Creating STEM Opportunities for High-Achieving Rural Alabama Students

在美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）计划的资助下，该项目将为来自阿拉巴马州农村集水区的有学术前途的低收入学生提供奖学金。通过与当地高中、家庭和支持系统的合作，该项目将为该地区的农村学生开辟一条途径，让他们参加北阿拉巴马大学的STEM课程。学者们将获得量身定制的、多样化的学术和课外机会，以促进STEM劳动力的保留、毕业和成功。该计划的目标是让至少90%的S-STEM奖学金获得者进入STEM相关的职业和/或攻读STEM研究生课程。该计划的毕业生将支持该地区日益增长的经济和工业需求，因为预计到2026年，阿拉巴马州北部的STEM就业增长将超过20%。该项目有潜力提供创新的最佳实践，可用于提高其他为农村学生服务的机构的STEM保留率、毕业率和劳动力发展。S-STEM学者计划将努力在八个学期内使至少75%的学者毕业，并将北阿拉巴马大学的四年毕业率提高16个百分点。为了实现这些目标，学者们将获得学术和课外活动的良好协调，包括大学入学指导、教师指导和机构咨询、社区参与、职业和创业机会、大学支持服务和机构参与。为了确定项目活动对来自农村背景的STEM学生的招聘、保留和毕业的有效性，以及对大学、归属感和职业的看法的变化，当前的项目将比较S-STEM学者（实验组）和非学者（对照组）。该项目将使用匹配样本方法来识别与治疗组尽可能多地共享特征的非学者。治疗组和对照组之间的差异将使用受试者间和受试者内设计进行分析。具体来说，本研究将检验提供给学者的额外活动，以及学者的参与程度，是否会导致结果的显著差异。该项目将采用混合方法设计，包括收集、分析和整合来自调查问题的定量数据和来自焦点小组的定性数据。通过使用不同的方法和技术，可以证实研究结果的稳健性，并将其推广到其他为农村学生服务的机构。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。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will provide scholarships to academically promising, low-income students drawn from the Alabama rural catchment region. By engaging local high schools, families, and support systems, this program will develop a pathway for rural students in the region to enroll in STEM programs at the University of North Alabama. Scholars will be provided with a tailored yet diverse breadth of academic and co-curricular opportunities to promote retention, graduation, and success in the STEM workforce. The goal of the program will be for at least 90% of S-STEM scholarship recipients to enter a STEM-related career and/or pursue graduate STEM studies. Graduates of the program will support the growing economic and industrial needs of the region as STEM job growth is expected to increase by over 20% in north Alabama by 2026. The program has the potential to provide innovative best practices that may be used to increase STEM retention, graduation, and workforce development at other institutions that serve rural students.The S-STEM Scholars program will strive to graduate at least 75% of its Scholars in eight semesters and increase the University of North Alabama's four-year graduation rate by sixteen percentage points. To achieve these goals, Scholars will be offered a well-coordinated blend of academic and co-curricular activities, including college orientation, faculty mentoring and institutional advising, community engagement, career and entrepreneurial opportunities, University support services, and institutional engagement. To determine the effectiveness of program activities on the recruitment, retention, and graduation of STEM students from rural backgrounds, as well as changes in perceptions related to college, belonging, and careers, the current program project will compare S-STEM Scholars (the treatment group) with non-Scholars (control group). The program will use a matched sample approach to identify non-Scholars who share as many characteristics with the treatment group as possible. The differences between the treatment and control groups will be analyzed using a between-subjects and within-subjects design. Specifically, this study will examine if the additional activities offered to Scholars, and the levels of participation by Scholars, result in significant differences in outcomes. The project will use a mixed-method design that will involve collecting, analyzing, and integrating quantitative data from survey questions and qualitative data from focus groups. By using different methods and techniques, it will allow for corroboration of the robustness of the findings and their generalizability to other institutions that serve rural 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.