Track 3: Mentoring for the Formation of Research Careers in Engineering (M-FORCE)

轨道 3：工程研究职业形成的指导 (M-FORCE)

• 批准号: 2311210
• 负责人: Rhonda Franklin
• 金额: $ 80万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2028-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2311210&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Track; Mentoring; Formation; Research; Careers

NSF and many others have long recognized the need for more underrepresented minority (URM) participation at every level of the engineering workforce. While some progress has been made in the past decade, it is clear that URMs tend to encounter social and personal obstacles that their well-represented counterparts do not face as they navigate the road from undergraduate training to workforce participation and career development. We believe that key mentoring strategies at the graduate school level, along with targeted introductions to research and mentoring opportunities for undergraduates, will help increase both the quantity of URMs entering the engineering workforce and the quality of experiences URMs need to thrive in high-level engineering careers. In particular, we aim for “best practices” mentoring that enables URM engineering graduate students to better understand and envision 1) research-based engineering careers; 2) transdisciplinary, team-based approaches needed to solve complex problems; and 3) ways to translate solutions into the market through technology transfer. Having such an understanding and vision, typically achieved by effective mentorship, is crucial for developing the leadership, communications, and professional competencies that future technology leaders in industry, academia, and government need from graduate education. To accomplish our goals, we propose Mentoring for the Formation of Research Careers in Engineering, or M-FORCE. This innovative, inclusive, open-access mentoring hub is designed to meet the goals of Track 3 of NSF’s Broadening Participation in Engineering program (NSF 22-514). M-FORCE, which is a partnership between the University of Minnesota, Morgan State University, and the National GEM Consortium, will create belonging and inclusion for URM engineering graduate students that will enhance knowledge of the research enterprise and its career pathways. It will also provide a model for a collaborative community that can be adapted to any graduate program. Data collected through the M-FORCE hub will advance understanding of 1) the role that collective and individual mentoring can play in improving URM graduate school training and career development experiences; 2) how mentoring and network formation impacts graduate students’ perception of belonging and inclusion, which strongly influences their consideration of a research career in engineering; 3) how early exposure to research career concepts impact URM graduate student motivation to pursue and complete terminal degrees; and 4) how exposure to research and graduate school preparation activities influences URM undergraduates’ interest in and decisions about research careers in engineering. M-FORCE will leverage the best practices of minority serving institutions like HBCUs, which have been exceptional at providing community and a sense of belonging to URM engineering undergraduate and graduate students. It will also leverage best practices of very high-research R1 (and predominately white) universities that have been transitioning research from siloed to convergent approaches that are needed to solve today’s complex problems. Finally, M-FORCE will give URM undergraduates exposure to research and formal graduate school preparation and the rare opportunity to meet a critical mass of URM graduate students performing research and preparing to become leaders in technology fields. After five years, our hub model will be customizable for any campus research community to support and prepare URM engineering graduate students, especially first-generation college students. It will also provide a model of fairness and equity in institutional and program structures that can supplement formal academic training for engineering graduate students.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.

NSF 和许多其他机构早已认识到需要让更多的少数族裔 (URM) 参与到各个级别的工程人员中，虽然在过去十年中取得了一些进展，但很明显，URM 往往会遇到他们所面临的社会和个人障碍。我们相信，研究生院层面的关键指导策略，以及针对本科生的研究和指导机会，将有助于提高这两方面的水平。的数量URM 进入工程队伍以及 URM 在高水平工程职业中蓬勃发展所需的经验质量特别是，我们的目标是提供“最佳实践”指导，使 URM 工程研究生能够更好地理解和设想 1) 基于研究的工程职业。 2) 解决复杂问题所需的跨学科、基于团队的方法；以及 3) 通过技术转让将解决方案转化为市场的方法，通常通过有效的指导来实现这种理解和愿景，这对于培养领导力、沟通能力至关重要。和专业能力工业界、学术界和政府的未来技术领导者需要研究生教育来实现我们的目标，我们提出了“工程研究职业指导”（M-FORCE），这个创新、包容、开放的指导中心旨在实现这一目标。实现 NSF 扩大工程参与计划 (NSF 22-514) 第 3 轨的目标，该计划是明尼苏达大学、摩根州立大学和国家 GEM 之间的合作伙伴关系。联盟将为 URM 工程研究生创造归属感和包容性，从而增强对研究企业及其职业道路的了解。它还将为协作社区提供一个模型，该模型可以适应通过 M- 收集的任何研究生项目。 FORCE 中心将促进对以下方面的理解：1) 集体和个人辅导在改善 URM 研究生院培训和职业发展经验方面可以发挥的重要作用；2) 辅导和网络形成如何影响研究生的归属感和包容性，从而影响他们的考虑工程研究生涯； 3) 早期接触研究职业概念如何影响 URM 研究生攻读和完成终端学位的动机；以及 4) 接触研究和研究生院准备活动如何影响 URM 本科生对工程研究职业的兴趣和决定。将利用 HBCU 等少数族裔机构的最佳实践，这些机构在为 URM 工程本科生和研究生提供社区和归属感方面表现出色，还将利用研究性非常高的 R1（主要是白人）大学的最佳实践。那些有最后，M-FORCE 将为 URM 本科生提供研究和正式研究生院准备的机会，并提供与大量从事研究和工作的 URM 研究生见面的难得机会。五年后，我们的中心模型将为任何校园研究社区定制，以支持和培养 URM 工程研究生，特别是第一代大学生。机构和项目结构可以补充工程研究生的正式学术培训。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。