TY - GEN
T1 - ADDRESSING SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC INTEGRATION CHALLENGES OF STEM STUDENTS
T2 - 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, SEFI 2025
AU - Verboven, C.
AU - De Laet, T.
AU - Van den Broeck, L.
AU - Beagon, U.
AU - Ventura-Medina, E.
AU - Kövesi, K.
AU - Van Soom, C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© SEFI 2025.All rights reserved.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Despite ongoing efforts to enhance enrolment in STEM programs, dropout rates among first-year students remain significantly high, particularly among minority groups such as women, first-generation students, and apprenticeship students (Martin, 2017). These students often face unique challenges related to their social and academic integration (SAInt), which are crucial for persistence and academic success in higher education (Tinto, 1975). The In-4-STEM project aims to address these challenges by designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative interventions that support minority students during their transition into higher education (Erasmus+, 2024). This interactive workshop presents initial findings from focus groups with first-year STEM students, offering insights into the experiences and integration challenges faced by minority groups. Building on these insights, participants will consider their own institutional contexts and engage in a structured, collaborative process to design interventions targeting SAInt challenges. Through working in small groups, participants will create preliminary designs for interventions that can be implemented or adapted to their specific settings and offer constructive feedback on each other's designs. The workshop therefore aims to foster inter-institutional dialogue, stimulate critical reflection, and inspire participants to consider solutions that can enhance minority students' social and academic integration. Participants will leave the session with a deeper understanding of the integration challenges faced by minority students and a co-developed intervention, enriched by peer feedback about the constraints that are associated with the implementation of this particular intervention. Outputs from the workshop will also contribute to the In-4-STEM toolbox that aims to support educational innovators and lecturers worldwide to develop strategies to tackle SAInt challenges experienced by a diverse group of new STEM students.
AB - Despite ongoing efforts to enhance enrolment in STEM programs, dropout rates among first-year students remain significantly high, particularly among minority groups such as women, first-generation students, and apprenticeship students (Martin, 2017). These students often face unique challenges related to their social and academic integration (SAInt), which are crucial for persistence and academic success in higher education (Tinto, 1975). The In-4-STEM project aims to address these challenges by designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative interventions that support minority students during their transition into higher education (Erasmus+, 2024). This interactive workshop presents initial findings from focus groups with first-year STEM students, offering insights into the experiences and integration challenges faced by minority groups. Building on these insights, participants will consider their own institutional contexts and engage in a structured, collaborative process to design interventions targeting SAInt challenges. Through working in small groups, participants will create preliminary designs for interventions that can be implemented or adapted to their specific settings and offer constructive feedback on each other's designs. The workshop therefore aims to foster inter-institutional dialogue, stimulate critical reflection, and inspire participants to consider solutions that can enhance minority students' social and academic integration. Participants will leave the session with a deeper understanding of the integration challenges faced by minority students and a co-developed intervention, enriched by peer feedback about the constraints that are associated with the implementation of this particular intervention. Outputs from the workshop will also contribute to the In-4-STEM toolbox that aims to support educational innovators and lecturers worldwide to develop strategies to tackle SAInt challenges experienced by a diverse group of new STEM students.
KW - academic integration
KW - first-year students
KW - intervention
KW - minority
KW - social integration
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105031578683
U2 - 10.5281/zenodo.17631583
DO - 10.5281/zenodo.17631583
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105031578683
T3 - SEFI 2025 - 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education: Engineering and Society, Proceedings
SP - 2248
EP - 2253
BT - SEFI 2025 - 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education
A2 - Kangaslampi, Riikka
A2 - Langie, Greet
A2 - J�rvinen, Hannu-Matti
A2 - Nagy, Bal�zs
PB - European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI)
Y2 - 15 September 2025 through 18 September 2025
ER -