This year marks the fourth year that Main Line women’s liberal arts college Bryn Mawr College has hosted a STEM Posse, a unique scholarship-and-support program for diverse student leaders from Greater Boston public schools who aspire to major in STEM fields.
The program, recently featured in the college’s Alumnae Bulletin, has helped Bryn Mawr foster women leaders in STEM, especially first-generation-to-college students and women of color.
About 170 Boston STEM Posse Scholars have graduated from Bryn Mawr College since 2005, and each Posse consists of about 40 students. In an interview with Technical.ly, Ella Braden, Bryn Mawr College’s STEM Program Coordinator, said that the program has “good retention and persistence” among STEM majors, which have historically been obstacles to first-generation students and women of color.
The social support, in addition to the full tuition scholarship, sets apart the Posse strategy. As Bryn Mawr senior Carol Bowe said, “Even the people who aren’t my best friends in my STEM Posse, they still act as a support system for me; if I needed them I know they would be there.”
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