A Leadership Commitment to Underserved Students in STEM

Otto W. K. Lee, Ed.D.Vice Chancellor – Instructional Services & Planning

San Diego Community College District

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San Diego Community College District

California’s second-largest community college districtServes the City of San Diego and surrounding region5 Member Elected Board of Trustees.

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50,000 Students Enroll in Credit Programs

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50,000 Students Enroll inContinuing Education

• Educational Cultural Complex

• Centre City Campus• Skills Center• Cesar Chavez Campus

• Mid-City Campus• West City Campus• North City Campus

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145,000 Service Personnel Enroll in San Diego Community College’s Military Education Programs

Trustees

Commitment to STEM

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CollegesCommunity

Students

Recognition of criticality of STEM in terms of:● Regional economic development and workforce● Community and industry partners Investment in state of the art teaching and

learning facilities

Board of Trustees

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Life Sciences500+ Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Companies

San Diego Region- Areas of Industry Growth

Health SciencesPatient Care & Research

Information Technology & ServicesWireless, Telecommunications, Software

Advanced ManufacturingAerospace, Defense, Global, Shipbuilding

Hospitality & TourismRecreation, Hotel/Motel, Restaurants

SDCCD Corporate Council

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Corporate Council Goals• Identify strategies for meeting local business and

employer needs

• Provide business leaders an opportunity for effective input into the educational process at the colleges and continuing education programs

• Provide the District’s Board of Trustees, chancellor, and educators an on-going opportunity to receive direct input from business leaders throughout the region

• Provide students attending the District’s colleges and Continuing Education up-to-date employer needs and expectations

• Offer unique corporate marketing opportunities affiliated with District-sponsored activities and programs

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District Strategic Plan – Goal #1

Increase Access to Continuing and Higher Education Opportunities for All

Strengthen curricular linkages with K-12 partners to improve alignment for student learning and academic achievement.

Increase student awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) related careers and improve applicable student competencies.

Provide seamless and student-focused transfer pathways from non-credit to credit programs, and credit programs to Baccalaureate institutions.

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Mesa CollegeMath & Natural Sciences (206,000 sf - $117M)

City College Sciences (67,000 sf - $55M)Math (66,000 sf - $81M)Engineering Technology (77,000 sf - $38M)

Miramar CollegeSciences (32,000 sf - $34M)Math (46,000 sf - $34M)

New SDCCD Instructional Facilities

• Women in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Reasoning

• Military Service Members• Minorities and K-12

• Bridges to the Future• San Diego Gas & Electric “Smart Grid”

Noteworthy SDCCD STEM Initiatives

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The Pipeline of Women in STEMIn the second half of the 2000 decade:

AP Computer Science Takers – Females 17%Undergraduate engineering enrollment – 17.2%First-year enrollment – 16.7%BS degrees in Math and Computer Science – 27%Employment

Engineers -11%Architects -25%Math and Computer Scientists -26% (Sources: NSF; Engineering Workforce Commission)

Student (In)Equity in GIS Program

43%

52%57%

63%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Enrollment Success Rate

2.16

3.1

Ave. GPA

FemalesMales

N = 133 students

The Math Phobia - Observations“I’m just not a math person- never have been, never will be…..guess I’m just more artsy….”- Shani Rudick (Student in Developmental Math)

Our culture encourages this categorical thinking: Challenge the students to acknowledge that they don’t have to fall into one category or the other.Spatial abilities have been linked to various careers and are “known to be fundamental to higher-level thinking, reasoning, and creative processes…”

Gender differences in 3-D spatial skills, favoring males, are well-documented throughout the literature.

One Intervention on Learning : Spatial Reasoning and Visualization

IWITTS Project Collateral – developed using our Student Role Models

One Intervention on Perception

The Outcome: Student Equity GIS Program

43%

52%

70%

80%

51%

70%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Enrollment Completion Success Rate

Average GPA increased from 2.16 to 3.05

Improvements in other SDCCD Programs

Female EnrollmentShip Building Technology 23% to 31%Physics 31% to 35%

Female Student SuccessAviation Maintenance 82% to 96%Manufacturing and Engineering Technology 78% to 86%Physics 67% to 75%

Math, Engineering, Science AchievementA culture & language

of success MESA model and network

Transfer to four-year institution in a math-based major

Serving 200 students annually

National Science Foundation Support

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Troops to EngineersMilitary experience to

civilian careers in STEMHands-on and high-tech

experiencesVariation in math

preparationSDCCD to offer lower

division math courses prior to separation

Priority transfer to San Diego State University School of Engineering

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Festival of Science & EngineeringActivities, demonstrations,

education for 22,000 K-12 students and families

Over 55,000 participants from local community, education & industry CEO Qualcomm Chancellor, UCSD Chancellor, SDCCD Superintendent, San Diego

Unified School District San Diego City Council

Member Chief Scientist, US Navy

SPAWAR Nobel Laureate 23

Festival of Science & Engineering

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Thank you!

QUESTIONS?

olee@sdccd.edu619 388-6965

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