RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Examining the Nature of Participation in NREUPs: Narratives of Racially Minoritized Students
Page: 1287
Since 2003, the Mathematical Association of America’s (MAA’s) National Research Experience for Undergraduates Program (NREUP) has provided opportunities for racially minoritized students to collaborate with faculty in the mathematical sciences on summer research projects at a diverse range of institutions. Through a rigorous and accessible research experience, NREUP’s goals are to increase undergraduate degree completion rates and ignite students’ interest in obtaining graduate degrees and embarking upon careers in the mathematical sciences. In this poster presentation, we will share results of our evaluative study aimed at understanding the nature of former participants’ experiences in and the impact of the program. We conducted individual interviews with 18 randomly selected former students who participated in various NREUPs during the summers of 2019-2024. Results indicate gains in knowledge about the research process, the benefits of having formal and informal mentors to learn more about discipline-based opportunities, and the advantages of collaborating with undergraduate and graduate student peers. Students also praised the structure of the program and expressed that it led to increased confidence as emerging scholars within the mathematical sciences. Given this, we highlight potential avenues for future RUME work that consider different programmatic structures and mentoring approaches associated with NREUPs. In all, our study extends prior work regarding undergraduate research experiences by following up with participants from racially minoritized groups who participated in NREUPs.