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Postsecondary retention of students in STEM continues to be a challenge. Access to mentorship, experiential learning activities, and lack of intentional K-12 preparation impact retention in STEM for students of color in particular. Career development interventions that provide focus on self-exploration, career decision-making, and career thoughts can increase retention and decidedness for students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to illuminate the experiences of undergraduate STEM interested students (specifically students of color) in a STEM focused career planning course. Our primary research question was, “How do students in a STEM focused career planning course describe their experiences from the course?” The researchers found that, overall, students had a positive experience in the class and it helped them find mentorship, become more decided in a major, and learn about the world of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postsecondary retention of students in STEM continues to be a challenge. Access to mentorship, experiential learning activities, and lack of intentional K-12 preparation impact retention in STEM for students of color in particular. Career development interventions that provide focus on self-exploration, career decision-making, and career thoughts can increase retention and decidedness for students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to illuminate the experiences of undergraduate STEM interested students (specifically students of color) in a STEM focused career planning course. Our primary research question was, "How do students in a STEM focused career planning course describe their experiences from the course?" The researchers found that, overall, students had a positive experience in the class and it helped them find mentorship, become more decided in a major, and learn about the world of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a sample of 2,118 largely low-income, ethnic minority individuals with and without chronic illness (CI), this study examines couple-oriented relationship education (RE) on emotional distress levels. We applied a correlational research design to examine dyadic changes in distress following a couple RE intervention with a one-group pretest-posttest design. Female participants reported higher relationship distress at baseline. Both females and males showed significant improvement in distress post-RE intervention (Wilks' λ =.93, F (1, 669) = 79.49, p <.001, η2=.08); women showed greater improvements at the end of the RE intervention, despite posttest relational distress still being greater than men. The CI group did not benefit more than the non-CI group suggesting further investigation regarding changes in distress post-RE for couples with CI. Counselors may find couple-oriented RE intervention useful to promote relational health in those with CI or as part of a holistic health intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]