Mentored Excellence Toward Research and Industry Careers

这个为期五年的项目旨在通过增加获得STEM学士学位并进入STEM职业或攻读STEM研究生学位的STEM学生的数量，为满足国家对高素质STEM专业人员的需求做出贡献。为了实现这一目标，加州州立大学长滩分校（CSULB）将为44名攻读数学、化学、地质学或物理学学士学位的本科生提供奖学金。该项目估计每位学者将获得大约两年的奖学金支持。这种支持将充分减轻未履行的财务义务，使学者能够专注于学术责任和相关机会。该项目旨在开发一种将职业发展与体验式学习相结合的机构途径，以培养学生的领导力。项目活动包括教师和同伴指导和心态训练，旨在提高学生的信心和归属感。为了提高学生的科学和工作技能，该项目将为学者提供职业和实习准备、咨询、体验式学习和领导力发展培训。该项目将在当地社区开发服务学习机会，使学者们能够利用他们的STEM知识帮助当地企业和社区项目。该项目旨在教育那些知道如何利用STEM专业知识对当地社区和整个社会产生积极影响的学生领袖。该项目的研究计划旨在调查：三层递进式录取程序如何影响低收入和学术上有天赋的学生的录取，包括第一代和代表性不足的少数民族学生；学生的非认知特征如何影响他们在项目活动和STEM中的成功；项目活动如何影响学生对STEM服务和促进本地和区域社区潜力的认识；以及项目活动如何影响学生对自己作为STEM潜在领导者的感觉。形成性和总结性项目评估的结果将定义哪些项目活动在支持技能发展、建立信心和消除参与者的障碍方面最有效。将招募两名一年制研究生研究员，研究该项目对提高学生信心、技能、效能和领导素质的影响。这个项目的结果可以告诉STEM教育工作者如何有效地设计支持，以满足学生在STEM教育的关键过渡阶段的需求。该项目由美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加低收入、学业成绩优异、有经济需求的学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来科学家、工程师和技术人员的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This five-year project aims will contribute to the national need for highly qualified STEM professionals by increasing the number of STEM students who earn a bachelor's degree in STEM and enter a STEM career or pursue a STEM graduate degree. To achieve this goal, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) will provide scholarships to 44 undergraduates who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in mathematics, chemistry, geology, or physics. The project estimates that each Scholar will receive approximately two years of scholarship support. This support will relieve unmet financial obligations sufficiently to enable the Scholars to focus on academic responsibilities and related opportunities. The project aims to develop an institutional pathway that combines career development with experiential learning to foster student leadership. Project activities include faculty and peer mentorship and mindset training designed to elevate students' confidence and sense of belonging. To improve students' scientific and workplace skills, the project will provide Scholars with career and internship preparation, advising, experiential learning, and leadership development training. The project will develop service-learning opportunities within local communities that enable Scholars to use their STEM knowledge to help local businesses and community programs. The project aims to educate student leaders who know how to use their STEM expertise to positively impact their local communities and society at large.The project's research plan is designed to investigate: how a three-tiered, progressive admission process affects recruitment of low-income and academically talented students, including first generation and under-represented minority students; how students' non-cognitive characteristics affect their success in project activities and in STEM; how the project activities affect students' recognition of the potential for STEM to serve and advance local and regional communities; and how the project activities affect students' sense of themselves as potential leaders in STEM. Results of formative and summative project evaluation will define which project activities are most effective at supporting skills development, building confidence, and removing barriers for the participants. Two, one-year Graduate Research Fellows will be recruited to study the project's impact on increasing students' confidence, skills, efficacy, and leadership qualities. Results from this project can inform STEM educators about effective design of supports that meet the needs of students at critical transitions in their STEM education. This project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income 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.