Allyson Sterling
Regis University, CO·Education Research
The summer between the first and second year of college is a decision point: many students who start out in science leave before they ever see what research actually looks like. Summer research programs exist at many institutions, but they usually recruit juniors and seniors who already have laboratory experience, so they miss students at the moment when the risk of leaving science is highest.
- Fields
Education Research
Biology
Social Science
- Topics
undergraduate research experience
STEM retention
Hispanic-Serving Institution
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Create a paid, faculty-mentored summer research program for students between their first and second year of college, lowering financial and experience barriers to authentic research for first-generation, Latine and working students in the life sciences.
- Test whether a cohort model combined with professional development strengthens students' sense of belonging in STEM and their preparedness for further education or science careers.
- Measure changes in scientific skills, self-confidence and well-being using previously validated assessment instruments, and determine which program components most affected student retention in life science majors.
- Build a mentoring environment in which faculty learn from students about their needs, and disseminate the program design and outcomes to institutions and educators across STEM disciplines.
More about the research
Unpaid or stipend-light positions add a second barrier for students who must work over the summer or who carry family responsibilities. This project asks whether placing a paid, faculty-mentored research experience early in college improves retention and success of Latine students pursuing life science degrees at Regis University, where students are increasingly first-generation, Latine and working.
Why it matters
Students often leave science majors during the first two years, and cost and time pressures keep working and first-generation students out of the research experiences that help them stay. By paying students and placing mentored research at that early turning point, this program could raise retention and graduation in the life sciences for Latine and first-generation students, and its validated assessment data could show other colleges which features of a summer program actually make the difference.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Camille Crittenden
University of California-Berkeley, CA·Education Research
Place undergraduates from four University of California campuses as NanoLab Fellows in the Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory for an academic year plus summer, giving early hands-on semiconductor fabrication experience.
Jane Lehr
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, CA·Education Research
Test whether scholarship program activities grow transfer students' social networks, resilience, confidence and sense of belonging, using social network analysis, surveys and qualitative interviews.
Melanie Will Cole
Central New Mexico Community College, NM·Education Research
Implement and examine a hybrid undergraduate research experience that combines a course-based research class with a stipend-supported apprenticeship, enrolling ten place-bound students per year in a year-long series of special project courses.
The school
Regis University: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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