\u201cThis is exactly the kind of institutional change we want for our students.”<\/p>\nÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Garry W. Jenkins<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The ratio of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½\u2019 peer institutions, highly selective four-year institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n STEM-interested ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is exactly the kind of institutional change we want for our students,\u201c said President Garry W. Jenkins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur STEM faculty has been intensely focused on creating more equitable educational opportunities. These findings show how successful their innovations have already been. It\u2019s exciting for our institution, our students, and prospective students. The data shows that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ very serious consideration. \u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n April Horton is the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and a national expert in equity and inclusion in the sciences. Horton said that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½\u2019 effort to improve equity for marginalized students and be more inclusive has led to improvements in outcomes across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur classes are changed for everyone,\u201d said Horton. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Horton came to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 2018 from the University of Richmond, where she chaired the biology department and helped create more equitable STEM programs. She arrived at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ confident in her methods for building more inclusive teaching, and found many willing partners, but together, they faced an uphill battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, \u201cSTEM at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ had a negative reputation,\u201d Horton said, citing past student surveys and data that showed Black students leaving for other majors. \u201cAnd I think we’ve worked really hard to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last November, Horton present the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ improved its methods and outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were saying, \u2018I just didn’t think you could do this in just a few years, but you’ve shown that you can,\u2019\u201d said Horton. \u201cAnd it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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<\/a>, can make a real difference in serving diverse populations well in academia, Horton said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Horton credits her ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ colleagues across all STEM subjects, who, beginning in 2017<\/a>, 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. \u201cI have a huge amount of admiration for my colleagues here,\u201d Horton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changes in introductory ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ courses with longstanding reputations as the kind that \u201cweeded\u201d students out are particularly striking. Once lecture-based, those courses focused on textbooks, \u201ccookbook labs\u201d (where the outcomes are known) and high-stake exams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the changes were how faculty approach teaching these courses, by emphasizing a growth mindset that focuses on students\u2019 potential and ways to support their progress<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Moments](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2024\/04\/240125_Martin_Kruse9377-900x600.webp\")
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