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Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Inclusive Excellence

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DHSI STEM4Equity

stem4equity header banner with the Sacramento State Logo

US Department of Education’s Hispanic Serving Institutions, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Project: STEM4Equity, Award Number: P031C210012, Award period: 2021-2026.

The Sacramento State’s STEM4Equity project strives to increase the number of STEM degrees earned by Hispanic and low-income students by changing the STEM curriculum. Effective teaching strategies in and beyond the classroom are implemented to support and empower students for success.

STEM4Equity Goals

  1. Implement STEM specific, culturally responsive, workforce aligned curricular change in undergraduate gateway and gatekeeper STEM courses to make measurable improvements to the persistence, academic success, and STEM career development of Hispanic and low-income students.
  2. Strengthen and expand student support services and transfer pathways to increase seamless advising, successful enrollment, graduation, and STEM employment of Hispanic and low-income students.

Measurable outcomes for these goals include increasing the proportion and number of Hispanic and low income students graduating with STEM degrees by 30% to over 350 per year and closing the equity gap in STEM courses.

STEM4Equity Activities

  1. Course Redesign for Equity – Minigrants awarded to faculty to redesign and transform courses with a high proportion of non passing grades and/or large equity gaps for underrepresented students. Visit the Minigrant Application page
  2. STEM Faculty Professional Development – Professional Learning for STEM faculty to improve effective teaching skills, acquire culturally responsive teaching strategies, and implement accessible and Artificial Intelligence (AI) informed technology. Visit the Faculty and Professional Learning Community page.
  3. Peer Assisted Learning Program (PAL) – Expansion of the successful Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) co-curricular courses into Biology and Engineering departments. Visit the PAL webpage
  4. STEM Workforce Development – Integration of practical workplace skills into STEM courses and on campus STEM microinternships. Link to PAL webpage.

STEM4Equity Project Leadership

  • Lynn M. Tashiro Professor of Physics, Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Jennifer Lundmark, Professor of Biological Sciences, PAL Program Director
  • Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal, Associate Vice President of Research Innovation and Economic Development
  • Jenni Murphy, Vice President for Enrollment and Engagement
  • Mary Ann Wong, Project Evaluator, Institute for Social Research

STEM4Equity Research

To evaluate the effectiveness of the STEM4Equity activities, STEM education researchers, statisticians, and faculty analyze course level and institution level data to measure the impact of course redesigns, faculty professional learning, and co-curricular programs. Publications, presentations, and results include:

“Assessing Student Success in a Peer Assisted Learning program Using Propensity Score Matching”, Corey Shanbrom, Michelle Norris, Caitlin Esgana, Matthew Krauel, Vincent Pigno, and Jennifer Lundmark, Journal of College Science Teaching, Vol. 52, No. 7, 2023

“STEM Faculty Professional Development: Measuring the Impact on College Student Grades and Identifying Critical Program Components”, Mary McCarthy, Lynn Tashiro, Sabrina Solanki, Judi Kusnick, De-Laine Cyrenne, Di Xu, manuscript submitted