Dika Awarded Spencer Research Grant

Dr. Sandra Dika was awarded a Spencer Small Research Grant to examine STEM transfer culture at two large, predominantly White institutions in North Carolina. Below is the abstract of her study:

Students who transfer from community college to four-year institutions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field are less likely to graduate than peers who start at four-year institutions, and this effect is more pronounced for students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups. While student factors indeed play a role, there is a critical need to understand the multilayered institutional contexts that promote more equitable participation and success in STEM to guide informed policymaking and programming in higher education institutions. My objective for the Spencer Small Research Grant is to conduct a mixed-methods case study of inclusive STEM transfer culture at two large, predominantly White institutions in North Carolina. My central proposition is that STEM culture, institutional climate, and transfer-affirming culture will converge in distinct ways at institutions with different STEM transfer enrollment profiles and student outcomes. The rationale for the study is that understanding the interaction of STEM, institutional, and transfer culture and climate at two distinctly different sites would establish a preliminary framework to examine inclusive STEM transfer culture broadly at four-year institutions.