Researchers often invoke the metaphor of a pipeline when studying participation in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), focusing on the important issue of students who "leak" from the pipeline, but largely ignoring students who persist in STEM. Using interview, survey, and institutional data over 6 years,…

Graduate schools around the United States are working to improve access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a manner that reflects local and national demographics. The admissions process has been the focus of examination, as it is a potential bottleneck for entry into STEM. Standardized tests are widely used as part of…

The multi-disciplinary nature of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers often renders difficulty for high school students navigating from classroom knowledge to post-secondary pursuits. Discrepancies between the knowledge-based high school learning approach and the experiential approach of future studies leaves some students…

Pipeline programs in health and biomedical sciences have gained attention as students who engage in these programs are more likely to enter into associated fields. In 2012, to support the mission of Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine, the Future Physicians Summer Enrichment Program (FPSEP) was launched for regional high…

Undergraduate research experiences are an increasingly common component of STEM education practices. Student benefits associated with these experiences include increased interest and retention in STEM and/or research fields. Across the country, twenty-three states and Puerto Rico are supported through the National Institutes of Health's…

Even though Critical Thinking (CT) is an important goal for higher education institutions and labour market professionals, studies dealing with employers' perceptions on CT meaning and envisioning in the workplace are scarce. Intended to tackle this gap, the current study provides an overview of the need for and practical application of CT in the…

Winthrop University is a public comprehensive university of about 6000 students, 5000 of whom are undergraduates. The Department of Mathematics offers a baccalaureate degree in mathematics, but has no graduate degree programs. As late as 2009, there was essentially no undergraduate research in the department. At this time, faculty made efforts to…

Base Pair is an ongoing (1992-present) collaboration between University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) faculty mentors and Mississippi high school students and teachers. UMMC faculty and Base Pair teachers designed a course which has allowed curriculum innovations by teachers. The student component engages 15 trainees annually in laboratory…

There is much more to science education than the requirements demanded by the examination curriculum. This article illustrates one example of an in-depth investigation, kick started with a Royal Society Partnership Grant, into essential oils as antimicrobial agents. The project and subsequent extensions were selected to be presented at various…

Contribution: The current study finds that female-identified students report stronger associations between "helping others" and interest in bioengineering/biomedical engineering than non-females, while they report less interest in electrical and computer engineering overall, with similar associations to factors such as…

STEM-related educational outreach offers students enriching opportunities to become more familiar with science, in terms of how it relates to their daily lives and with respect to possible career paths that they might want to follow. At the same time, graduate student trainees providing that outreach act as important resources for elementary and…

This study examined whether students who left biomedical fields of study during college did so primarily because they became disenchanted with those fields or because they felt attracted to alternative fields of study. We identified 1,193 students intending to pursue biomedical fields of study early in college, collected data about their beliefs…

A wide range of occupations require science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills, yet almost half of students who intend to pursue a postsecondary STEM education abandon these plans before graduating from college. This attrition is especially pronounced among underrepresented groups (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities and…

A wide range of occupations require science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills, yet almost half of students who intend to pursue a postsecondary STEM education abandon these plans before graduating from college. This attrition is especially pronounced among underrepresented groups (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities and…

Seattle Children's Research Institute has built a series of in-person education programs to inspire and empower students to explore futures in biomedical research and healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from offering an in-person laboratory program, forcing a rapid pivot to an online format. The Virtual Research Training Program (VRTP)…