Project Summary:
Wisconsin is witnessing a severe workforce shortage in the healthcare field, and this is seen at all positions--nurses, physicians, biomedical researchers, etc. One reason for this shortage is a dwindling number of college students pursuing and/or completing degrees in relevant disciplines, like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The Wisconsin Science Education and Research (WiSER) Consortium is a self-initiated and burgeoning community-of-practice, including upwards of 50 science educators from more than 20 higher-ed institutions, both public and private, spanning the state of Wisconsin. The consortium's mission is to develop and implement educational and workforce development programs that enhance scientific literacy and professional development, thereby exposing, recruiting, promoting, and retaining the future healthcare workforce right here in Wisconsin. The current proposal focuses on two novel programs: the first, the Undergraduate STEM Workforce Program, focuses on the undergraduate (i.e., the future healthcare workforce), promising to improve scientific literacy, help retain students in healthcare-relevant disciplines, and promote their career advancement; the second, the STEM Educator Workforce Program, creates a critical, but currently lacking, avenue for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the Medical College of Wisconsin to learn about and pursue careers in science and health-related education.