Bridge to Doctorate: WAESO LSAMP, Self Efficacy and Academic Community for Underrepresented Minority Student Success

美国要在经济上领导世界，就必须拥有一支强大而充满活力的科技队伍，他们能够创造、创新并在全球舞台上发挥领导作用。西班牙裔/拉丁裔、黑人/非裔美国人和美国原住民目前获得科学、技术、工程和技术（STEM）博士学位的人数仍然很少，与美国总人口极不相称。然而，在过去的24年里，西部扩大学生机会联盟（WAESO） LSAMP联盟在从目前代表性不足的人口中招募、留住和毕业学士学位水平的科学家和工程师方面取得了无与伦比的成功。WAESO LSAMP联盟成员亚利桑那大学的博士之桥（BTD）项目将进一步扩大学士学位以外的努力，招募，录取，注册，毕业论文硕士学位，并为进入博士课程做好充分准备，12名未被充分代表的少数族裔STEM学生，他们之前已从LSAMP参与的学院和大学毕业并获得STEM学士学位。新一代的12名学生将参与同伴指导、具有挑战性的研究和学术学习机会、活动，并得到导师的大力支持。该项目的主要目标是招募并留住12名从LSAMP参与院校毕业的未被充分代表的少数族裔STEM硕士（ms）学生，并为这12名STEM硕士学生做好准备，使他们具有很强的竞争力，以便进入高质量的STEM博士课程并取得成功。长期目标是该BTD队列中的12名STEM学生获得奖学金或研究助理奖学金，被录取，注册，并成功获得博士学位并进入STEM劳动力市场。该项目的范围是通过在WAESO LSAMP联盟成员亚利桑那大学校园进行为期两年的全日制研究生学习之前和期间的5项任务来实现这一总体目标：1)招募12名从LSAMP参与机构毕业的高素质未被充分代表的少数族裔STEM学生；2)确保这些学生成功获得硕士学位和论文；3)提高每个学生的研究自我效能感；4)建立友好的学术社区；5)为奖学金、博士项目申请和论文写作提供指导。该项目将利用从研究文献中收集到的证据得出的两个假设：1)少数民族学生研究自我效能的改善将增加学生在STEM领域攻读博士学位的可能性。学生的研究自我效能感将通过专业发展研讨会、研究经验和指导来提高，这些共同增加了学生的自信心，增强了学生作为科学家的身份。2)提供一个受欢迎的学术社区将通过抵消少数民族研究生的孤立来减少少数民族研究生的流失。一个紧密结合的社区的形成将以定期安排的专业发展讲习班和社区建设社会活动为中心。培养学生自我效能感的主要途径是：1)强化学生的专业发展技能；2)为他们提供使用本学科研究工具和技能的经验；3)让学生在促进科学沉浸的学术激励社区中与导师和同伴互动；4)让学生接触到已经获得博士学位的成功和鼓舞人心的少数族裔专业人士。在两年的课程中，在与教师导师配对后，每个STEM学生将定期进行研究，类似于获得研究助理奖学金和夏季支持的同龄人，在硕士论文中写下他们的研究成果，捍卫他们的研究成果，并准备将其作为科学同行评审论文发表。

For the U.S. to lead the world economically, we must have a strong and vibrant scientific and technological workforce who can create, innovate and lead on the global stage. Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American and Native Americans still currently obtain doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and technology (STEM) in low numbers that are very disproportionate to the overall U.S. population. However, over the past 24 years, the Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunity (WAESO) LSAMP alliance has demonstrated unparalleled success in recruiting, retaining, and graduating Bachelor's degree level scientists and engineers from currently underrepresented populations. This Bridge to the Doctorate (BTD) project at WAESO LSAMP's alliance member University of Arizona will further expand efforts beyond the baccalaureate to recruit, admit, enroll, graduate with thesis masters degrees, and fully prepare for admission to doctoral programs, 12 underrepresented minority STEM students who have previously graduated with a Bachelor's degree in STEM from LSAMP participating colleges and universities. This new cohort of 12 students will engage in peer mentoring, challenging research and academic study opportunities, activities, and receive intensive support from their mentors. The primary goal of this project is to recruit and retain a BTD cohort of 12 underrepresented minority STEM Master of Science (M.S.) students who have graduated from LSAMP participating colleges and universities and prepare those 12 STEM M.S. students to be highly competitive in order to enter and succeed in high quality STEM PhD programs. The long-term goal is that the 12 STEM students in this BTD cohort obtain fellowships or research assistantships, be admitted, enroll, and succeed in graduating with a PhD degree and enter into the STEM workforce. The scope of this project is to achieve this overarching goal through 5 tasks before and during two years of full-time graduate study at WAESO LSAMP's alliance member University of Arizona campus: 1) recruit 12 high quality underrepresented minority STEM students who have graduated from LSAMP participating institutions; 2) ensure these students succeed in obtaining an M.S. degree with a thesis; 3) increase each student's research self-efficacy; 4) build a welcoming academic community; and 5) provide coaching for fellowships, PhD program applications, and manuscript writing. This project will utilize two hypotheses derived from the evidence gleaned from the research literature: 1) Improvements in a underrepresented minority student's research self-efficacy will increase the likelihood that a student will pursue a PhD in a STEM field. The student's research self-efficacy will be enhanced by professional development workshops, research experience, and mentoring, which collectively increase student self-confidence and bolster the student's identity as a scientist. 2) Providing a welcoming academic community will decrease the attrition of underrepresented minority graduate students by counteracting isolation of underrepresented minority graduate students. The formation of a tightly knit community will be centered around the regularly scheduled professional development workshops and community building social events. The main approach is to build the self-efficacy of the students by: 1) strengthening their professional development skills; 2) providing them with experience utilizing research tools and skills of their discipline; 3) having students engage with mentors and peers in an academically stimulating community promoting scientific immersion; and 4) exposing students to successful and inspirational underrepresented minority professionals that have already earned a PhD. During the course of two years, after being paired with a faculty mentor, each STEM student will perform research on a regular basis similar to peers with a research assistantship with summer support, write-up their research findings in a masters thesis, defend their research results, and prepare them for publication as a scientific peer-reviewed paper.