CERSE and the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D) received a new five-year, $4 million dollar grant to expand the efforts of the Pacific Northwest Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PNW LSAMP). As part of this grant, Emily Knaphus-Soran and Liz Litzler will lead a five-year research effort in collaboration with educational researchers at Boise State University (BSU), Oregon State University (OSU), Portland State University (PSU), and Washington State University (WSU). Our research will take an assets-based and intersectional approach, examining factors that contribute to persistence in STEM among systemically marginalized students. The project will be multifaceted, including a multi-year, mixed-methods study conducted by CERSE, as well as four “sprint studies” conducted by researchers at BSU, OSU, PSU, and WSU. Each year-long sprint study will focus on the needs and experiences of students on one PNW LSAMP campus, contributing to a nuanced understanding of sense of belonging for systemically marginalized students in STEM. As part of the project, CERSE will also lead research-to-action forums that will result in actionable student-informed improvements to university programs across the alliance.
Read the article from the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity