Targeted Interventions for Enhanced Retention of Chemistry Graduate Students

提高化学研究生保留率的有针对性的干预措施

• 批准号: 1458071
• 负责人: Joseph Grabowski
• 金额: $ 63.74万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 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: 2015-07-15 至 2021-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1458071&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Targeted; Interventions; Enhanced; Retention; Chemistry

This NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) project will increase the number of students who complete a Ph.D. in chemistry and contribute to the vital national chemistry enterprise. The project has four objectives (a) increase the retention rate of graduate students who most commonly encounter barriers in their first year, (b) use carefully targeted interventions to reduce the average time-to-degreee, (c) increase the number of graduate students in the department from groups that are underrepresented in Chemistry, and (d) improve the overall graduate experience by adding coherence and breadth to skills development, reducing teaching workloads, and supporting students seeking non-research careers upon Ph.D. completion. The immediate outcome of the project will be the awarding scholarships to at least 52 graduate students. The long-term outcome will be more, better prepared, advance-degreed professionals for the workforce.The project goals are aligned with challenges to the chemistry graduate program that were identified in a self-assessment. Thus, the three new student support mechanisms (Professional Develop Workshops, Proposal Writing Course, and Near Peer Mentoring) were chosen carefully to focus on key attrition points, all predominant in the first year of study. The topics covered in the workshops will help the students to develop their identities as professional scientist, while the writing course will help them to develop their abilities to design a viable research plan. Grounded in the literature, these strategies will both provide the S-STEM students with strong academic support and further inform the research on recruitment and retention of graduate students in the sciences. Moreover, all of the project components are examples of sustainable, transferrable tools for training graduate students. The Evaluation Plan includes validated, baseline and follow-up surveys meant to assess the development of participants' self-efficacy (research and academic) and STEM Identities. The individual support structures will also be evaluated using qualitative, focus group discussions. Both mechanisms should result in rich information regarding the attitudes, motivation, and beliefs of budding graduate students. The qualitative assessments, which will be expanded to a group of students who have not been exposed to the student supports for comparison, should build on current research related to challenges to persistence in graduate school. Results will be disseminated to the university, national chemistry, and broader STEM communities through a variety of mechanisms including PittCon meetings, annual American Chemical Society meetings, and the Journal of Chemical Education.

国家科学基金科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)项目将增加完成化学博士学位的学生数量，并为国家重要的化学事业做出贡献。该项目有四个目标(A)提高在第一年最常遇到障碍的研究生的保留率，(B)使用谨慎有针对性的干预措施，以减少平均获得学位的时间，(C)增加化学专业代表性不足的研究生在系中的人数，以及(D)通过增加技能发展的一致性和广度，减少教学工作量，并支持完成博士学位后寻求非研究性职业的学生，改善整体毕业生体验。该项目的直接结果将是向至少52名研究生颁发奖学金。长期的结果将是为劳动力提供更多、准备更好、拥有高级学位的专业人员。项目目标与自我评估中确定的化学研究生项目面临的挑战保持一致。因此，三个新的学生支持机制(专业发展研讨会、计划书写作课程和近距离同行辅导)被精心挑选，以重点关注关键的消耗点，这些都是在学习的第一年占主导地位的。工作坊所涵盖的主题将帮助学生发展他们作为专业科学家的身份，而写作课程将帮助他们发展设计可行的研究计划的能力。这些策略以文献为基础，将为S-STEM的学生提供强有力的学术支持，并进一步为理科研究生的招生和留住研究提供参考。此外，项目的所有组成部分都是培训研究生的可持续、可转让工具的范例。评估计划包括验证、基线和后续调查，旨在评估参与者的自我效能(研究和学业)和STEM身份认同的发展情况。还将使用定性的重点小组讨论对各个支助结构进行评估。这两种机制都应该产生关于初出茅庐的研究生的态度、动机和信念的丰富信息。定性评估将扩大到一组没有接触过学生支持进行比较的学生，应该建立在与研究生院坚持不懈挑战有关的现有研究基础上。结果将通过各种机制传播给大学、国家化学和更广泛的STEM社区，包括PittCon会议、美国化学学会年度会议和《化学教育杂志》。