Terrell L. Strayhorn, an associate professor of higher education and special assistant to the provost, recently received a CAREER award grant for $500,000 from the National Science Foundation.

He will use the award to conduct research on minority students and their involvement in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

It was when working as a research associate for the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C. that Strayhorn became especially interested in the involvement of minorities in STEM areas. He said his curiosity was sparked by the question: What enables one to go to college and can you change that?

Strayhorn eventually accepted a job at the University of Tennessee, where he teaches courses on research methods, the sociology of higher education and the role of policies and structures. He applied for the competitive CAREER award, the NSF’s highest honor for associate faculty, in July 2007 and got an e-mail confirming he was selected about a year later.

If I could know for sure that a group of minorities and women went into STEM, I would feel that the project was a success.
-Terrell Strayhorn, special assistant to the provost

With his five-year project, Strayhorn will focus on the factors that help or hinder minorities choosing to go into STEM fields. The first two years will involve survey and data analysis.

During the third year and fourth year, Strayhorn’s research team of three graduate students will interview students in STEM fields at more than 20 different institutions.

In the fifth year of the project, Strayhorn plans to bring 40 black and Hispanic men who have succeeded in STEM fields to the UT campus for a small conference.

“Since so few do, what helped those high achievers…succeed?” said Strayhorn.

He will present the findings at national and international conferences. Strayhorn also plans to develop “tool kits” aimed at parents, school faculty and students to explain factors and tips for success in the STEM areas.

The money will be spent on research and incentives for participants, as well as hiring graduate assistants and giving a small stipend to Strayhorn’s advisory board. The board comprises seven experts in various aspects of his study, including presidents and CEOs.

Strayhorn hopes to help minority students succeed in fields which they are less present.

“At the end of this five years, if I could know for sure that a group of minorities and women went into STEM, I would feel that the project was a success,” he said.

Strayhorn received his undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Virginia. He obtained a doctorate in higher education administration and social policy from Virginia Tech.