**1. Introduction**

The United States of America (USA) is a technologically advanced nation and a world leader in STEM because of its many research universities, fundamental technologies, and connections between science, technology, and business. However, China is poised to become the world leader in STEM graduates and competes with the USA for technological supremacy which has triggered a national STEM crisis [1, 2]. The crisis results from the demands of the workforce being greater than the supply of STEM graduates in the right STEM fields at any given time. The shortage has resulted in a need and an opportunity for unrepresented minority STEM students to help bridge the gap through higher education institutions. To aid in these goals, a STEM Student Success Model with the most relevant components for success is proposed.

*STEM education* is an approach to teaching and learning that integrates the content and skills of STEM and other disciplines using an interdisciplinary and applied approach that focuses on the development of STEM skills. STEM education facilitates economic development, international competitiveness, and job creation [3]. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security [4] maintains the STEM-designated degree program list of classifications of instructional programs (CIPs) that fall within the regulatory definition of STEM fields. See the Appendix for a listing of the two-digit primary and additional CIP codes.

#### **Figure 1.**

*STEM translation model. Note. The STEM translation model shows the connections within and between the four main STEM disciplines based on the original model [5].*

During their first two UG years, STEM students must complete 100- and 200-level gateway STEM classes before advancing to the upperclassman level. In the meantime, STEM students regardless of their major must learn how to translate between STEM disciplines which are inherently interdisciplinary. The STEM Translation Model in **Figure 1** depicts how STEM students must translate within and between STEM disciplines [5]. Also, to help in the translation, STEM students engage in convergent cognition when they take classes that complement each other such as using an algebra function with a programmatic function which demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of STEM disciplines [6]. However, those students who are underprepared for the challenge or are unable to progress in their gateway classes may either switch to non-STEM majors or drop out of college [7]. Higher education institutions (HEIs) can provide UG STEM students with access to support activities with peers, faculty, and other stakeholders so they can enroll, persist, and graduate with STEM degrees timely [8].

This study seeks to address the single research question "What critical elements make up a STEM Student Success Model?". Since the model is exploratory, there are no hypotheses or propositions rather the National Survey on Student Engagement [9] and other reliable sources will be used to address the research question.
