Island Hub Study

This study focuses on students with disabilities (SWD) and the unique issues of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) SWD (i.e., Native Hawaiian, Pacific Island, and Asian American students) as there is a continued issue of access for this subset of students (King, 2009; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). The study will be conducted in stages. In Year 1, we will investigate factors (e.g., historical, social, cultural, disability, and other personal factors) that facilitate or impede students’ attitude toward and access to postsecondary education and STEM, identity development in STEM, and persistence towards and graduation with a STEM degree to understand the students’ needs, conditions, and circumstances. Then, in considering those factors and different educational stages students are in, we will identify effective strategies to develop a tailored bridge and mentoring activities (e.g., e-mentoring, internship, course guidance, research support, student-family activities) appropriate to individual students’ needs, conditions, and circumstances. Subsequently, from Year 2, we will provide a personalized menu of mentoring activities tailored to specific SWD to support their retention and graduation.