Community College Pathways to STEM Degrees and Careers for Women and Underrepresented Minorities

A three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, the Gender in Science and Engineering grant will allow research of community college pathways to STEM education and occupations for women.

Research goals are to identify:

• Individual and institutional factors that contribute to women’s successful recruitment, progress, and completion of community college STEM degrees and certificates
• What is working and what is lacking in community college systems regarding support for women in STEM
• Factors that predict STEM community college progress

This research will enable educators and administrators to best allocate resources for program, practice, and policy development.

For their analysis, project staff will use the following:

• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Beginning Postsecondary Surveys (BPS), which is both nationally representative and longitudinal
• Case studies of four STEM community college programs at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Mass., and Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Mass.