Supporting underrepresented students in health sciences: a fuzzy cognitive mapping approach to program evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Health professions education research
• Educational psychology
• Socioeconomic factors in education

Background:

• The Students Training in Academia, Health, and Research (STAHR) Program at UMKC supports low-income students facing educational challenges.
• The program aims to improve student entry, persistence, and graduation rates in health sciences degrees.
• Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) was used to gather student input for program enhancement and equity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess program implementation strengths and weaknesses using student-generated Fuzzy Cognitive Maps.
• To understand factors influencing student success in a health sciences program, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To incorporate student voices for improving educational environments and program outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Conducted Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping sessions with 52 students in the 2020-2021 STAHR cohort.
• Coded student-generated FCM maps to identify key themes and relationships.
• Utilized confirmatory factor analysis to validate the coded mapping data.

Main Results:

• Mentorship, workshops, and social support were identified as crucial facilitators for students pursuing health sciences degrees.
• Lack of time, challenges with remote learning, and external stressors were significant barriers to student success.
• FCM analysis highlighted the impact of socioeconomic factors and the pandemic on student academic trajectories.

Conclusions:

• Fuzzy cognitive mapping provides a valuable, innovative method for understanding student experiences in academic programs.
• Incorporating student perspectives through FCM can lead to more effective and equitable educational strategies.
• The study underscores the importance of addressing systemic barriers faced by low-income students in health sciences.