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Conducted by Higher Ed Insight, Beyond Representation: An Analysis of the University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring Program is an independent evaluation that catalogs and reflects upon the latest learnings from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s decade-long investment in universities seeking to improve the recruitment, retention, and graduation of Black, Indigenous, and Latina/o/e doctoral students in STEM fields.
Taking a student-centered approach, the report explores Sloan Scholars’ experiences along STEM academic and career pathways and illuminates UCEM’s impact on graduate education across eight campuses, with implications for higher education and the funding community.
Among the many findings, the report documents and then explores:
- UCEM’s 7-year completion rate of 72% for Black, Indigenous, and Latina/o/e students, compared to 42% nationally.
- Effective recruitment practices for increasing diversity in STEM graduate education.
- Why an ecosystem of support is important for student success.
- Core components of successful UCEM models and what project teams benefit from the most.
- How Sloan and other funders can ensure impact and sustainability of their efforts.
The Sloan Foundation issues this report as part of its practice of continual improvement of its grantmaking through independent, evidence-based evaluation, in illustration of its ongoing commitment to transparency, and in the hope that the learnings contained herein might be useful to the wider community of students, educators, funders, and practitioners striving to craft educational institutions, systems, and environments that encourage every student to succeed.