Stakeholder Perceptions of Success Within a STEM Ecosystem

The Omaha STEM Ecosystem (OSE) is a multi-stakeholder collaborative network (MSCN) with active members from six key stakeholder groups (Business, Education, Family, Government, Non-Profit, and Science Centers and Museums). OSE serves as a connecting agency which leverages the social capital of these member stakeholders to address the STEM workforce gap by strengthening the availability of STEM pipeline learning opportunities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to synthesize the shared and nuanced definition of success for all key stakeholder groups in OSE with the STEM lexicon. This dissertation presents the findings of semi-structured interviews with a theory of success built from a shared lexicon, gleaned from both organizational documents and interviews. The collective voice of all stakeholder groups concludes that through Networking, Collaboration, Diverse Opportunities, and Community Awareness, OSE will foster success by bringing people to the organization, holding them active, growing the participation, and producing varied opportunities which support the STEM pipeline.