Data suggest that the United States has experienced a lack of diversity in STEM fields, and it seems that underrepresented minorities are more likely than any other group to change to non-science majors (Tsui, 2007). Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the southeast, which offers undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees to students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The pattern CAU noticed in 2013 was a decline in the academic performance of students in STEM courses who would then change to non-STEM majors. To combat this occurrence, this institution is introducing social-emotional learning strategies into academic settings to support and enhance the undergraduates’ efforts to attain a degree in the STEM fields. Social-emotional learning strategies are designed to help students set positive goals and develop or maintain a growth mindset (Dweck, 2014; Kabasakal, 2013). It is also possible that external factors (e.g., time management, academic stress, and academic motivation) could impact the students’ academic performance in addition to mindset. As such, the goal of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between those factors and academic performance. Participants in this study are undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology courses. They will respond to a series of questionnaires before and after they complete the social-emotional learning based workshops. The research question being addressed is: How do social-emotional learning techniques impact self-regulation, academic motivation, and academic performance?
