Supporting STEM and Graduate Studies

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Professor Dr. Babette Benken is the Richard D. Green Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She joined CSULB in 2006 after returning home to Southern California following two graduate programs (pure mathematics at Tufts University and mathematics education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), five years of secondary mathematics teaching in Chicago, and a professorship at Oakland University. Dr. Benken’s research areas are diverse and span many decades. Her initial research passion—how to support both students’ and teachers’ learning of mathematics—was inspired by early tutoring experiences beginning age 7 and what she learned about education while teaching mathematics for grades six through 12. Since that time, Dr. Benken has investigated multiple areas, including pure mathematics, mathematics and STEM teacher education, models for K-20 teacher development, graduate education, and educational pathways (e.g., remedial education, calculus reform). The overarching focus of all of this work has been on facilitating access and success for students, often for those who are marginalized and underrepresented in STEM and higher education.

Astutely, Dr. Benken seeks funding to fuel her projects and research. Since coming to campus, she has helped to garner and provide leadership as primary investigator (PI) or co-PI for 27 grant projects (e.g., National Science Foundation, Foundation for California Community Colleges) totaling over $7 million. One such project was Raising the Bar for STEM Education in California: Preparing Elementary Teachers in a Model, Scalable, STEM-Rich Clinical Setting ($900,000, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation), which provided STEM professional development for K-12 teachers in the Long Beach Unified School District and created a program for laid-off elementary teachers that would allow them to extend their teaching into middle or high school. The development of this cross-college collaboration resulted in six cohorts of teachers working on extended licensure through content and methods coursework that also greatly improved their ability to teach mathematics and science. This program was acknowledged in 2011 by the U.S. Department of Labor as a highly regarded, exemplary model and program for the nation. In 2013, it won the Association for Continuing Higher Education’s Distinguished Program Credit Award. To continue this effort, Dr. Benken received additional funding from the CSU Chancellor’s Office to run programs for two additional cohorts, which has resulted in dozens more STEM teachers teaching in local schools.

More recently, Dr. Benken provided essential leadership as PI for Project HOGAR: Hispanic Opportunities for Graduate Access and Retention, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Education (with around $2.8 million from 2014 to 2021) to further develop CSULB’s graduate program, both in terms of quality and in its capacity to significantly enhance postbaccalaureate opportunities and success, particularly for underrepresented and underserved students. Her goal was to expand the campus’s ability to increase the number of students pursuing and successfully completing graduate studies. This project has led to enduring support structures for CSULB’s graduate students and those interested in pursuing graduate studies, including the Graduate Center (on the second floor of the library), which serves as a centralized home for the campus’s graduate studies, and an expanded scholarship program to support students presenting their scholarly work. To assist others with this work, Dr. Benken and the former Center Director (Dr. Bryan Rodríguez) published a book chapter in 2018 detailing the work of the Graduate Center and their research-based approach to mentoring (Mentoring at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs): Theory, Design, Practice, and Impact; Information Age Publishing). As they highlight in the chapter, the work of the center “supports students throughout their entire educational trajectory, beginning with outreach that encourages consideration of graduate studies and ending with the transition to doctoral studies and/or employment…Effective mentoring programs can and do change students’ academic aspirations and chances of success in higher education.”