**2.6 Underrepresented minority STEM students**

There is a category of STEM students for which academic barriers need to be removed as shown by disparities in STEM retention and graduation rates between URM and non-URM students.

URM students who identify as African-American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Hispanic/Latino made up 33.2% of the U.S. population but represented only 22% of STEM undergraduate degrees and 9% of doctoral STEM degrees in 2016. The 6-year graduation rate for URM STEM majors was 33.8% as compared to 53.1% for non-URM STEM majors [37]. Consequently, URM students must navigate the challenges that disproportionately affect them so ultimately their representation in STEM fields will be equal to or better than their percentage of the USA population.

Early intervention efforts, particularly in the areas of mathematics through summer bridge and related peer learning programs help ensure URM students are adequately prepared to succeed in STEM fields. Likewise, network-based mentoring allows students to receive both professional and peer mentoring services as a mentor and a mentee that can alleviate barriers to success among URM groups in STEM fields including faculty mentoring programs. Also, HEIs can track successes and failures at the institutional level and collect data to help explain existing trends so there can be a stronger focus on removing institutional barriers. Finally, HEIs can capitalize on known successes, recognize the need for accountability, and facilitate future progress for increased persistence and graduation of URM STEM students [37–40].

### **2.7 The STEM student success model**

The STEM Student Success Model is an introductory model for STEM students and other stakeholders to use in determining what are the most likely critical components based on the NSSE and other reliable sources for STEM students to enroll, persist, and graduate timely. The STEM Student Success Model outlines in pictorial form the basic overlapping critical elements for which URM STEM students may enroll, persist, and graduate timely. The most salient stakeholders that support the model are peer students, faculty, and the institution. The main elements are listed in **Figure 4** and detailed as follows:

*Introduction to the STEM Student Success Model DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112614*

#### **Figure 4.**

*The STEM student success model. Note. The STEM student success model is based on major elements of the NSSE survey and other sources.*


The model depicts all four main sections but users would also need to access the details for more information on how STEM students were successful in their studies.
