Using Mentored Research Relationships to Empower Underserved Students and Improve Early Retention in STEM Majors

利用指导性研究关系为服务不足的学生提供支持并提高 STEM 专业的早期保留率

• 批准号: 2225837
• 负责人: Kristi Montooth
• 金额: $ 99.91万
• 依托单位: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2027-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225837&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Using; Mentored; Research; Relationships; Empower

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to serve the national interest by establishing and disseminating best practices for using mentored research experiences and relationships to improve retention rates of underserved and underrepresented students in the first two years of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. A diverse STEM workforce that brings multiple perspectives and experiences is urgently needed to tackle grand societal challenges. The project aims to empower and encourage students from underserved and underrepresented groups to stay in STEM fields. The project will build a research community and provide paid mentored research experiences for students from underserved and underrepresented groups, including first-generation, low-income, and ethnic/racial minorities that have been historically marginalized in STEM. A research internship in the summer before matriculation will embed scholars in a community on campus, jumpstart them into their major, and provide them with mentored experiences that support their transition from incoming student to upper-division student and researcher. The project’s innovative research experiences for students in the first two years of their majors are anticipated to significantly improve the students' experiences and encourage them as they develop their STEM identities. The expected outcome is an evaluated model that can be implemented at other universities with the goal of decreasing significant equity gaps that exist in first- and second-year retention rates between represented and underrepresented students in STEM. Novel research outcomes are expected to improve the understanding of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on students from underrepresented groups and inform effective interventions for increased STEM-major retention. The anticipated long-term outcomes are broadened participation in the STEM workforce and more inclusive and equitable science. The overall goal of this project is to empower scholars from groups historically marginalized in STEM by using mentored research experiences as both entry point to campus life and purposeful progression through the foundational level STEM curriculum. The program will create an intentional, continuous research path for students from first-generation, low-income, or racial/ethnic minority groups. The project will support over 36 student scholars to participate in activities that include team-based mentoring, engagement in research relationships and experiential learning, community building, professional and academic development workshops, reflection and scientific presentations, and travel to conferences. Participants will be recruited using existing partnerships with university offices that support high school and college preparatory programming for students from underserved and underrepresented groups who are interested in life sciences and related STEM majors. The two project components will be assessed through partnership with an external evaluator using frequent surveys and interviews to ensure that the components meet overall objectives. The project will also conduct social science research using in-depth interviews that follow students through their first two years in STEM majors to study the effectiveness of project interventions. In doing so, the project will investigate how students develop an understanding of the research process, science self-efficacy, science identity, and a sense of belonging. In particular, the project will study the extent to which students tie their research experiences to a sense of social agency and whether that contributes to future career trajectories. Results and developed framework on project activities will be disseminated at numerous conferences and journals to ensure broader STEM outreach.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项全部或部分由《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）资助。该项目旨在通过建立和传播利用指导研究经验和关系来提高保留率的最佳实践，从而服务于国家利益。该项目旨在解决科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 专业前两年服务不足和代表性不足的学生群体，迫切需要一支具有多种观点和经验的多元化 STEM 劳动力队伍。授权并鼓励来自服务不足和代表性不足群体的学生留在 STEM 领域 该项目将建立一个研究社区，并为服务不足和代表性不足群体（包括第一代、低收入和少数族裔/种族）的学生提供付费指导研究经验。入学前夏季的研究实习将在 STEM 领域具有历史意义，将让学者融入校园社区，帮助他们快速进入专业，并为他们提供指导经验，支持他们从新生过渡到高年级。该项目为学生在专业前两年提供的创新研究经验预计将显着改善学生的体验，并鼓励他们发展 STEM 身份。预期结果是一个可在 STEM 实施的评估模型。其他大学的目标是缩小 STEM 中代表性学生和代表性不足学生之间存在的第一年和第二年保留率的显着差距，预计新颖的研究成果将提高人们对 COVID-19 对代表性不足群体学生的不成比例影响的理解。和信息丰富的预期的长期成果是扩大对 STEM 劳动力的参与以及更加包容和公平的科学 该项目的总体目标是通过利用受指导的研究经验来增强在 STEM 领域历史上被边缘化的群体的学者的能力。该项目将为来自第一代、低收入或少数族裔群体的学生创造一条有目的的、持续的研究道路。学生学者参加活动其中包括基于团队的指导、参与研究关系和体验式学习、社区建设、专业和学术发展研讨会、反思和科学演讲以及参加会议，将利用与支持高中和大学的大学办公室的现有合作伙伴关系来招募参与者。为来自服务不足和代表性不足群体、对生命科学和相关 STEM 专业感兴趣的学生提供预科课程，这两个项目组成部分将通过与外部评估员的合作，通过频繁的调查和访谈进行评估，以确保这些组成部分也满足总体目标。通过深入访谈的方式进行社会科学研究，跟踪学生在 STEM 专业的前两年，以研究项目干预的有效性。在此过程中，该项目将调查学生如何培养对研究过程和科学自我效能的理解。特别是，该项目将研究学生将其研究经历与社会代理感联系起来的程度，以及这是否有助于未来的职业轨迹。在许多会议和会议上传播该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。