As an assistant professor in the School of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Elodie Billionniere aims to attract and retain underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) at the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus of Miami Dade College.
Recently, Dr. Billionniere spoke to Women of Color magazine about her efforts with the National Science Foundation-funded STEM-Mia (“my STEM”) project and a 2021 NSF conference on finding re-entry pathways for women in STEM.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program funds scholars who are low-income, academically talented students with unmet financial need, and who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program, with a major in an S-STEM eligible discipline.
The NSF not only seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need obtaining degrees in S-STEM eligible disciplines; it also wants to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and generate knowledge to advance understanding of how interventions or evidence-based curricular and cocurricular activities affect the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation of low-income students in STEM.
Over a five-year period, NSF S-STEM funds will support 45 Miami Dade College students in STEM-Mia (“my STEM”) with scholarships and wrap-around services toward preparing them for the workforce.
STEM careers are in high demand and critical to building a competitive workforce that will help grow America’s economy. Enrolled scholars will take classes full-time and are expected to complete the program in two years and participate in supports that research has proven effective in promoting achievement among STEM students.
“I am serving as the program director, also known as principal investigator, for this NSF-funded program. I oversee the program design and implementation and report to NSF. I also teach the two STEM interdisciplinary courses that each cohort must take during the fall term: Tools for Success (Year 1) and STEM Transfer Success (Year 2).
“The global cloud services market is expected to reach $555 billion by 2020. The Dade Enterprise Cloud Computing Initiative (DECCI) at Miami Dade College is a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to raise cloud literacy for underrepresented minority groups in Miami-Dade County. Through the program, we provide students with in-depth, project-based learning opportunities and access to leading AWS technology, giving them competitive advantage by strengthening academic offerings that lead to not only an academic credential, but also an industry certification, and ultimately employment that leads to high-wage positions.
“This initiative created a professional development program with AWS to train Miami Dade College (MDC) technology faculty members to teach cloud computing courses, utilizing project-based learning methodology. It also created new academic pathways—college credit certificate and an associate degree in enterprise cloud computing—to align with baccalaureate degrees in information systems technology, and created a K-16 pipeline by offering a Cloud 101 summer boot camp for high school students from traditionally underrepresented populations.
“In addition to the STEM-Mia scholarships, this interdisciplinary STEM program includes high-impact practices using social cognitive career theory (SCCT)-based interventions, such as undergraduate research experiences, advising and mentoring by STEM faculty, implementation of academic pathways and early alert systems, year-round STEM colloquia, and extensive assistance in transfer to four-year institutions. Employing SCCT as a framework, STEM-Mia seeks to advance the body of research on low-income community college students in STEM education by focusing on math and science support activities and psychological interventions.
“One of the critical needs of 21st-century workforce development is the recruitment, retention, and graduation of women in STEM fields. Research suggests that women drop out of academic programs and leave the workforce to care for their families, deal with financial setbacks, tend to personal obligations, and offer service in military programs. It is important that women in these positions, i.e. returning women, have pathways for reentry to college and opportunities to advance their careers.
“Some areas within STEM fields, such as emerging technology (EmTech) in computer science (e.g., cybersecurity, data science, mobile development, and cloud computing) are expected to experience increases in job opportunities more quickly than traditional areas. The demands of these jobs can only be fulfilled by creating pathways for untapped STEM talent pools, including returning women.
“Hence, the goal of the NSF INCLUDES DCL: RESET (Re-Enter Stem through Emerging Technology) Conference on Finding Re-Entry Pathways for Women in STEM, taking place in March 2021, is to discuss and share the current state of knowledge on what will support women looking to (re)enter the education and professional pipeline, especially after a career break, and to contribute to an improved understanding of the complex challenges that women encounter in EmTech disciplines.
“It is intended to provide a platform for experts from higher education institutions and STEM policy to discuss and make recommendations about the individual, programmatic, institutional, evaluation-based, and evidence-based strategies that can enable women to (re)enter the EmTech pipeline in greater numbers.
“Both STEM-Mia and DECCI–Cloud 101 Bootcamp have been named recipients of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2019 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award. In this program, we host free and open-to-the-public monthly STEMinars across the STEM curriculum with a focus on emerging technologies, STEM research, and opportunities. Some of the topics that we have covered by bringing in professionals and researchers to present are:
• Cybersecurity in International Tourism
• How Plants Grow and Respond to a Changing
Environment: Insights from Cell Biology, Genomics, and Physiology
• Insights on Station (Altaeros): Research and Development Internships
• Impetus and Innovation: Making Your Mark in the STEM World (panelists were all women STEM
professionals)
• Seeking Sustainability in Everglades National Park
• “Facts” or Fictions: Debating the Science of Gender Identity and Climate Change
• Maximize Your Learning
“In addition, we have two STEM interdisciplinary elective one-credit courses that STEM students may take during the fall term: Tools for Success (Year 1) with a focus on self-efficacy in math and science, and STEM Transfer Success (Year 2) with a focus on requirements, capabilities, and resources. Technology, math, and science faculty members come together to design the instructions that can be used across the STEM curriculum based on the foundations that any STEM student should acquire, especially in mathematics and computational thinking.”
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