RCN: Developing a Multi-Institution Research-Practitioner Network to Enhance the Success of Diverse Students in Computer Science and Engineering From High School to the Workforce

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The overarching goal of this Research Coordination Network (RCN) is to broaden participation in computer science and engineering fields through new collaborations, research and outreach. The nature of work in the United States has changed rapidly in the 21st century. A growing proportion of all employment today revolves around science and technology industries. Despite the national demand for a workforce with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the supply of STEM graduates has lagged, resulting in a substantial gap between demand and supply. While many efforts are underway across the nation to increase the supply of STEM students, they are stymied by two problems. First, most current efforts occur within institutional and disciplinary silos, with little coordination across institutions or disciplines, preventing synthesis of collective wisdom and hindering the replication of evidence-based best practices across institutions. Second, because of institutional silos, insufficient attention is given to student experiences at cross-institutional transitions when attrition is high. This RCN will tackle these two problems targeting computer science (CS) and engineering, by developing a multi-institutional partnership in Massachusetts to connect instructors of CS and engineering, social scientists who study STEM pathways, educational support staff, and industry partners who hire and develop talent in CS and engineering. This coordinated network of Researchers, Educators, and Business Leaders (REBL) may become a model for other states across the nation.This RCN project will create three interconnected Network Improvement Communities (NICs) in Massachusetts that will provide a collaboration space for researchers and practitioners to work on equity in three different areas; high school, colleges and universities, and workforce and industry. NIC activities will focus on: (1) synthesizing knowledge from research, teaching, outreach, and business, to identify multiple barriers in CS and engineering pathways from high school to the workforce, with attention to developmental transitions; (2) communicating evidence-based remedies to inform decisions made by instructors and industry partners that influence the flow of people from high school to the workforce; (3) increasing impact by replicating successful remedies from one partner institution to others; and (4) matchmaking new collaborations between researchers and practitioners to tackle knowledge gaps in education, outreach, and business as they relate to broadening CS and engineering participation. Focused on network formation in Massachusetts, the effort will leverage the UMass system, Five Colleges, and cross-institutional relationships developed by this project to enact remedies at multiple institutions that scale impact and catalyze future grants by multi-institutional teams to test new interventions. The network will also bridge college education with career opportunities through internships and service learning with special attention to underrepresented students. This RCN is co-funded by the EHR Core Research program and by NSF INCLUDES, which focuses on catalyzing the STEM enterprise to collaboratively work towards inclusive change.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.