Training and Research Activities for Better Access to Job Opportunities (TRABAJO)

Overview

Capacity project within the National Science Foundation IUSE-HSI program focused on building innovative Cross-Sector Partnerships. TRABAJO will engage students interested in but not yet fully committed to a STEM career in a series of increasingly intensive opportunities to explore and learn in the STEM work place. Our plan is to provide career-focused activities, specifically class visits to work sites, job shadowing, and internships, which we think can help motivate STEM students to prioritize their STEM studies and to increase their participation in supportive STEM activities. We plan to develop partnerships with local industry and institutes by using our network of STEM alumni within local employers.

Target Population

This project will engage freshmen and sophomore students with STEM professionals via worksite visits, job shadowing, and internships. Our career exploration activities are geared to support BIPOC, LGBTIQ+, first-generation college students, and other groups underrepresented in the STEM fields. We recognize that there have historically been many barriers keeping certain communities from participating in STEM activities and programs. As a way to advocate for diversity, inclusion, and our campus equity initiatives we would like to encourage underrepresented students in STEM to engage in TRABAJO career activities. Representation within the STEM workforce matters to our campus community, as we want students to connect with industry leaders that reflect our campus demographics.

Goals

  • Provide a job shadow program experience as an effective tool in motivate students to persist in college, identify their field of study, and connect with industry leaders
  • Expose students to Research and Industry Internship opportunities to motivate undergraduates to persist in STEM programs
  • Develop a larger, more diverse STEM Work Force by sustaining cross-sector partnerships with industries locally and nationally
  • Encourage student groups at our college to demistify confusion students experience about selecting academic majors and careers
  • Encourage student career exploration through various professions and job opportunities available within academic disciplines
  • Connect first-generation and underrepresented minority (URM) students with direct employer contacts within the STEM careers as role models

Activities

  1. Class visits to Job sites
  2. Job shadow program
  3. Connecting students with internships

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE 1953762. Any opinions expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).