Mount Mary University (MMU) is a liberal-arts based, all female undergraduate institution in Milwaukee Wisconsin. 86% of our undergraduates come from Milwaukee. Their 53206 zip code denotes the 2nd most impoverished large city in the nation. 79% of our STEM undergraduates are women of color. Because of our high ranking in social mobility (2023 US News and World Report), MMU is in a position to bridge the gender divide by recruiting and retaining women from historically untapped groups to enter and succeed in STEM. We have completed year three of an NSF S-STEM track 2 award providing academically-talented, financially-in need students with rich, early and sustained opportunities to conduct original microbiological research. We implemented the Tiny Earth Program as a CURE (course-based undergraduate research experience). Here, students isolate and characterize soil bacteria as a source of previously unidentified antibiotic producing organisms. CUREs have been shown to increase retention, persistence to graduation, build a sense of belonging, and provide a space for cohort community building. Quantitative measurements given to the CURE-enrolled STEM students demonstrate that participation correlated with a higher overall motivation to learn and engage with science in general compared to control non-CURE students. CURE students indicated higher ‘inherent satisfaction in learning science for its own sake; and the belief they have control over their ability to learn science’. CURE participants more frequently saw traits of scientists in themselves and felt they identified as a scientist. Some anecdotal answers from the prompt “Do you feel this CURE provides community?” the students responded: “Yes, this is a safe space.”, “I look forward to coming.”, “We help each other to grow and learn.”, “There is a connection and belonging.”. Through this CURE, students report increased motivation, satisfaction and internal locus of control in relation to science, traits that correlate with STEM persistence.
