STEM Starter Academy
Annual Evaluation Report, Year 8
Jeremiah Johnson, Senior Research Manager
Ivana Zuliani, Research Manager
Donna Spraggon, Senior Research Analyst
Jordan Abbott, Senior Research Analyst
Anthony Rainey, Senior Research Analyst
Jackie Stein, Research Manager
 STEM Starter Academy
Annual Evaluation Report—Year 8
The goal of STEM Starter Academy is to recruit, ready, retain, and graduate a diverse
group of students earning STEM degrees and certificates who go on to transfer to
4-year STEM programs and/or enter the STEM workforce.
STEM Starter Academy Spotlight: Key findings
The Department of Higher Education (DHE) launched Overall, 64% of SSA participants
STEM Starter Academy (SSA) at all 15 Massachusetts have achieved positive outcomes
community colleges in January 2014. This system-wide (degree/certificate, 4-year transfer,
initiative is designed to support students through
retention) and have achieved those
community college STEM pathway programs that result in
outcomes at higher rates than their
job placement within STEM professions or transfer to
non-SSA peers.
university STEM programs. SSA has brought together a
learning community of state initiative leaders, college Black SSA participants, Latinx SSA
program staff, and college administrators to do this work. participants, and women SSA
participants have achieved positive
The initiative connects students to STEM opportunities
outcomes and earned STEM
within the larger STEM ecosystem (e.g., 4-year colleges
degrees and certificates at
and universities, and STEM employers) to enhance
students' awareness of STEM, readiness for rigorous
significantly higher rates than their
study, and planning for careers in the STEM workforce. non-SSA peers.
Through interventions and supports aimed at increasing
SSA case management improved
equity in access and outcomes for underrepresented and
positive outcomes one year after
underserved student populations, SSA seeks to meet
entry. Grantees also reported that
current and projected workforce demands.
case management helped to tether
students to their community college
This report in challenging times.
The UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI) has partnered with
DHE as an external evaluator of the initiative since the Contents
program began. This report summarizes findings related
Context and SSA Overview
to the SSA initiative’s overall effectiveness in terms of key
student outcomes, based on data from SSA Years 1–8 SSA Infographic …………..………………………………….…… p. 2
(2014–2021). These findings include descriptive data
Context (STEM Workforce and COVID Pandemic)... p. 4
about SSA participants as well as results from rigorous
statistical analyses to assess the impacts of SSA on About SSA ................................................................ p. 7
student success. To contextualize these findings, the first
Findings
part of this report provides background on the STEM
workforce and an overview of the SSA initiative. Participant Characteristics ..................................... p. 11
Evidence and Outcomes ........................................ p. 13
Conclusion ………………….......................................... p. 16
1
2
Context
3
 Building the STEM Workforce
SSA is helping to meet a growing need for a diverse population of STEM-
skilled graduates across the Commonwealth
As open-access institutions, community colleges provide a critical on-ramp and
connection to STEM education and career pathways.
STEM jobs are vital to the MA economy, Community college students differ from
and demand for STEM workers will students at 4-year colleges
continue to grow in MA Among public institutions of higher education in
Massachusetts, community colleges serve the largest
According to a 2021 report from Commonwealth
proportion of students of color, low-income students,
Corporation, 21% of the Massachusetts workforce is
women, and adult learners.5 Given this diversity,
employed by STEM industry. This exceeds the national
community colleges are a logical and essential place to
average (14%). It is expected that this number will
invest in developing a diverse STEM workforce.
increase to more than 37% by 2028, with STEM jobs
accounting for 40% of all job growth in the state. The Racial/Ethnic and Gender Diversity at
projected growth rate for STEM jobs is more than double Massachusetts Community Colleges (Fall 2021)
the projected rate for job growth overall.1 49%
students
It is widely known that it is important to have a diverse of color
47%
workforce—including a diverse STEM workforce— XX% 63%
students
because diversity allows for a variety of perspectives, students
of color women
creativity and innovation in the workplace, and the of color
ability to connect to a wider range of communities and
consumers.
However, diversity in the MA STEM workforce is By providing supports that increase retention, transfer,
making uneven progress. At present, only 5% of STEM and completion, including among student groups
industry workers in MA are Black and only 6% are underrepresented in STEM, SSA contributes to a more
Latinx,2 while Black and Latinx communities represent diverse pool of STEM-skilled graduates.
approximately 9% and 11% of the total workforce in the
SSA fits into the STEM ecosystem by offering students
state, respectively.3
the opportunity to connect to business and industry,
Structural inequities in the educational system have and other parts of the educational system. Through
contributed to lack of diversity in STEM disciplines and, research experiences and internships, students gain
by extension, the STEM workforce. For example, DHE relevant STEM knowledge and skills while building
reports a 33-percentage point gap in graduation rates relationships with industry partners. The SSA-funded 2-
between White women and Latino men at MA public to-4 Year Transfer Academies help prepare transferring
colleges or universities (2018).4 Educational institutions community college students for a successful transition to
need to continue to adapt to support higher rates of STEM programs at 4-year institutions. Similarly, SSA
attainment of degrees and certificates by Summer Bridge programs connect incoming college
underrepresented populations. This adaptation is key to students to community college staff, faculty, and peers,
bolstering the STEM workforce. while offering an orientation to the college, STEM-
related courses, and career exploration opportunities.
4
 The COVID-19 Pandemic
SSA’s flexible and adaptive approach to supporting STEM and STEM-
interested students has been well-suited for meeting students’ needs
during the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID impacts on the community Flexible and timely support helps keep
colleges and on students are far-reaching students on track
Enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges (and Given these disconnection rates, the responsibility of the
state universities) has been declining since 2013, a trend educational system—and community colleges in particular
related to changing demographics in the Commonwealth.6 —to support the students who do enroll is all the more
Starting in spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted critical.
additional declines, which were especially dramatic at
The pandemic-induced needs of enrolled community
community colleges,7 where the student body is made up
college students are wide-ranging. With the onset of the
largely of groups disproportionally impacted by the
pandemic, many community college students faced
pandemic (e.g., communities of color, low-wage workers,
significant changes in life circumstances, such as loss of
individuals facing food and housing insecurity). Over the
income, illness, shifting family obligations, as well as food
seven years from fall 2012 to fall 2019, community college
and housing insecurity. Further, in an academic sense,
enrollment for degree seeking students decreased by
students faced an unexpected transition to a remote
24%, from 100,798 to 76,327. From fall 2019 to fall 2021,
instructional format. For some, this presented challenges
enrollment decreased an additional 15%, from 76,327 to
in terms of access to and/or engagement with (1)
64,988.8
technology; (2) hands-on instructional activities integral to
Educators and researchers have described an increase in STEM learning; and (3) faculty, peers, and relevant
student disconnection resulting from the pandemic. The material. Individualized supports and a flexible approach
youth disconnection rate refers to the share of young enabled continued engagement and academic progress in
people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither this context.
working nor in school, and it is calculated using US Census
data. After a decade-long decline, the pandemic fueled an “SSA has helped create/maintain a culture of
increase in the youth disconnection rate, nationally and in
Massachusetts.9 The 2020 rate, which researchers assert
emphasizing the importance of STEM and
is likely an underestimate due to pandemic-related STEM fields, especially during a time when
difficulties with Census data collection, is 10.6% for MA. students needed it—when they were
This represents 88,400 disconnected youth. The rate disconnected. It’s helped support students
varied dramatically by race/ethnicity, with 17.0% of Black
when they couldn’t go to the lab, get hands-on
youth and 20.4% of Latinx youth disconnected, compared
to 8.2% of White youth. 10 experiences, do that type of work.” (Roxbury)
MA
MAYouth
YouthDisconnection
DisconnectionRate
Rate2020
2020
Through SSA’s flexible and adaptive policies and practices,
Black 17.0%
and its use of the case-management model for supporting
Latinx 20.4% students from entry through to completion, SSA was well-
positioned to help students connect to their community
White 8.2%
college, engage in STEM, and achieve positive outcomes.
5
About SSA
6
 SSA Overview
SSA differentiates approaches to improve equity in access and outcomes
SSA is an important piece of a larger STEM ecosystem that aims to increase diversity
along STEM pathways by addressing needs for student support, connection, and
engagement in STEM fields of study.
Launched at-scale with local flexibility Student connection and engagement
From its system-wide launch at all 15 Massachusetts SSA provides STEM-declared and STEM-interested
public community colleges in 2014, SSA has been community college students with a range of
committed to the core principles of flexibility for site- experiences and supports within and beyond the
level adaptation, a collaborative learning community, community college, including:
cycles of innovation, and a focus on equity to support
• STEM-focused bridging experiences (summer
student success (see Appendix A for more detail).
bridge-to-college programs, 2- to 4-year transfer
An evolving focus academies)
• Academic support (math readiness activities,
SSA's core principles have guided 9 years of program academic tutoring)
design and implementation. In Years 1-3 (Phase 1), SSA • Financial support (scholarships, paid internships,
focused on recruitment into and readiness for STEM stipends, tuition waivers, in-kind support)
pathways and promoted community colleges as entry
• Cohort activities, peer mentoring
points to STEM careers. In Years 3-5 (Phase 2), the
focus shifted to increasing retention and readying • STEM advising
students for completion by addressing academic and • STEM pathway and/or STEM career counseling
non-academic factors with an emphasis on • Career exploration and preparation (STEM-related
relationship-building. Beginning in Year 6, SSA internships, work experience with industry
transitioned to a third phase, characterized by partners, professional mentorship, resume review
adoption of a student-centered case management sessions, networking events, speakers)
model of support. Along the way, key developments • Research opportunities
have shaped the initiative’s evolution. (See timeline of • STEM leadership opportunities
some key milestones below.) • Case management
Timeline: Key SSA Milestones
7
 Program Development: Case Management
The SSA community is implementing a case management model to
support students from entry through graduation or transfer
Phase 3 (Year 6+): SSA case management components
Case management and through-line
SSA case management provides a comprehensive set
Since Year 6, SSA programs have transitioned from of supports spanning the semesters and phases of a
discrete interventions focused on recruitment, student’s time at community college—including
readiness, retention, and completion to case planning for the transition to the STEM workforce or
management as a strategy for connecting STEM further education. Implementation of the SSA case
students—or th