Sociology professor receives grant to help low-income engineering commuter students

Michelle R. Jacobs, assistant professor of sociology, and a team of scholars was recently awarded funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.

The NSF funding supports a program called ACCESS: Achieving Commuter Engagement and Success, which will provide financial support to low-income, academically talented engineering commuter students at Wayne State University. In addition to receiving scholarship money, ACCESS students will participate in programs intended to support retention and success, including a summer engineering boot camp, peer and faculty mentoring, and experiential learning through internships and co-ops.

The NSF-funded project aims to increase retention rates among WSU commuter engineering students by improving students' 1) sense of belonging in the engineering program and 2) engagement in academic support activities.

Dr. Jacobs' role in the project is to conduct focus groups and structured interviews with ACCESS students to generate knowledge regarding their specific needs as low-income, commuter students in engineering, whether/how these needs vary across race/ethnicity and gender, and whether/how the elements of the ACCESS program improve their experiences as commuters.