The Impacts of an Undergraduate Research Program in the Geosciences for Minority STEM Students

The National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) Program at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) has supported undergraduate research from years 2013-2018. With the need to increase minority representation in the geosciences, City Tech's REU program focused on satellite and ground-based remote sensing research conducted at the NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center. The program is opened to all City University of New York STEM students. This study examined the impact of a summer undergraduate research program on underrepresented minority students. Data from four student cohorts was collected via pre- and post-surveys. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, participants were asked to measure their expectations, their perceptions about research, their self-efficacy in research skills and processes, and their desires to pursue graduate school and/or a research career. The 49 students participated in the program over a four-year period. Descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-tests, and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the self-reported responses. Results showed that by the end of the summer, students self reported significant learning gains on their research confidence, experience, and overall exposure.