Understanding the postsecondary science degree persistence of undergraduate rural students using participatory action research

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded Clemson University $705,249 on October 1, 2026, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to investigate the persistence of rural undergraduate students in life science degree programs through participatory action research.

The project will identify and characterize the assets, resources, and networks that rural life science majors use to succeed, drawing on students from three institutions. The research will raise awareness among life science faculty and administrators about improving learning environments for rural students. The work addresses documented barriers to rural STEM participation, including limited high school STEM opportunities, financial constraints, and insufficient college-level mentoring. By examining strengths and support structures across multiple institutions and within the life sciences discipline specifically, the project aims to generate knowledge that supports rural student degree completion and workforce entry in the life sciences.

Performance of work occurs in Clemson, South Carolina, with the period of performance running from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2029.

Abstract

This project seeks to serve the national interest by advancing knowledge of how to support rural student participation in college life sciences degree programs. Rural students do not pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at the same rate as their non-rural peers for several documented reasons such as having fewer STEM teachers and opportunities to take STEM courses in high school, financial constraints for college education, and a lack of support from college STEM professors and advisors. However, the limited prior research on the strengths and support structures rural STEM students use to succeed has shortcomings, including drawing samples from only one institution or not recognizing important differences across STEM disciplines. To address these gaps, this project will investigate the strengths and support structures that contribute to the success of rural undergraduate life science majors from three different institutions. The new knowledge gained from this work will have the potential to support rural students? Success in obtaining degrees in the life sciences, and therefore, the number of rural students who enter the science workforce. The overall goal of this research project is to understand the persistence of rural students in earning undergraduate life science degrees. The specific objectives of this project are to: (1) identify and characterize the assets, resources, and networks that rural students use to persist in life science majors and (2) raise the awareness of life science faculty and administrators about how to improve life sciences learning environments for rural students. To accomplish the overall goal and specific objectives, a team of faculty and undergraduate researchers will use a participatory action research approach to examine the strengths, support structures, and mechanisms rural student use to succeed in their undergraduate life science majors. This project will draw upon two theoretical frameworks: rural cultural wealth and geography of opportunity. While rural cultural wealth is important for understanding assets and what works to support life science degree persistence for rural students, a geography of opportunity framework is important for understanding gaps in education that lead to rural students being less likely to pursue and persist in undergraduate life science degree programs. Rural undergraduate students? Life science degree persistence and trajectories will be investigated in a sample of 40 students in their final year of their degree program across three public, rural-serving institutions: clemson university, university of georgia, and university of north georgia. Data will be collected using semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation, which enriches interviews by including photographs taken by participants. The project is expected to produce conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, a webinar for life science faculty, and research-to-practice briefs. External evaluators will collect assessment data from field observations of internal team virtual meetings, focus groups, interviews, and a review of internal documents to assess the success of the project. The research team will evaluate the webinar and research-to-practice briefs through surveys and feedback from expert advisory board members. The project is expected to provide a more nuanced understanding about the mechanisms of success to broaden life science participation among rural students and to improve postsecondary science learning environments. The long-term goal of the research team is to generate knowledge and understanding that is used by higher education science instructors, leaders, and researchers to better support rural students in their postsecondary science education trajectories and ultimately benefit rural communities across the united states. The NSF iuse: EDU program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the engaged student learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.