact education has on the social and economic wellbeing of URMs. While I anticipate becoming a scientific researcher, I also hope to participate in local government to establish educational institutions serving historically underrepresented groups. Email – lukepierik@gmail.com LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukepierik/ |
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The Summer Virtual Internship was supported by funding from the NSF under Grant No. ECCS-1711268. The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or positions of USC or the NSF; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
References
[1] Degrees Earned by Underrepresented Minorities in Physics, American Physical Society (2019). https://www.aps.org/programs/education/statistics/minorityphysics.cfm.
[2] Malcolm, Shirley; Feder, Michael (2016). Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees: Systemic Change to Support Students’ Diverse Pathways, The National Academies Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK368179/.
[3] Alexander, Charles; Chen, Eric; Grumbach, Kevin (2009). How Leaky Is the Health Career Pipeline? Minority Student Achievement in College Gateway Courses, Academic Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19474563/.
[4] Chen, Xinglei; Soldner, Matthew (2013). STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields, National Center for Education Statistics.https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014001rev.pdf.
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[7] The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates (2021), Federal Reserve Bank of New York. https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market/college-labor-market_compare-majors.html.
[8] Chen, Xinglei; Soldner, Matthew (2013). STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields, National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014001rev.pdf.
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[10] Estrada, Mica; et al. (2018). A Longitudinal Study of How Quality Mentorship and Research Experience Integrate Underrepresented Minorities into STEM Careers, American Society of Cell Biology. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-04-0066.
[11] Lisberg, Anneke; Woods, Brett (2018). Mentorship, Mindset and Learning Strategies: An Integrative Approach to Increasing Underrepresented Minority Student Retention in a Stem Undergraduate Program, Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research. https://www-proquest-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/docview/2137841914/fulltextPDF/58CCA6C6D3EA4F7FPQ/1?accountid=14749.
[12] Wilson, Zakiya (2012). Hierarchical Mentoring: A Transformative Strategy for Improving Diversity and Retention in Undergraduate STEM Disciplines, Journal of Science Education and Technology.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10956-011-9292-5.
[13] Salomone, Matthew; Kling, Thomas (2017). Required peer-cooperative learning improves retention of STEM majors, International Journal of STEM Education. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40594-017-0082-3.
[14] Ben-Zeev, Avi; et al. (2017). ‘Speaking Truth’ Protects Underrepresented Minorities’ Intellectual Performance and Safety in STEM, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7020065.
[15] Department of Physics and Astronomy, USC Dornsife. https://dornsife.usc.edu/physics/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[16] Center for Engineering Diversity, USC Viterbi. https://viterbiundergrad.usc.edu/diversity/center-for-engineering-diversity/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[17] Bridging the Gaps, Keck School of Medicine at USC. https://keck.usc.edu/bridging-the-gaps-program/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[18] Research Gateway Scholars Program, University of Southern California. https://gatewayscholars.usc.edu/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[19] USC Catalogue 2015/16, University of Southern California. https://catalogue2015.usc.edu/schools/college/math/undergraduate/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[20] Department of Chemistry: Programs of Study, USC Dornsife. https://dornsife.usc.edu/chemistry/ug-programs/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
[21] Department of Biomedical Engineering: Undergraduate Programs in Biomedical Engineering, USC Viterbi. https://bme.usc.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/. Accessed 29 June 2021.
