Kenneth Maton - US grants

The rates of substance abuse among unemployed black teenagers appear to be substantial and alarming. Etiological paradigms which may help to explain substance abuse among unemployed black youth include 1) life stress, 2) identity/lifestyle, and 3) psychological well-being theoretical paradigms. The proposed study represents one of the first systematic investigations of the etiology of substance abuse among unemployed black youth. Psychosocial predictor measures will be collected at two points in time, and drug use criteria at six points in time, by trained interviewers from 150 black male teenagers who have dropped out of school and are unemployed. Unemployed youth will be solicited through multiple channels, including welfare centers, teen employment and neighborhood youth programs, neighborhood and community leaders, parents attending health and human service agencies, mailings to high school dropouts, and media advertisements. Research solicitations will indicate that unemployed teenagers are being sought for an interview to learn how different youth deal with and experience unemployment. Youth will be informed that some questions focus on substance use. Primary predictor variables to be assessed, based on the three etiological paradigms outlined above, include: 1) negative life events, coping strategies and social support (Life Stress); 2) delinquency, religious commitment, life goals, and purposeful activity (Identity/Lifestyle); and 3) depression, self-esteem, and general self-efficacy (Psychological Well-Being). Validity of standard predictor measures will be assessed from convergence with secondary measures derived from open-ended interview data. Reliability and validity of reported drug use will be examined through 1) consistency of self-report over monthly data collection points, and 2) comparisons of self-report data with collateral reports from peers and significant others. Comparable psychosocial data being collected from current research samples will allow the examination of several sets of secondary hypotheses: Unemployed substance abusers will differ significantly on predictor variables from a) black teen drug abusers referred for residential treatment, b) adjudicated black juvenile offenders, and c) school and church-based normative samples of black teenagers.

This four year project, Enhancing the Success of Minorities in Science and Engineering: Outcome and Process Evaluation of the Meyerhoff Program, investigates the effectiveness of the Meyerhoff Program for talented Black students in science and engineering. The program components are recruitment, Summer Bridge Program, scholarships, study groups, program values, program community, personal advising and counseling, tutoring, summer research internships, faculty and administrative involvement, mentors, and family involvement. The evaluation will determine which of the program components and other key program factors provide the critical support needed to keep talented undergraduate Black students in science and mathematics. Also, the evaluation will identify what type of institutional support is needed for continuing and replicating an innovative intervention program.

The major goals of this grant are to 1) systemically evaluate the Meyerhoff Program's positive, long-term academic outcomes (e.g., persistence to graduation in SMET majors, enrollment in SMET graduate programs, and completion of SMET graduate degrees); 2) improve the scientific rigor of the comparison samples (through random assignment) against which the success of the Meyerhoff Scolars is measured so that the positive outcomes may be more definitively attributed to the program; 3) further delineate the program characteristics perceived by students as most responsible for their success; and 4) further explore the processes underlying African-American student success in SMET majors. Additionally, this research will ascertain whether the same processes are responsible for African-American graduate, as for undergraduate, SMET student successes, a virtually unexplored topic.

The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a muitifaceted, strengths based approach to intervention and research that has made great strides in increasing the number of African American students who earn Ph.D.s or M.D./Ph.D.s and pursue research careers in biomedical science. Now in its 16th year, the program has 261 students currently enrolled and so far it has graduated more than 400 students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM). A very high percentage of graduates have gone on to pursue Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. degrees. The program incorporates 15 different components, all geared toward supporting students' success as undergraduates and leading to a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. and a research career. Previous studies indicated that the Meyerhoff Program overall increases the desired outcomes. This proposal uses quantitative and qualitative methods to begin to dissect the success of the program to delineate the student characteristics and program features that are most important to pursuit and completion of a STEM Ph.D. We have two specific aims. First, we want to provide further evidence about program effectiveness, including what types of students receive the most benefit from the program. We will address these questions: (1) will African American Meyerhoff students achieve greater STEM Ph.D. outcomes than comparison students when stringent statistical controls! are applied; and (2) does the Meyerhoff Program have a greater positive impact on underrepresented j minority students (African Americans) than on Asian American and Caucasian students. Our second aim is to investigate how the program works by studying: (3) do Meyerhoff students who perceive greater benefit from program components achieve more positive STEM Ph.D. outcomes; (4) what characteristics(high school preparation, high school GPA, SAT, parental SES, research proclivity, etc.) of students are the strongest predictors of STEM Ph.D. outcomes for Meyerhoff program participants and is this because those characteristics lead to greater perceived benefit from the program; (5) do Meyerhoff students who participate in STEM rssearch intensive summer internships achieve more positive STEM Ph.D. outcomes than those who do not; and (6) do Meyerhoff students who have sustained research experience in on-campus STEM research l;abs achieve more positive STEM Ph.D. outcomes than those who do not.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is designed to enhance understanding of the pathways to the PhD among Meyerhoff Scholarship Program (MSP) participants at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and to develop a more solid causal foundation for claims of the program's impact. The primary program emphasis is to increase the number of underrepresented minority scientists and engineers, especially African American. MSP brings to bear a comprehensive array of supports toward achievement of this goal, including: a comprehensive financial package, contingent upon maintaining a B average in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) major;a pre-freshmen year 6-week Summer Bridge Program;full-time advisors who monitor and support students on a regular basis;a family-like social and academic support system;widespread faculty involvement (including as research mentors);and participation in summer research internships. We utilize an array of quantitative and qualitative methods to enhance understanding of why some MSP participants pursue and complete PhDs while others do not (Studies 1 and 2), and to compare the educational outcomes of MSP participants with comparison samples of non-participants (Study 3). Our first specific aim is to test a conceptual model linking pre-college student characteristics to student experience in the MSP and success in college, and in turn, the pathways from these college variables to PhD pursuit and receipt. Structural equation modeling will be used in this aspect of the research. The second specific aim is to provide an exceptionally detailed, real-time exploration of changes in student pathways to the PhD at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. A mixed method, semester-by-semester design will be employed for this aspect of the research. Our third specific aim is to establish stronger causal inferences regarding the efficacy of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program by using two approaches that avoid many of the potential sources of bias that may be present in past efforts to estimate the impact of the MSP and other intervention strategies with similar goals. Specifically, propensity score matching and a regression discontinuity design will be used for this final aspect of the research. Public Health Relevance Statement: Given the MSP's primary emphasis on increasing the number of underrepresented minority scientists, and the high numbers of African American graduates of the program who have entered and completed science, technology, engineering and mathematics PhDs to date, the findings of the research will have important implications for increased understanding as well as improved programmatic and policy efforts to enhance the number of minority scientists in our nation.

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in order to diversify the STEM workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. These strategies facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM.

The need for cultivating STEM talent has been well established. For the United States (U.S.) to remain globally competitive, it is vital that it taps into the talent of all its citizens and provides exceptional educational preparedness in STEM areas that underpin the knowledge-based economy. American students from diverse ethnic groups are underrepresented in STEM fields, and represent an untapped resource for the STEM workforce in the U.S. The University System of Maryland (USM) LSAMP, which began in 1995, will use STEM training as a conduit for mutual benefit of U.S. citizens: a program that at a basic level makes tomorrow better than today for as many students as possible, and a program that facilitates the conscious development of large numbers of underrepresented students with STEM skills who will contribute to America's innovation and competitiveness. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), lead institution of the USM LSAMP, in partnership with long-time alliance members the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), seeks to expand the alliance by adding new Associate Members from Towson University and Frostburg University, and Community College Collaborators from the STEM tracks of Prince George's Community College, Anne Arundel Community College, and the Community College of Baltimore County. The USM LSAMP will continue to build foundations for cultivating and mentoring the next generation of leaders through four pillars of STEM: (1) STEM Identity, (2) Sense of Community, (3) Strength-based Approaches, and (4) Institutional Culture Shift. The four pillars will be operationalized via four programmatic focus areas that are (1) Participation, (2) Performance, (3) Preparation, and (4) Presentation. Participation consists of a book-ended support structure. On the front end, bridge programming will be utilized for both incoming freshmen and community college transfer students. On the back end, preparation for graduate school will be integrated into the undergraduate experience to pave the way for STEM graduate degrees. Performance will focus on bolstering students' math performance. In addition to tutorial support throughout the year, USM LSAMP students will also have the opportunity to participate in the USM Winter Mathematics Institute. Preparation will emphasize undergraduate research as a pathway to the Ph.D. USM LSAMP students will have opportunities to conduct research during the academic year on each of the USM LSAMP campuses. The alliance will use presentation as a means to foster both professional and leadership development. Participants will have opportunities to present their research domestically and internationally. The leadership of USM LSAMP who are STEM professionals endeavor to change lives, families, and society by helping the next generation of STEM leaders pursue the path of STEM excellence.

The knowledge-generating research study, entitled ?Invoking STEM Identity through Purpose-Driven Research Preparation and Sense of Community?, will test a theory-driven model that positions racial/ethnic climate, science self-efficacy, sense of belonging, academic/social integration, and science identity as mediators to explain pathways to persistence and success in STEM. The model will be examined using both quantitative and qualitative data for the USM LSAMP program as a whole as well as for each program component. Whether the pathways differ by ethnicity, gender, and transfer status will also be explored.