Causeway Postbaccalaureate Program

Causeway Postbaccalaureate Program旨在增加来自传统上在数学科学博士课程中代表性不足的群体的美国学生数量。具体来说，堤道是一个为期12个月的计划，提供基础课程，研究咨询，社区建设和职业指导的参与者强大和支持的社区的背景下。除了直接的影响，堤道计划的设计是可扩展的，可复制的和可持续的，这样的好处就可以远远超出数学。该项目由NSF研究培训计划共同资助，该计划致力于通过创新，循证，并与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求保持一致的综合培训模式，在高优先级的跨学科或融合研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。潜在的堤道是三个假设，如果属实，可以为其他机构和计划提供“最佳实践”，甚至在数学以外的领域。这些可检验的假设是：1）一个相当大的群体增加了参与者成功研究生学习的可能性; 2）一个支持性的社区培养了STEM学生的认同感和包容感; 3）一个广泛的支持机构联盟可以在NSF资助的初始阶段之后维持一个项目。大规模队列假设的对照组是在传统途径中攻读数学科学研究生的学生。铜锣湾学生在研究生课程的安置将是我们成功的主要措施。 由心理学教师进行的深入访谈，重点关注学生的进步和通过该计划不断发展的身份，将提供有关该计划的定性信息和反馈。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The Causeway Postbaccalaureate Program is aimed at increasing the number of American students from groups traditionally underrepresented in doctoral programs in the mathematical sciences. Specifically, Causeway is a 12-month program providing foundational coursework, research advising, community building, and career mentoring in the context of a strong and supportive community of participants. Beyond its immediate impact, the Causeway program is designed to be scalable, replicable, and sustainable, so that the benefit can extend well beyond mathematics. This project is co-funded by the NSF Research Traineeship Program, which is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.Underlying Causeway are three hypotheses which, if true, could inform "best practices" for other institutions and programs, even in fields beyond mathematics. These testable hypotheses are: 1) a sizable cohort increases the likelihood of successful graduate study for participants; 2) a supportive community fosters a sense of identity and inclusion for students in STEM; 3) a broad consortium of supporting institutions can sustain a program beyond its initial period of NSF funding. The control group for the sizable-cohort hypothesis is the population of students in traditional pathways to graduate study in mathematical sciences. Placement of Causeway students in graduate programs will be our primary measure of success. In-depth interviews by a psychology faculty member, focusing on students' progress and evolving identity through the program, will provide qualitative information and feedback about the program.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.