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.

最近的几项研究展示了科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 学科对我国繁荣和全球竞争力的重要性，以及吸引和培养未来 STEM 劳动力的紧迫性。 在地球科学领域，预计未来十年将有约 135,000 个职位需要填补（AGI，2014 年），大大超过了获得地球科学高级学位的学生数量。 解决地球科学劳动力严重短缺的问题预计需要增加代表性不足的少数群体 (URM) 对地球科学的参与，目前其参与程度远低于其他 STEM 学科。 URM 对地球科学的参与度低是密歇根大学 (U-M) 的一个尤为严重的问题，该校地球与环境科学系专业的 URM 本科生人数约占专业总数的 5%。 无论是从地球科学工作者的实践角度来看，还是从关于多样性内在价值的伦理和社会学角度来看，这都是一个重要的社会问题。 该项目旨在将密歇根大学地球科学专业的 URM 学生比例提高到反映密歇根州总体人口统计数据的水平。 这将通过以下方式实现预期的社会成果：(1) 增加在一所旗舰公立大学的全国首屈一指的地球科学系之一接受培训的 URM 学生数量，以及 (2) 推进和传播有关招募和留住 URM 学生的最佳实践的知识。地球科学。 该项目的目标是大幅增加密歇根大学地球科学专业学生的数量和成功率。 尽管密歇根大学已经开展了许多活动来招募和留住 STEM 学科的多元化学生，但其重点是工程和生物学，只有少数活动应用于地球科学。此外，这些活动目前是相互脱节的，因此没有统一的机制来吸引和留住 URM 学生到密歇根大学学习地球科学。 拟议的项目将建立在这些当前经过验证的计划的基础上，并在组织之间建立合作伙伴关系，以在两个关键时刻为 URM 学生提供支持：高中和四年制机构地球科学学位课程之间，以及社区学院和四年制机构地球科学学位课程之间。 我们将追求五个目标：（1）激励和招募高中生到密歇根大学学习地球科学； (2) 建立基础设施，支持对地球科学感兴趣的学生度过高中和大学之间的关键时刻； (3) 增加从社区大学转学到密歇根大学学习地球科学的 URM 学生数量； (4) 通过研究和实地经验培养学生对地球科学的兴趣； (5) 让学生接触到地球科学领域的职业机会。 这些目标将通过在课堂、实验室和现场开发和实施新的实践经验来实现；为对地球科学感兴趣的学生提供衔接高中和大学的暑期课程；旨在建立支持性学生群体的社交媒体和同伴辅导活动；将招收学生和促进从社区大学转学的既定做法应用于地球科学；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。 该项目将把拟议的活动与密歇根大学现有和正在开发的项目联系起来，所有这些项目都采用基于证据的方法。 一个新颖的方面是，它将为 URM 地球科学学生从高中到本科阶段创建一个无缝且连续的管道。该项目的成果将为人们认识这种综合方法对于增加 STEM 领域多样性的重要性提供新的视角。 新开发项目中的学生与未参与该项目的学生以及参与其他项目和其他 STEM 领域的学生的表现将通过创新的全校数据挖掘流程进行定量比较。我们还将通过在线调查和面对面访谈来评估学生对项目各个阶段的态度。生成的证据将用于评估将此类综合策略转移到其他学科、部门和机构的前景。