Program Overview
There is a critical shortage of skilled STEM workforce nationwide and an ever-increasing demand for qualified college graduates prepared for STEM occupations in the United States. These job opportunities include careers in fields such as the pharmaceutical industry, nanotechnology, biotechnology, various engineering disciplines, electronics, computer and networking technology, and industrial design engineering, to name a few.
Community colleges play a significant role in preparing students and technicians who are ready to enter the technical workforce. The overarching goal of this program is to provide four cohorts of students who are enrolled in either transferrable STEM courses at Mt. SAC or are enrolled in different STEM technician programs at the college with an opportunity to engage in either an 8-weeks paid authentic Undergraduate Research Experience (URE- in summer for students who plan to transfer to four-year schools), or a paid Technology Internship during any semester in an academic year (for students enrolled in Technology programs).
Numerous bodies of educational research have shown that “experiential learning and mentorship”, such as immersion in an Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) or Industrial Internships, is not only highly effective in students’ persistence and completion in STEM but it plays a pivotal role in preparing students for the technical careers in STEM. These studies clearly suggest that students involved in research early in their education are more likely to stay in college, obtain their degrees, and continue on to graduate school. Furthermore, they strongly suggest that “undergraduates who conduct research in a STEM field or engage in an industrial internship often exhibit increased self-confidence, improved reasoning, teamwork/collaboration skills, critical thinking and communication skills and improved ability to solve problems, all of which are indispensable abilities required of the skilled STEM technical workforce in the 21st Century”. These studies strongly recommend that such experiential learning experience(s) must be a significant component of any attempt to meet the critical shortage of the skilled STEM workforce nationwide and are most effective if they are integrated as early as possible in the education path of the STEM students.
However, the benefits and experiences presented above often elude students at two-year colleges due to lack of research facilities and opportunities on the two-year college campuses in STEM, where advanced instrumentation and training is often required for conducting authentic research. This program, supported by a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), will offer these invaluable experiential learning opportunities to selected cohorts of Mt. SAC students to help them develop further interest in choosing STEM careers and gain professional skills that are critically important in the technical workplace.
