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Elodie Billionniere, Miami Dade College, United StatesAbstract
This case study highlights the impact of the National Science Foundation–funded Rebooting through EmTech Program (REP) at Miami Dade College between 2023 and 2025. REP provides financial support, mentorship, and professional development to students pursuing degrees in cybersecurity, data analytics, and information systems technology. Many REP Scholars are from historically underrepresented backgrounds in STEM, and the program has been instrumental in helping them persist through academic, financial, and personal challenges. Evaluation methods included student surveys, faculty mentor focus groups, post-graduation surveys, and institutional data on GPA, persistence, and course pass rates. Results show that REP strengthens student achievement and confidence. Scholars reported greater self-efficacy, stronger persistence, and increased readiness to pursue technology careers. One student noted that mentors “made me feel like I truly belong in tech,” reflecting the program’s impact on both skill and identity. Faculty mentorship emerged as a central strength, offering technical guidance alongside career navigation, encouragement, and psychosocial support. The findings also revealed areas for student growth, with some students reporting difficulty balancing academics with work or family obligations, others described a weaker sense of campus belonging, and a few experienced less engaging mentorship experiences. Program recommendations included structured mentor training, expanded undergraduate research, and clearer communication about campus resources. The most significant outcome is that REP has helped students stay in school, build confidence, and see themselves as future leaders in technology. Building on these results, this case study will highlight successes, share lessons learned, and explore strategies to strengthen equity, mentorship, and career readiness in STEM education.
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Conference: PCE2026Stream: Learning Experiences
This paper is part of the PCE2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Billionniere E. (2026) Career-Ready in Tech: Empowering Low-Income and Underrepresented Students Through the REP Scholarship Program ISSN: 2758-0962 The Paris Conference on Education 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 17-33) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2026.2
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2026.2
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