Schooling Faculty, Yu April Chen, Receives NSF Career Award Inspecting Submit-transfer Achievements for Minority STEM Learners

April 19, 2022

BATON ROUGE, LA – University of Education and learning Assistant Professor Yu April Chen, PhD, is the recipient of a Countrywide Science Foundation Profession Award for her task titled Leveling the Playing Discipline in STEM: Post-transfer Success for Underrepresented Racial
Minority Neighborhood Faculty Transfers. The grant totals $497,713 and will span five many years. The NSF Faculty Career Progress (Vocation) Program offers the NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of early-job college who have
the probable to provide as educational position designs in research and instruction and to guide
improvements in the mission of their section or organization. Chen’s award is the initial
NSF Job grant awarded to the LSU University of Human Science and Education and learning. 

“Dr. Chen’s investigate perfectly enhances LSU’s Scholarship First strategic plan
and our motivation to preparing STEM industry experts who will in the long run serve our state,”
mentioned LSU College of Human Sciences & Instruction Dean Roland Mitchell. “Her exploration will shed light on a vital will need at bigger training establishments
throughout our state and nation – how to keep minority transfer college students and guidance
them in their collegiate journey.” 

Community faculties supply a very important transfer pathway towards bachelor’s levels in STEM
for quite a few underrepresented racial minority (URM) pupils. Though previous experiments
have focused on making a seamless STEM transfer pathway connecting sending neighborhood
schools and getting 4-calendar year establishments, substantial concerns continue being unsolved
just after transfer pupils arrived at the obtaining 4-yr institutions. Transfer
students could working experience credit reduction, transition issues, and reduce diploma attainment
level at the four-12 months establishment. 

Chen’s undertaking aims to study influential psychosocial variables of write-up-transfer results
for URM STEM transfer learners and to establish customized institutional approaches to
foster the transfer receptive tradition in 4-year institutions. The job will
strengthen the four-year diploma completion level of URM transfer pupils and market racial
equity in STEM fields. Chen will collaborate with various LSU departments to put into action
a transfer student good results application as properly as to establish proof-based methods
for transfer pupil recruitment and school specialist improvement.  The investigate
and academic elements of the job will lead to the statewide STEM initiative
in Louisiana by emphasizing STEM students’ changeover, retention, and diploma completion
in four-year institutions.

“The most enjoyable part of the job is to collaborate with colleagues from LSU Division of University student Affairs, LSU Find out, and LSU Admission,” mentioned Dr. Chen. “We will produce tailor-made courses and tactics to improve the
encounters of URM transfers at LSU. Acquiring an NSF Occupation grant as an instruction or
a social science researcher is very tough and hard.  I sense privileged
and grateful as this will open up incredible possibilities for me to advance my analysis
agenda, translate scholarship to exercise, and gain the communities of science
and follow at LSU and further than.” 

Chen is an Assistant Professor in the LSU College of Schooling. She makes use of both equally highly developed quantitative and qualitative techniques to research (a) group
college or university transfer pupils, (b) STEM results amid underrepresented student populations,
and (c) the activities of global pupils. 

Her scholarship has been posted in top rated-tier increased instruction journals these as Exploration in Increased Education and learning, Group School Evaluate, Neighborhood University Journal
of Exploration and Follow, and Journal of University Scholar Retention. Chen has delivered much more than 40 scholarly shows at leading national investigation
conferences these types of as the American Educational Study Affiliation (AERA), Affiliation for the Scientific tests of Greater
Education and learning (ASHE), and the Council for the Review of Neighborhood Faculties (CSCC).  

“Dr. Chen is an invaluable section of our bigger schooling administration faculty,” mentioned
Faculty of Education Interim Director Laura Choate. “This grant will permit Dr. Chen to check out strategies to endorse accomplishment for community
higher education college students who intend to go after educational pathways towards STEM targeted occupations.
Her results will be significant to advise four-yr institutions in building transfer
receptive cultures for underrepresented community college learners. Dr. Chen’s research
will ultimately promote pupil retention, graduation prices, and a much-desired pipeline
of STEM professionals.”  

Chen obtained the LSU Alumni Association Growing School Research Award in 2020 for her excellent information of scholarship and revealed exploration. She now
serves as the editorial board member for the Journal of The To start with-12 months Practical experience and Learners in Changeover (2021-2023) as very well as on the software committees for ASHE (2021-2022) and CSCC (2020-2021,
2021-2022).

About SOE 
The LSU Faculty of Instruction (SOE) features graduate and undergraduate plans in Curriculum
and Instruction, Educational Management and Investigation, and Counseling, like two
entirely on the web master’s systems. SOE offers a array of expert and educational
diploma courses that concentration on planning learners for professions in education and learning, investigation,
coverage formation and implementation, as properly as method oversight. The School’s mission
is to get ready P-12 instructional professionals to be leaders, practitioners, and scholars
proficient in present-day instructional concerns. SOE is section of the College of Human
Sciences & Education and learning. Stop by the University of Education at lsu.edu/chse/schooling.
 
About CHSE 
The University of Human Sciences & Education and learning (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division
of Louisiana Condition University. The faculty is comprised of the University of Schooling,
the University of Kinesiology, the School of Management & Human Resource Advancement,
the School of Library & Info Science, the College of Social Operate, and the College
Laboratory College. These combined schools supply 8 undergraduate degree plans, 18
graduate packages, and 7 on the internet graduate degree and/or certificate plans, enrolling
much more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,120 graduate college students. The Higher education is committed
to attaining the highest standards in training, research, and support and is dedicated
to improving upon good quality of lifestyle across the lifespan. Go to the School of Human Sciences
& Schooling at lsu.edu/chse.

Get in touch with:

Alison Satake
Study Communications
[email protected] 

Mary P. Woods
Communications LSU College or university of Human Sciences & Education
[email protected]