18-2 Developing Career Competencies Through Collaborative Mentored Undergraduate Research: A Learning Ecosystem Approach

Session: Shaping a Sustainable Future with Geology in the Twenty-First Century: Geology and Society Division Turns 22

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Creating a STEM-literate workforce capable of addressing emerging environmental and societal “wicked problems” is one of the major goals for geoscience programs. Given the transdisciplinary nature of emerging issues faced by geoscience professionals, the skills and competencies necessary for geoscience and related career fields are expanding beyond discipline-specific skills. Recent employer surveys have identified communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork among the skills and competencies essential for a successful career. However, the current system of post-secondary STEM education provides little or no opportunities for students to be explicitly trained in relevant career-related skills and competencies, including cross-disciplinary communication skills and the ability to effectively work in multidisciplinary teams, to make them workforce ready.

On our campus we addressed this issue by creating a Geo-STEM learning ecosystem (GLE) for conducting community-based, transdisciplinary, collaborative undergraduate research. This GLE was created as a part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation’s GEOPAths program. Over the duration of this project, twelve students from eight different STEM and non-STEM disciplines participated in the GLE. Participants conducted six cross-disciplinary collaborative research projects addressing real-world issues. Assessment results show that participants appreciated the emphasis on collaborative problem-solving, interdisciplinary and intercultural communication, and the opportunity for culturally situated place-based learning. They reported developing several career competencies and skills, including communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills because of their GLE participation. Even participants from non-STEM disciplinary backgrounds felt their intellectual contributions were valued and they were appreciated as group members.

Undergraduate research is often conducted in isolated disciplinary silos. Such an ecosystem model can promote career readiness for geoscience students by providing opportunities for cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration. The goal of this presentation is to promote discussion among practitioners about intentionally using interdisciplinary undergraduate research experience for developing essential career competencies.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-7978

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