The AANAPISI-funded STEM Program: An Institutional Response to the Needs of Asian American Community College Students

ABSTRACT

This study examined the unique needs of Asian American students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors and the extent to which institutional agents responded to their needs. This qualitative study focused on Asian American STEM students enrolled at Shasta Fair Community College (SFCC), a federally designated and grant-funded Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). Results demonstrate that both students and institutional agents reported that the AANAPISI-funded STEM program, which provides a one-stop service for counseling, tutoring, and various other support services, allowed institutional agents to support the unique needs of Asian American community college students in STEM majors.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the institution, students, and the institutional agents that participated in this study. We also want to recognize our colleagues who assisted with leading and collecting the data for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In the existing scholarship and U.S. Census data, the demography of Asian Americans (AAs) and Pacific Islanders (PIs) are often discussed collectively as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). When referencing a source, the authors use AAPIs or Asian American to align with the source, but will use Asian American when referencing this study given our focus on Asian Americans.