The Southeastern STEM Scholars program is designed for high school students. Current and future workforce demands indicate an increased need for workers who are highly skilled and trained in STEM fields. An increased number of students from underserved and underrepresented populations who pursue careers in STEM fields will help to ensure that future workforce demands are met. A workforce that lacks diversity may impede the innovative capacity of the United States. The STEM Scholars program provides students who have expressed interest in pursuing STEM careers with experiences that are vital to success in their career pathways.
The Southeastern STEM Scholars program features:
Scholars will have the opportunity to interact directly with faculty from the College of Science and Technology at Southeastern. The role of the faculty-student mentor is to provide guidance, nurturing, and academic support while developing long term relationships that will foster student awareness of the advantages of careers in STEM fields. Faculty-student mentors will support scholars during the academic year as they participate in the project-based learning experience.
STEM professionals from industrial partners located on the Northshore will serve as Industry mentors for scholars. Scholars will have the opportunity to witness local STEM professionals from shared backgrounds in the workplace. Industry mentors are important because seeing professionals in action will help scholars as they construct their STEM identity.
The Southeastern STEM Scholars program will feature near-peer mentors. Near-peer mentors will provide encouragement, serve as positive role models, and counselors. The near-peer mentors are students from underserved populations who are enrolled as STEM majors at Southeastern. They possess a unique perspective of what is necessary for success in college.
The meaningful experiential learning activities are a major focus of the Southeastern STEM Scholars program. Project based experiential learning provides students with engaging experiences that promote learning by doing. The four major stages of experiential learning as defined by David Kolb are active experimentation, concrete experience, reflective observation and abstract conceptualization.
The ACT exam is traditionally used as a measure of college readiness and recently as a requirement for scholarship awards. Southeastern STEM Scholars will participate in four ACT preparation workshops offered by faculty from the College of Science and Technology and the Department of Teaching and Learning at Southeastern. The goal of the ACT prep workshops is to provide students with proven strategies in general time-management techniques and test-taking strategies that will help improve their understanding of the structure of the exam as well as improve performance.
The process of preparing for a career in the STEM fields begins far earlier than a student’s enrollment in college. Southeastern STEM scholars will understand the requirements necessary to pursue a degree in a STEM field. They will also receive information about scholarships, financial aid, and the college application process. Scholars will have the opportunity to explore the curricula associated with various STEM majors.
