July 31, 2023

HACU Webinar: Finding Best Practices at HSIs for Increasing Hispanic STEM Degrees

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities is hosting a HACU-member webinar on advocacy, policy and research entitled “Finding Best Practices at HSIs for Increasing Hispanic STEM Degrees” on Aug. 16 at 2 p.m. CDT, presented by Omar López, Ph.D., associate professor, Texas State University.

The webinar will present findings from a two-year National Science Foundation-sponsored study examining measures from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to select efficient Hispanic-Serving Institutions to serve as possible benchmarks for program improvement in graduating Hispanics with STEM degrees at other HSIs. Research supports future studies of STEM best practices with the potential to broadly impact desired outcomes. Best practices adopted from future research guided by IPEDS analysis will transform the American labor force into a more diverse, equitable, and highly competitive one globally. Because HSIs educate a high percentage of Hispanics from low-income families, it is more likely that those graduating with a STEM degree will improve their future economic, health, and well-being prospects. Increasing Hispanics with STEM degrees will also result in more voices that can engage in informed public discourse on science and technology policy, especially on issues relevant to the Hispanic community.

This webinar is one in a series being presented for HACU-members this year. To register for this webinar, click here.

Omar López, Ph.D., is the recipient of a two-year NSF grant to learn how to use data from the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System to empirically identify high performing HSIs graduating Hispanics with STEM degrees. López earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University, a master’s from the University of California at Irvine, a master’s degree from the University of Southern California, and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.