Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Space Science Research: A Step Toward a More Diverse Workforce

Community college is an expanding option for students interested in science and engineering, as it is affordable and focused on wraparound student support. Developing robust pathways for transfer from community college to four-year space science and aerospace engineering programs is an important component for increasing diversity in the workforce. Beyond having a transfer pathway, developing programs that create a connection to aerospace and space sciences early in a student's college career is even more important. Specifically, students attending community college for their science and engineering transfer coursework are usually only familiar with broad applications of physics and engineering, few consider aerospace. In Colorado, we are approaching this issue through undergraduate research experiences with an aerospace focus in the first two years of community college. This is accomplished through a partnership with Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC). COSGC provides funding, advising and program support for affiliates (2 and 4 year institutions) to conduct research programs on their campuses and support students through scholarships and stipends. Community colleges are a critical part of that affiliate network. Developing a scaffolded undergraduate research pathway in community college provides students the opportunity to engage in hands on experiences that lead to better retention and persistence in STEM. COSGC assists affiliate schools with project opportunities and platforms, mentoring, team building, transfer advising and scholarships. Projects like Robotics Challenge, Demosat, RockSat and others enable student teams build their skills and start to see themselves as scientists and engineers. Making these early connections to university and industry partners begins their path to the aerospace workforce.