Dr. Mark A. Melton, dean of the School of Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering and Professor Alieu Wurie, department chair of Mathematics and Engineering, attended the 6th Annual Conference on Understanding Interventions that Broaden Participation in Research Careers in Baltimore, Md. on May 16-18, 2014.

The program agenda featured a variety of topics and formats under the umbrella of ‘Measuring Pathways to Participation’. Through the various workshops, plenary sessions, symposia and posters, the conference served as a platform to explore science interventions together over three intense days to discuss and formulate strategies that broaden participation in research careers in STEM disciplines, particularly in the areas of women in science and minority diversification. The primary goal of the workshop was to have meaningful dialogue/interactions that serve to help discover, synthesize, fill gaps and assist each other as the participants endeavor to renew the science workforce through inventive programs of research, education and training.

One of the major workshops discussed ‘Capacity Building for Research on Culturally Sensitive Interventions at HBCUs.’ The goal was to establish links between interventions for broadening participation in STEM and the undergirding social science theories that best define and explain them. The expected outcomes of the workshop were to identify institutional and interdisciplinary strategies that are not only appropriate for producing underrepresented minority STEM baccalaureates, but also to transfer them to the STEM higher education community at large. Other topics included a discussion on the importance of strong faculty mentoring and coaching underrepresented students across the STEM pipeline, methods and measures of STEM pathway retention and leveling the playing field for underrepresented minority graduate students.