Establishing a STEM Summer Research Program for Underrepresented Minority Students

The proportion of underrepresented minority (URM) students graduating with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees, matriculating to graduate programs, and entering the STEM workforce continues to be significantly low. The Virginia–North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (the VA–NC Alliance) (National Science Foundation-funded award #1712724) offers recruitment, retention, and enrichment activities tailored to meet the needs of URM STEM students with the goal of reducing this gap at its individual partner institutions. One of the VA–NC Alliance’s signature activities is its summer research program. This paper serves two purposes. First, it analyzes data from summer research program alumni surveys on participant outcomes. Second, it presents recommendations on how to establish an impactful undergraduate research program that supports tangible outcomes for URM STEM participants from schools in the region, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), community colleges, and Predominately White Institutions (PWIs).