Understanding and Supporting the Whole Student
A National Science Foundation S-STEM Hub
The NSF S-STEM-NET Hub project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by creating a better understanding of how postsecondary institutions and state agencies across multiple sectors can support domestic low-income STEM college students to achieve their goals. Over five years, Education Northwest is partnering with Washington state to reveal new and actionable information about how publicly funded housing, health, and human services programming can address students’ needs and model how other states can think about using data to improve STEM success for low-income students.
Research Agenda
S-STEM Hub partners are working to link individual-record data from the Washington State Education Research & Data Center (ERDC)—home to a statewide longitudinal data system including data from the early learning, K–12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors—and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS)—the state agency that delivers a variety of social services and public benefits programs. Using linked data, this research project will address key questions to better understand who accesses need-based financial aid and publicly funded public benefits programs and how these programs support low-income students to access and succeed in STEM postsecondary and workforce pathways.
In addition, the Hub is collaborating with the Washington Student Achievement Council on their Postsecondary Benefits Promotion Pilot program. The Hub will also partner with Washington community and technical colleges on an experimental study to examine how providing students with more information on available basic needs services and public benefits affects their use of those services and their college success, including retention and performance in STEM programs.
Hub Team and Partners
The team consists of postsecondary success researchers at Education Northwest as well as co-principal investigators Sara Goldrick-Rab (Education Northwest fellow and scholar-activist leader) and Christine Baker-Smith (Director of Research for the National League of Cities).
The Hub will bring together stakeholders across sectors to move from data to action, changing how practitioners and policymakers think about broadening supports for low-income students to improve their STEM enrollment and completion. The Hub partners and collaborators include:
- Washington state agencies: ERDC, DSHS, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Washington Student Achievement Council
- An advisory team of experts in STEM and basic needs support, including Erin Carll (University of Washington), David R. Brown (Nine Twenty-Four Strategies), Ruthe Farmer (Last Mile Education Fund), and Vistasp Karbhari (University of Texas-Arlington)
- Higher Ed Insight, our external evaluator
