An Examination of the AMS/Industry Minority Scholarship Program

The American Meteorological Society has conducted an undergraduate, minority industry scholarship program for seven years. The scholarships are awarded to high school seniors entering their freshman year of college, pursuing degrees in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences. During this time, 33 scholarships have been awarded. As a result, there are scholarship winners at the following different levels:

- new winners who will use their scholarships this fall (9)

- previous winners still working on their degrees (16)

- previous winners who have completed their degrees and may be employed (9)

(some may be pursuing master's degrees)

- previous winners who did not complete their degrees (2)

With this history, the efficacy and effectiveness of the AMS scholarship program will be examined using data collected during phone interviews and questionnaires with scholarship recipients. Essentially, is this program encouraging and retaining under-represented groups in the atmospheric and the related oceanic and hydrological sciences?