Leveraging the First-Year Learning Community to Enhance STEM-Sector Career Readiness and Student Success

‘What do our first-year students know about today’s STEM career pathways and how to prepare for them, and how are they getting their information?’ The authors explore the impact of the development and launch of a novel First-Year Learning Community by a major US public research university to enhance STEM equity and student success. This innovative learning community model was designed in response to data and industry feedback identifying equity gaps among our first-year student population in accessing undergraduate career development experiences critical to STEM professional readiness and graduate school attainment. An overview of the call to action, internal evaluation process, and program design phases that led to the launch of the learning community will be discussed. Delve into the program model that includes cohort meetings, webinars, and a newly-designed learning community course: College of Science 100—Introduction to Science as a Profession. The authors will further share strategies to connect first-year students to High Impact Educational Practices, including faculty and peer mentoring, and facilitating connections to undergraduate research opportunities. Key data and insights will be shared on STEM sector-based active learning sessions, as well as an overview of preliminary outcomes, lessons learned over the course of the two-year pilot, and our vision for the future.