Outcomes
By promoting student achievement and excellence in teaching and learning, the Grinnell Science Project addresses the issue of increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce, using a range of activities all of which are rooted in intensive mentoring and building a community of scientists (students and faculty alike) that supports persistence in science through and after graduation:
- Prior to the Grinnell Science Project, from 1992–1994, an average of 42 science majors graduated annually who were women and eight who were students of color. By 2008, those numbers had jumped to 90 women (a 114% increase) and 21 students of color (a 162.5% increase).
- Over 500 students have participated in the pre-orientation program, and they earned higher average grades compared with those who were invited but did not attend.
- Thousands of other students have benefited from the curricular and pedagogical changes, as well as from the mentoring relationships that have been established by GSP.
- Nearly 70% of the College’s science majors enter graduate degree programs. As reported by the National Science Foundation, Grinnell ranks eighth on a per-capita basis among all U.S. higher education institutions in producing science graduates who go on to pursue the Ph.D.
Publications and presentations about science education, by Grinnell College faculty
Graph 1: The number of physical science and computation science graduates from Grinnell College who are women has increased in the last two decades.
Graph 2: We see a cumulative increase in physical and computation science graduates from Grinnell College, relative to numbers from 1991-1995. Numbers are reported for students who identified themselves as: white, foreign national (FN), women, domestic students of color (SOC).
