Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students

通过为低收入农村学生提供毕业途径来缩小 STEM 劳动力缺口

• 批准号: 1742496
• 负责人: Paul Adams
• 金额: $ 99.98万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1742496&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Closing; STEM; Labor; Gap; through

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the "Path to Graduation" program (PTG) at the University of Arkansas aims to close the STEM labor gap by recruiting previously overlooked populations and increasing the number of low-income students, especially those from rural regions. Degree programs aimed at producing a high-quality STEM workforce are a national priority that underpins progress in science, the advancement of national health initiatives, and overall national prosperity in an increasingly technical economy. While the STEM-based economy has been an enormous economic boon in some regions, others are falling further behind economically due in part to their inability to meet STEM labor demands. Arkansas is an example of one such state that struggles to meet its STEM labor needs, ranks 49th in college attendance, and 45th per capita in Bachelor of Science degrees in scientific and engineering fields. Previous STEM student recruitment and retention efforts have largely ignored the unique challenges faced by low-income students from rural areas. These students often struggle with academic persistence in college due to insufficient funds, poor academic preparation by their small, financially struggling schools, and little social support given the lack of college-going culture in their communities. PTG will adapt proven student retention and graduation initiatives to better address the financial, academic, and social barriers to success so that these students can thrive and succeed in their STEM studies. Not only will the program increase both the size and the diversity of Arkansas' STEM labor pool, it has the potential to create best practices for recruiting and retaining low-income STEM students, especially those from rural areas. These practices can then be implemented in other remote, economically challenged regions of the country, developing pipelines of STEM talent, creating new regional STEM technology centers, improving these regions' economic well-being, and bringing much needed diversity to STEM fields.Through academic, financial, and social initiatives, PTG will help 36 students thrive and excel in their STEM degree programs at the University of Arkansas. Students will be recruited largely from rural, impoverished regions of Arkansas where large populations of underrepresented minority and first-generation students are prevalent but opportunities for a STEM education are not. Two cohorts of 18 STEM students per year will receive annually renewable scholarships of up to $4,500, or $5,500 if they join the Honors College. These students will participate in PTG's evidence-based retention and graduation initiatives, including: an in-residence summer bridge program; a Living-Learning Community (shared housing); Academic Success Advising; faculty and peer mentoring; and on-campus or industry-based research opportunities. PTG will help identify and describe the barriers deterring low-income students, especially low-income students from rural backgrounds, from achieving a STEM degree. PTG will develop and implement retention programs for low-income, rural STEM students and will contribute significantly to the STEM education literature by developing and evaluating much needed initiatives for under-served, low-income, rural populations that frequently struggle with academic persistence.

在美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）项目的资助下，阿肯色大学的“毕业之路”项目（PTG）旨在通过招募以前被忽视的人群，增加低收入学生（尤其是来自农村地区的学生）的数量，缩小STEM领域的劳动力差距。旨在培养高质量STEM劳动力的学位课程是国家的优先事项，在日益技术化的经济中，它支撑着科学进步、国家卫生倡议的进步和国家的整体繁荣。虽然以STEM为基础的经济在一些地区带来了巨大的经济效益，但由于无法满足STEM劳动力需求，其他地区在经济上进一步落后。阿肯色州就是这样一个努力满足STEM劳动力需求的州，其大学入学率排名第49位，科学和工程领域的人均理学学士学位排名第45位。以前的STEM学生招募和保留工作在很大程度上忽视了来自农村地区的低收入学生面临的独特挑战。由于资金不足，学校规模小，经济困难，学业准备不足，社区缺乏大学文化，这些学生经常在大学里努力学习。PTG将采用行之有效的学生保留和毕业计划，以更好地解决经济、学术和社会障碍，使这些学生能够在STEM学习中茁壮成长并取得成功。该项目不仅将增加阿肯色州STEM劳动力的规模和多样性，而且有可能为招募和留住低收入STEM学生，特别是来自农村地区的学生创造最佳实践。然后，这些做法可以在该国其他偏远、经济困难的地区实施，发展STEM人才管道，创建新的区域STEM技术中心，改善这些地区的经济福祉，并为STEM领域带来急需的多样性。通过学术、金融和社会倡议，PTG将帮助36名学生在阿肯色大学的STEM学位课程中茁壮成长。学生将主要从阿肯色州的农村贫困地区招募，那里有大量未被充分代表的少数民族和第一代学生，但接受STEM教育的机会却很少。每年有两组18名STEM学生将获得最高4,500美元的可续期奖学金，如果他们加入荣誉学院，则可获得5,500美元的奖学金。这些学生将参加PTG的循证保留和毕业计划，包括：住宿夏季桥梁项目；生活学习社区（共享住房）；学业成功辅导；教师和同伴指导；以及校园或行业研究机会。PTG将帮助识别和描述阻碍低收入学生，特别是来自农村背景的低收入学生获得STEM学位的障碍。PTG将为低收入的农村STEM学生制定和实施保留计划，并将通过为服务不足的低收入农村人口制定和评估急需的举措，为STEM教育文献做出重大贡献，这些人口经常在学业上挣扎。

项目成果

Board 302: Helping Rural and Underrepresented Students Succeed in STEM

Board 302：帮助农村和代表性不足的学生在 STEM 领域取得成功

• DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42837
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: ASEE Conferences
• 作者: Gattis, Carol;Adams, Paul;Delgado Solorzano, Xochitl;Lo, Wenjuo;Popp, Jennie;Muralidhara, Divya
• 通讯作者: Muralidhara, Divya

Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation for Low Income, Rural Students

通过为低收入农村学生提供毕业途径来缩小 STEM 劳动力缺口

• DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34291
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: ASEE Conferences
• 作者: Adams, Paul;Delgado Solorzano, Xochitl;Lo, Wenjuo;Gattis, Carol;Popp, Jennie
• 通讯作者: Popp, Jennie