President Hrabowski and three undergraduate scholars from UMBC talked about strategies for increasing student success in STEM areas during a keynote panel on April 23 at the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference. Dalton Hughes ’14, chemical engineering, Lauren Mazzoli ’15, mathematics and computer science, and Mitchel Zavala ’14, mechanical engineering, also talked about their UMBC experiences in a discussion moderated by PBS Newshour co-anchor Judy Woodruff.
The panel addressed major issues in STEM education, including the challenge of retaining students in STEM majors, the need to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups succeeding in STEM, and the importance of mentorship and a supportive peer community in student success. Mazzoli, Zavala and Hughes shared what drew them to STEM and to UMBC, describing their experiences with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program (Hughes) and Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholars Program (Mazzoli). Describing UMBC, Mazzoli shared, “It’s a great community… they’re always supporting you.”
(The panel discussion begins at 22 min.)
