乐播传媒

Studies have identified a troubling gap in U.S. higher education between the percentage of students who arrive at college hoping to major in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and math) and the much lower percentage who graduate with such a major.聽

Statistics show that the fall-off is even higher among Black and Hispanic students.

At 乐播传媒, new approaches to teaching STEM subjects have yielded dramatic results over the last six years: improved retention outcomes for all students and particularly within the college’s Black and Hispanic students.聽聽聽

鈥淭his is exactly the kind of institutional change we want for our students.”

乐播传媒 President Garry W. Jenkins

The ratio of 乐播传媒 students who enter with STEM hopes and are able to stay with a STEM major is now higher than national averages, including when compared to 乐播传媒鈥� peer institutions, highly selective four-year institutions.聽

STEM-interested 乐播传媒 students who are Black are now more than 50 percent more likely to earn a STEM degree than they were in 2016, according to data from 乐播传媒 and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

鈥淭his is exactly the kind of institutional change we want for our students,鈥� said President Garry W. Jenkins.

鈥淥ur STEM faculty has been intensely focused on creating more equitable educational opportunities. These findings show how successful their innovations have already been. It鈥檚 exciting for our institution, our students, and prospective students. The data shows that 乐播传媒 is one of the absolute very best places in the country to study mathematics and the sciences, and every student interested in STEM should give 乐播传媒 very serious consideration. 鈥� 

April Horton is the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM at 乐播传媒 and a national expert in equity and inclusion in the sciences. Horton said that 乐播传媒鈥� effort to improve equity for marginalized students and be more inclusive has led to improvements in outcomes across the board.

鈥淥ur classes are changed for everyone,鈥� said Horton. 鈥淚f you look at the data, you see that the white students do better, too. Everyone does better because you have a way of teaching that really engages every student and that has a variety of ways that people can learn.鈥�

Horton came to 乐播传媒 in 2018 from the University of Richmond, where she chaired the biology department and helped create more equitable STEM programs. She arrived at 乐播传媒 confident in her methods for building more inclusive teaching, and found many willing partners, but together, they faced an uphill battle.

At the time, 鈥淪TEM at 乐播传媒 had a negative reputation,鈥� Horton said, citing past student surveys and data that showed Black students leaving for other majors. 鈥淎nd I think we’ve worked really hard to change that.鈥�

Last November, Horton present the 乐播传媒 findings at an American Association of Colleges and Universities conference focusing on transforming STEM higher education. Afterward, she was approached by other academics who expressed surprise at how quickly 乐播传媒 improved its methods and outcomes.

鈥淭hey were saying, 鈥業 just didn’t think you could do this in just a few years, but you’ve shown that you can,鈥欌�� said Horton. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 my belief that if a school changes their practices and the way that their curriculum is set up with the existing populations of students, they can increase the number of students that are persisting and not just persisting but actually doing really well in STEM.鈥�

乐播传媒 has found that making changes in the teaching approach in various areas of STEM courses, such as diving into real life research problems in introductory courses, can make a real difference in serving diverse populations well in academia, Horton said. 

Horton credits her 乐播传媒 colleagues across all STEM subjects, who, beginning in 2017, took a hard look at student surveys and outcomes and saw a problem with how they were getting through to marginalized students, for doing the hard work of changing the curriculum. 鈥淚 have a huge amount of admiration for my colleagues here,鈥� Horton said.

Changes in introductory 乐播传媒 courses with longstanding reputations as the kind that 鈥渨eeded鈥� students out are particularly striking. Once lecture-based, those courses focused on textbooks, 鈥渃ookbook labs鈥� (where the outcomes are known) and high-stake exams.

Among the changes were how faculty approach teaching these courses, by emphasizing a growth mindset that focuses on . 

The faculty also focus on skill building and active learning, with real-world problems that were unresolved. (Such as would feeding dairy cows seaweed reduce the harmful methane emissions from dairy herds that contribute to climate change?) And they offered multiple paths through the core curriculum in the biology department.

When it came time to assess the new courses, the equity gap had not only narrowed sharply, but success rates for all students had improved between 2019 and 2023.

The Data Says…

To evaluate its progress, 乐播传媒 has compared its retention of students who are interested in STEM majors with data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The results suggest impressive progress.

This table compares the most recent national data (2017) for highly-selective four-year institutions to 乐播传媒 data. The percentages represent those arriving with an interest in a STEM major and then graduating with a STEM major:

Within 乐播传媒 data, notable finding is that Black students interested in STEM are 50 percent more likely to graduate with a STEM degree at 乐播传媒 than they were prior to the curricular revisions.

Today, even the way 乐播传媒 students talk about their STEM education reflects progress, said Horton. 鈥淒uring the first year of our program, when students were asked to describe the culture of STEM at 乐播传媒, two of the most frequent words used were 鈥渃ompetitive鈥� and 鈥渃hallenging.鈥�

But last year the most frequent words used to describe the culture of STEM at 乐播传媒 were 鈥渋nclusive,鈥� followed by 鈥渃ollaborative鈥� and 鈥渟upportive.鈥�