As the U.S. focuses on positioning itself to retain and advance its status as a world leader in technology and scientific innovation, a recognition that community colleges are a critical site for intervention has become apparent. Community colleges serve the lion’s share of the nation’s postsecondary students. In fact, 40% of all undergraduate students are enrolled in community colleges, these students account for nearly 30% of all STEM undergraduate majors in postsecondary institutions. These students serve as a core element of the STEM pipeline into four-year colleges and universities via the community college transfer function. Moreover, community colleges are the primary postsecondary access point for non-traditional students, including students of color, first-generation, low-income, and adult students. This is a particularly salient point given that these populations are sordidly underrepresented among STEM graduates and in the STEM workforce. Increasing success among these populations can contribute significantly to advancing the nation’s interests in STEM. As such, the community college is situated as an important site for innovative practices that have strong implications for bolstering the nation’s production and sustenance of a STEM labor force. In recognition of this role, the National Science Foundation and private funding agencies have invested millions of dollars into research and programs designed to bolster the STEM pipeline. From this funding and other independently sponsored inquiry, promising programs, initiatives, and research recommendations have been identified. These efforts hold great promise for change, with the potential to transform the education and outcome of STEM students at all levels. This important book discusses many of these promising programs, initiatives, and research-based recommendations that can impact the success of STEM students in the community college. This compilation is timely, on the national landscape, as the federal government has placed increasing importance on improving STEM degree production as a strategy for America’s future stability in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Informed by research and theory, each chapter in this volume blazes new territory in articulating how community colleges can advance outcomes for students in STEM, particularly those from historically underrepresented and underserved communities.

To maintain competitiveness in the global economy, United States policymakers and national leaders are increasing their attention to producing workers skilled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Given the growing minority population in the country, it is critical that higher education policies, pedagogies, climates, and initiatives are effective in promoting racial and ethnic minority students’ educational attainment in STEM. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) have shown efficacy in facilitating the success of racial and ethnic minority students in STEM and are collectively responsible for producing nearly one-third of the nation’s minority STEM graduates. In Fostering Success of Ethnic and Racial Minorities in STEM, well-known contributors share salient institutional characteristics, unique aspects of climate, pedagogy, and programmatic initiatives at MSIs that are instrumental in enhancing the success of racial and ethnic minority students in STEM education. This book provides recommendations on institutional practice, policy, and lessons that any institution can use on their campus to foster better retention and persistence among minority students. Higher Education leaders and administrators interested in encouraging achievement among racial and ethnic minority students in STEM education will find this book a welcomed and timely addition to the discourse on promoting minority student success.

Success with STEM is an essential resource, packed with advice and ideas to support and enthuse all those involved in the planning and delivery of STEM in the secondary school. It offers guidance on current issues and priority areas to help you make informed judgements about your own practice and argue for further support for your subject in school. It explains current initiatives to enhance STEM teaching and offers a wide range of practical activities to support exciting teaching and learning in and beyond the classroom. Illustrated with examples of successful projects in real schools, this friendly, inspiring book explores: Innovative teaching ideas to make lessons buzz Activities for successful practical work Sourcing additional funding Finding and making the most of the best resources STEM outside the classroom Setting-up and enhancing your own STEM club Getting involved in STEM competitions, fairs and festivals Promoting STEM careers and tackling stereotypes Health, safety and legal issues Examples of international projects An wide-ranging list of project and activity titles Enriched by the authors’ extensive experience and work with schools, Success with STEM is a rich compendium for all those who want to develop outstanding lessons and infuse a life-long interest in STEM learning in their students. The advice and guidance will be invaluable for all teachers, subject leaders, trainee teachers and NQTs.

Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented College Students is a step-by-step, research-based guide for higher education faculty and administrators who are charged with designing mentoring programs to recruit and retain students from underrepresented groups. Written by an acknowledged expert in the field of STEM mentoring, the book constitutes a virtual consultant that enables readers to diagnose the issues they face, identify priorities, and implement appropriate practices to achieve their goals.The book describes the real and perceived barriers that underrepresented students—to include women, students of color, transfer students, and first-generation college students—encounter when considering enrollment, or participating, in science courses; considers the issues they face at the various transitions in their education, from entering college to declaring a major and moving on to a profession; and sets out the range of mentoring options available to program designers.By posing key questions and using three running case illustrations of common dilemmas, the book walks readers through the process of matching the best design options with the particular needs and resources of their own department or campus. Intentionally brief and to the point, the book is nonetheless a comprehensive guide to the full range mentoring models and best practices, that also covers issues of institutional and departmental climate and teaching methods, and offers insider insights to help designers avoid pitfalls as they create effective, sustainable mentoring initiatives.This guide will assist administrators working on new initiatives to broaden access and improve persistence and graduation in their programs, as well as apply for research grants, by clarifying objectives and identifying the effective evidence-based practices to achieve them. It also provides common conversation-starters for departments to identify obstacles to enrollment and broaden participation.

Following a 2011 report by the National Research Council (NRC) on successful K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Congress asked the National Science Foundation to identify methods for tracking progress toward the report's recommendations. In response, the NRC convened the Committee on an Evaluation Framework for Successful K-12 STEM Education to take on this assignment. The committee developed 14 indicators linked to the 2011 report's recommendations. By providing a focused set of key indicators related to students' access to quality learning, educator's capacity, and policy and funding initiatives in STEM, the committee addresses the need for research and data that can be used to monitor progress in K-12 STEM education and make informed decisions about improving it. The recommended indicators provide a framework for Congress and relevant deferral agencies to create and implement a national-level monitoring and reporting system that: assesses progress toward key improvements recommended by a previous National Research Council (2011) committee; measures student knowledge, interest, and participation in the STEM disciplines and STEM-related activities; tracks financial, human capital, and material investments in K-12 STEM education at the federal, state, and local levels; provides information about the capabilities of the STEM education workforce, including teachers and principals; and facilitates strategic planning for federal investments in STEM education and workforce development when used with labor force projections. All 14 indicators explained in this report are intended to form the core of this system. Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education: A Nation Advancing? summarizes the 14 indicators and tracks progress towards the initial report's recommendations.

Success Strategies from Women in Stem: A Portable Mentor, Second Edition, is a comprehensive and accessible manual containing career advice, mentoring support, and professional development strategies for female scientists in the STEM fields.This updated text contains new and essential chapters on leadership and negotiation, important coverage of career management, networking, social media, communication skills, and more. The work is accompanied by a companion website that contains annotated links, a list of print and electronic resources, self-directed learning objects, frequently asked questions, and more.With an increased focus on international relevance, this comprehensive text contains shared stories and vignettes that will help women pursuing or involved in STEM careers develop the necessary professional and personal skills to overcome obstacles to advancement. - Preserves the style and tone of the first edition by bringing together mentors, trainees and early-career professionals in a series of conversations about important topics related to careers in STEM fields, such as leadership, time stress, negotiation, networking, social media and more - Identifies strategies that can improve career success along with stories that elucidate, engage, and inspire - Companion website provides authoritative information from successful women engaged in STEM careers, including annotated links to key organizations, associations, granting agencies, teaching support materials, and more

An indispensable resource for teachers, administrators, and researchers involved with STEM education This book distills the findings of more than three-hundred published works concerned with minority students in STEM education. It gives the most complete picture possible of what is known about ethnic and racial minorities in STEM education and provides valuable guidance on how readers can apply those insights to enhance their efforts to facilitate student success in STEM learning. In addition, the authors develop a rigorous model to help facilitate and direct research, policy, and practices in minority STEM education.

What students learn about the science disciplines, technology, engineering, and mathematics during their K-12 schooling shapes their intellectual development, opportunities for future study and work, and choices of career, as well as their capacity to make informed decisions about political and civic issues and about their own lives. Most people share the vision that a highly capable STEM workforce and a population that understands and supports the scientific enterprise are key to the future place of the United States in global economics and politics and to the well-being of the nation. Indeed, the solutions to some of the most daunting problems facing the nation will require not only the expertise of top STEM professionals but also the wisdom and understanding of its citizens. Although much is known about why schools may not succeed, it is far less clear what makes STEM education effective. Successful STEM Education: A Workshop Summary discusses the importance of STEM education. The report describes the primary types of K-12 schools and programs that can support successful education in the STEM disciplines and examines data and research that demonstrate the effectiveness of these school types. It also summarizes research that helps to identify both the elements that make such programs effective and what is needed to implement these elements.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are cultural achievements that reflect our humanity, power our economy, and constitute fundamental aspects of our lives as citizens, consumers, parents, and members of the workforce. Providing all students with access to quality education in the STEM disciplines is important to our nation's competitiveness. However, it is challenging to identify the most successful schools and approaches in the STEM disciplines because success is defined in many ways and can occur in many different types of schools and settings. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether the success of a school's students is caused by actions the school takes or simply related to the population of students in the school. Successful K-12 STEM Education defines a framework for understanding "success" in K-12 STEM education. The book focuses its analysis on the science and mathematics parts of STEM and outlines criteria for identifying effective STEM schools and programs. Because a school's success should be defined by and measured relative to its goals, the book identifies three important goals that share certain elements, including learning STEM content and practices, developing positive dispositions toward STEM, and preparing students to be lifelong learners. A successful STEM program would increase the number of students who ultimately pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields, enhance the STEM-capable workforce, and boost STEM literacy for all students. It is also critical to broaden the participation of women and minorities in STEM fields. Successful K-12 STEM Education examines the vast landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective STEM education practices, and identifying some conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in STEM. The book also looks at where further work is needed to develop appropriate data sources. The book will serve as a guide to policy makers; decision makers at the school and district levels; local, state, and federal government agencies; curriculum developers; educators; and parent and education advocacy groups.

Career Exploration and Development in Childhood presents chapters from leading figures in the field of childhood career exploration and development. The first substantive edited collection of its kind, this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of children’s career development. It provides cutting-edge theory, research and practice for understanding and fostering career exploration and development during childhood, across a wide spectrum of international settings. Divided into five sections that reflect the authors’ perspectives on critical aspects of children’s career development, chapters include relevant research, as well as the practical application of concepts, issues and strategies for career interventions with children. The book includes sequential sections on theory, research, contextual influences, assessment, and the facilitation of career exploration and development. Perspectives from both developed and developing world contexts consider traditional approaches to career education, as well as career development learning in childhood. The collaborations evident in the chapter authorship reflect the significant internationalisation of the field of child career development. The book synthesises key issues and presents innovative recommendations that will not only enhance our understanding of children’s career development, but will set the agenda for the future of the field. It will be of key interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of career development, career guidance, education, childhood, child development and counselling.