Weaving Professional Skill Development and Workplace Psychology Training into Undergraduate STEM Curricula to Increase Success in College and the Workforce

本项目的重点是提高高成就、低收入、有经济需求的STEM本科生的留校率、毕业率和职业成就率。在整个五年中，该项目将资助五个小组的125个奖学金，每组25名学生，以支持获得生物科学、化学与生物化学、计算机科学、地质科学、数学与统计或物理与天文学的学士学位。这些STEM专业的课程旨在提供发现和分析思维原理方面的强大背景知识，以及STEM领域的广泛知识。虽然这些知识和技能对于STEM劳动力的成功是必不可少的，但它们还不够。为了解决这个问题，该项目计划通过将职业技能发展与工作场所心理学和公平培训结合起来，将专业技能发展与STEM课程结合起来，培养强大的STEM领导者。该地区正在经历高科技工业的快速增长。此外，来自STEM领域历史上代表性不足的群体的个人不久将代表大多数人口。该项目有三个目标：(1)通过颁发奖学金，促进社会经济水平较低的学者在科学领域的参与和留住；(2)将特定行业的职业技能融入学者的培训中，以期在完成学士学位后超越行业和学术界对工作的期望；以及(3)通过举办工作场所心理学工作坊，最大限度地减少STEM劳动力中学生的流失，这些工作坊教个人如何适应不那么友好的工作环境，并建立一个公平的工作场所。所有背景的合格学生都有资格获得奖学金支持，并加大力度招募和支持代表性不足的少数民族、科学界女性和第一代学者。培训计划创建的活动和资源将向全校所有STEM本科生和研究生开放。该设计与开发项目由NSF科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入有经济需求的低收入学业天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来科学家、工程师和技术人员的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学术成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project focuses on increasing retention, graduation, and career success of high achieving, low income STEM undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Throughout its five years, the project will fund 125 fellowships in five groups of 25 students to support attainment of bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Geological Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, or Physics & Astronomy. The curricula of these STEM majors are designed to provide a strong background in the principles of discovery and analytical thinking, as well as extensive knowledge of a STEM field. Although this knowledge and skills are essential to success in the STEM workforce, they are not enough. To address this issue, the project plans to develop strong STEM leaders by weaving professional skills development, with workplace psychology and equity training, into the STEM curriculum. The region is experiencing rapid high-tech industrial growth. In addition, individuals from groups that have been historically under-represented in the STEM fields will soon represent most of the population. Consequently, this project has the potential to serve as a pipeline of workforce-ready graduates into the region's STEM workforce, including biotechnology, computer science, and engineering industries.This project has three objectives: (1) promote the engagement and retention of low socio-economic scholars in the sciences through the award of scholarships; (2) integrate sector-specific career skills into the training of scholars with an eye toward exceeding workplace expectations in industry and academia on completion of their BS degrees; and (3) minimize attrition of students within the STEM workforce by incorporating workplace psychology workshops that teach individuals how to navigate less hospitable work environments and establish an equitable workplace. Qualified students of all backgrounds will be eligible for scholarship support, with expanded efforts to recruit and support under-represented minorities, women in science, and first-generation scholars. The activities and resources created by the training program will be available to all STEM undergraduate and graduate students across the university. This Design and Development project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented 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.