GP-IMPACT: Broadening pathways to geosciences with an integrated program at The University of Michigan

GP-IMPACT：通过密歇根大学的综合项目拓宽地球科学的途径

• 批准号: 1540589
• 负责人: Gregory Dick
• 金额: $ 22.6万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1540589&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GP; IMPACT; Broadening; pathways; geosciences

Several recent studies have showcased the national importance of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines for our nation's prosperity and global competitiveness, as well as the urgency of both engaging and preparing the future STEM workforce. Within the geosciences, it is projected that there will be ~135,000 positions to fill in the next decade (AGI, 2014), greatly exceeding the number of available students earning advanced degrees in the geosciences. Resolving the severe shortage in the geosciences workforce is projected to require increased participation in the geosciences by underrepresented minorities (URM), which is currently well below that of other STEM disciplines. Low URM participation in the geosciences is a particularly acute problem at The University of Michigan (U-M), where the number of undergraduate URM students majoring in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is approximately 5% of total majors. This is an important societal issue both from the practical standpoint of the geosciences workforce as well as ethical and sociological standpoints regarding the inherent value of diversity. This project aims to increase the proportion of URM students majoring in geosciences at U-M to a level that reflects the overall demographics of the state of Michigan. This will achieve the desired societal outcomes by (1) increasing the number of URM students trained in one of the nation's premiere geosciences departments at a flagship public university, and (2) advancing and disseminating knowledge on best practices for recruiting and retaining URM students in the geosciences. The goal of this project is to substantially increase the number and success rate of URM students majoring in the geosciences at U-M. Although there are numerous activities already in place at U-M for recruiting and retaining diverse students in STEM disciplines, their focus is on engineering and biology, and only a few are applied to the geosciences. Further, these activities are currently disjointed, so there is no integrated mechanism for attracting and retaining URM students to pursue geosciences at U-M. The proposed project will build on these current, proven programs and create partnerships between organizations to support URM students at two critical junctures: between high school and 4-year institution geoscience degree programs, and between community college and 4-year institution geoscience degree programs. Five objectives will be pursued: (1) inspire and recruit high schools seniors to pursue geoscience at U-M; (2) establish infrastructure to support students interested in geosciences through the critical juncture between high school and college; (3) increase the number of URM students transferring from community colleges to U-M to study geosciences; (4) develop student interest in geosciences through research and field experiences; and (5) expose students to career opportunities in the geosciences. These objectives will be achieved through the development and implementation of new hands-on experiences in the classroom, lab, and field; a summer program to bridge high school and college for students interested in geosciences; social media and peer-mentoring activities designed to establish supportive student cohorts; application to the geosciences of established practices for recruiting students and facilitating transfer from community college; and development of media and interactions with professional geoscientists designed to highlight career opportunities. This project will link the proposed activities together with existing and developing programs at U-M, all of which employ evidence-based methods. A novel aspect is that it will create a seamless and continuous pipeline for URM geosciences students from high school through the undergraduate years. Outcomes of this project will provide new perspectives on the importance of such an integrated approach to increasing diversity in the STEM fields. Quantitative comparisons of performance of students within the newly developed program to those not involved in the program, and those involved in other programs and in other STEM fields, will be conducted via an innovative University-wide data mining process. We will also assess student attitudes towards the various phases of the project with online surveys and face-to-face interviews. This generated evidence will be used to evaluate prospects for transfer of such integrated strategies to other disciplines, departments, and institutions.

最近的一些研究表明，科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科的国家重要性对我们国家的繁荣和全球竞争力，以及参与和准备未来的STEM劳动力的紧迫性。 在地球科学中，预计将有约135,000个职位可以填补接下来的十年（AGI，2014年），大大超过了地球科学中获得高级学位的可用学生人数。 解决地球科学劳动力的严重短缺预计需要增加代表性不足的少数族裔（URM）的参与，这目前远低于其他STEM学科。在密歇根大学（U-M）的地球科学的参与度很低，这是一个特别严重的问题，在那里，地球和环境科学系主修的本科生URM学生人数约为全专业的5％。 从地球科学劳动力的实际角度来看，这是一个重要的社会问题，以及关于多样性固有价值的道德和社会学观点。 该项目旨在将U-M的地球科学专业的URM学生的比例提高到反映密歇根州总体人口的水平。 这将通过（1）增加在该国首映的地球科学系中的URM学生人数（1）在一所旗舰公立大学的一项培训中，以及（2）（2）促进和传播有关地球科学中招聘和保留URM学生的最佳实践知识的人数。 该项目的目的是大大提高U-M上地球科学专业的URM学生的数量和成功率。 尽管在U-M上已经有许多活动用于招募和留在STEM学科中的不同学生，但他们的重点是工程和生物学，只有少数适​​用于地球科学。此外，这些活动目前是脱节的，因此没有吸引和留住URM学生在U-M上追求地球科学的综合机制。 拟议的项目将建立在这些当前的，经过验证的计划的基础上，并在组织之间建立伙伴关系，以在两个关键关键时刻为URM学生提供支持：高中和4年的机构地球科学学位课程，以及社区学院和4年的机构地球科学学位课程。 将实现五个目标：（1）激发和新兵高中生在U-M上追求地球科学； （2）建立基础设施，通过高中和大学之间的关键关键点为对地理科学感兴趣的学生提供支持； （3）增加从社区大学转移到U-M的URM学生的数量来学习地球科学； （4）通过研究和现场经验发展学生对地球科学的兴趣； （5）使学生接触地球科学的职业机会。 这些目标将通过在课堂，实验室和领域的开发和实施新的实践经验来实现；一个夏季课程，为对地球科学感兴趣的学生桥接高中和大学；社交媒体和同伴导演活动旨在建立支持性的学生队列；适用于地球科学的既定实践，供招募学生并促进社区学院的转学；以及媒体的发展以及与专业地球科学家的互动，旨在突出职业机会。 该项目将把拟议活动与U-M的现有和开发计划联系起来，所有这些活动都采用了基于证据的方法。 一个新颖的方面是，它将为来自高中到本科生的URM地球科学学生创建一条无缝而连续的管道。该项目的结果将为这种综合方法在STEM领域的多样性中的重要性提供新的观点。 新开发计划中学生表现的定量比较与未参与该计划的人以及其他计划和其他STEM领域的人的定量比较将通过创新的大学范围内的数据挖掘过程进行。我们还将通过在线调查和面对面的访谈来评估学生对项目各个阶段的态度。该生成的证据将用于评估将这种综合策略转移到其他学科，部门和机构的前景。