New Jersey-based Montclair State University was long recognized as one of the “Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics” before it was designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 2016. Last spring, Montclair State announced two grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program to address the underrepresentation of diverse groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Together the two grants tell a holistic story, Assistant Vice President for Hispanic-serving Initiatives Katia Paz Goldfarb said. The first NSF HSI grant, which began June 1, 2020, will allow the Green Teams program to engage Hispanic STEM students with hands-on, experiential learning opportunities – and extend these learning opportunities to their families and corporate and community partners.
“With this new funding we will advance efforts to address the underrepresentation of diverse groups in STEM,” said Amy Tuininga in a statement, acknowledging the challenge that may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As director of Montclair State’s PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies, Tuininga develops community-engaged research projects and builds educational programs through academic-corporate-public partnerships. The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), headquartered in New Jersey, is one of the ten largest electric companies in the United States.
The second NSF award is a $600,000 Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant that began September 1, 2020. The program is designed to improve STEM literacy for students who are non-STEM majors through their participation in the Green Teams.
“What I love most about the grant is the way it highlights the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration in solving real-world problems,” says Elizabeth Emery, professor of Modern Languages and Literature. “Each Green Team is composed of students from different backgrounds who bring an array of skills and perspectives to solving sustainability challenges.”
“Because the structural model of higher education obliges students to declare a ‘major,’ we tend to forget that most students come to college with a whole range of interests and experiences that they continue to pursue in parallel with their major field,” adds Emery. “Sustainability is one of those activities. Many of the students involved in community-based sustainability initiatives are not necessarily STEM majors. They may be art, language, public health, or anthropology majors and don’t necessarily see that passionate interest in sustainability might lead to a career in the sciences or in industry.”
According to Montclair State, the study funded by the HSI grant will span five years and is designed to uncover the process of student decision-making, and the potential biases and perceptions of STEM education and careers. To understand why students choose and remain in STEM majors, the grant team will be conducting focus groups and surveys with families, students, faculty, and industry partners.
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