This action research study aimed to investigate and identify ways to increase persistence among underrepresented minority (URM) students who were pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors at a community college. Retaining STEM students is a concern for student success in community colleges, especially for underrepresented students. Cycle 1 participants were underrepresented community college students aged 18-35 who majored in STEM fields and STEM faculty who volunteered to describe experiences via semi-structured interviews. The inductive thematic analysis uncovered five themes: sense of belonging, academic resources, mentorship, self-efficacy, and college transition. The participant responses led to the Cycle 2 action step: three STEM student success workshops on academic action planning, career exploration, and science research. Participants volunteered to describe their experiences with the implemented action steps via surveys before and after the workshops and semi-structured interviews. The themes that emerged from Cycle 2 were course connection, course management, career exploration, mentorship, sense of belonging, resources, study habits, and research. These themes relate to the research question about the persistence of STEM students. The four findings derived from the action research study were sense of belonging increases students' intent to persist, mentor relationships, connection between research opportunities and STEM courses, and workshops helped URM STEM students manage time and be aware of support options. The findings support the effectiveness of the student development courses, their contributions to participants' academic experiences, and the need to implement STEM student development courses in the curriculum. The implications of this study relate to the educational experiences of underrepresented community college students and the effect of student development workshops on persistence in STEM. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]