Science of Broadening Participation: Multiculturalism, Social Networks and Under-Represented Minority Student Success in STEM Fields

社会科学家知道，少数民族学生在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域的代表性不足。然而，他们也知道，造成这种情况的原因是复杂的，似乎因文化群体而异，并受到全球和地方进程的影响。该研究项目的目标是了解经济和文化全球化带来的多元文化接触的增加是否会影响学生的STEM成绩和成功。利用跨学科的理论和方法，马萨诸塞州波士顿大学的Rosalyn Negron博士和Adan Colon-Carmona博士将进行研究，以完善多元文化的概念化和测量，并研究多元文化和STEM技能之间的具体互动，作为STEM成功的相关因素。研究人员假设，多元文化将与关键的STEM技能相关，并且在第一学年之后坚持STEM学习的少数民族学生比辍学的学生更有可能是多元文化的。这项研究将在马萨诸塞州波士顿大学的科学与数学学院进行，这是一所少数民族服务机构。研究人员和一个研究生和本科生助理团队将招募STEM学生，他们自我认同属于大学代表性不足的少数民族类别之一（美洲印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民，非洲裔美国人/黑人，西班牙裔/拉丁美洲人，佛得角人，夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民和东南亚人）。 他们将管理标准量表，并对小样本（N = 18）进行生活史和社交网络访谈。第一阶段的结果将用于制定多元文化量表和调查，将由100名学生完成。随后将测试STEM能力和跨文化沟通技能。最后，他们将采用病例对照方法，比较坚持STEM课程的学生与不坚持STEM课程的学生。

Social scientists know that minority students are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, they also know that the reasons for this are complex, seem to vary by cultural group, and are shaped by global as well as local processes. The goal of this research project is to see if increased multicultural contact, such as that brought about by economic and cultural globalization, affects student STEM achievement and success. Drawing on an interdisciplinary suite of theories and methods, Dr. Rosalyn Negron and Dr. Adan Colon-Carmona, both of the University of Massachusetts Boston, will undertake research to refine the conceptualization and measurement of multiculturalism, and examine specific interactions between multiculturalism and STEM skills as correlates of STEM success. The researchers hypothesize that multiculturalism will be associated with key STEM skills, and that under-represented minority students who persist in STEM studies beyond the first academic year will be more likely to be multicultural than students who drop out of STEM studies.The research will be conducted in the College of Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a minority serving institution. The researchers and a team of graduate and undergraduate assistants will recruit STEM students who self-identity as belonging to one of the university's underrepresented minority categories (American Indian/Alaskan Native, African American/Black, Hispanic/Latin, Cape Verdean, Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander, and Southeast Asian). They will administer standard scales and conduct life history and social network interviews with a small sample (N = 18). Results from that first phase will be used to develop a Multiculturalism Scale and survey that will be completed by 100 students. This will be followed by testing for STEM competences and cross-cultural communication skills. Finally, they will employ a case-control methodology by comparing students who persist in STEM programs with those who do not.