Alliance for Change: Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research at California State University

Engagement in high-impact practices such as undergraduate research can dramatically improve academic and developmental outcomes; traditionally underserved students (including underrepresented minorities and first-generation students) often experience outsized benefits from these academic experiences. The California State University Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) program provides wide-ranging scaffolding and support to underrepresented students, seeking to increase the participation of individuals who face or have faced social, educational, or economic barriers to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The authors provide a description of the undergraduate research and supplementary programs supported by the CSU-LSAMP program at California State University Monterey Bay and other CSU campuses and present outcome data highlighting the benefits of leveraging undergraduate research engagement to increase participation of underserved groups in STEM.