Supporting and Mentoring the Next Generation of Scholars in Applied Mathematics

该项目将有助于国家需要受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员，通过支持高成就，低收入的学生在加州圣克鲁斯大学证明经济需要的保留和毕业。加州大学圣克鲁斯分校是一所西班牙裔服务机构，约有40%的第一代学生，其中许多来自低收入家庭。在五年内，该项目将资助为期两年的奖学金，以30名学生谁是追求既定的“4+1”途径，这导致在四年的科学学士学位和科学计算和应用数学硕士学位在一个额外的一年。该项目将为学生提供严格的学术培训，为他们在学术界或工业界担任科学家和工程师做好准备。它旨在提高毕业率，并提供全面的支持，以帮助学者成功完成从大学到研究生院的过渡。 这些支持包括训练有素的教师和工作人员的专业学术指导，个人咨询，以及应用数学特定的活动，如招聘活动，基于项目的课程，与教师的论文研究，以及参加专业会议。该项目有可能促进对沟通策略和教师指导在提高学生成功方面的功效的理解。由于加州大学圣克鲁斯是一个西班牙裔服务机构，这个项目有可能扩大参与STEM职业，包括在附近的硅谷的职位。这个项目的总体目标是增加低收入，高成就的本科生与证明财政需要完成STEM学位。迄今为止，大量关于本科生保留的研究都集中在大学早期的学生身上。 然而，人们对提高低收入大三和大四学生的保留率和完成率的因素知之甚少。 其他差距包括了解如何提高本科生攻读数学科学研究生学位的动机，以及如何支持他们在这方面取得成功。拟议的研究重点是为学生建立一个文化上敏感的、反赤字的支持和指导系统。项目活动包括：（1）与学生进行有意识的沟通，以增加他们对该计划的参与;（2）分析教师导师的赤字与反赤字心态，以及他们对高年级本科生或研究生成功的影响;（3）制定策略和研讨会，将赤字心态转变为文化响应，反赤字，并分析其对学生成功的影响。使用形成性和总结性评估技术，该项目的成果将进行评估，以了解学生坚持程度，职业准备，毕业后的决定和成功的文化响应辅导的有效性。这项研究的结果将用于支持教学实践的发展，以缩小加州大学圣克鲁斯研究生学位课程中的公平差距。 此外，还将通过专业协会以及以STEM教育和教育公平为重点的出版物和会议传播成果。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学术成功，保留，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 project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of California Santa Cruz. UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic Serving Institution, with about 40% first generation students, many of whom come from low-income families. Over five years, the project will fund two-year scholarships to thirty students who are pursuing the established "4+1" pathway, which leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in four years and a Master of Science degree in Scientific Computing and Applied Mathematics in one additional year. This project will provide students with rigorous academic training to prepare them for careers as scientists and engineers in academia or industry. It aims to increase graduation rates and provide holistic support to help Scholars successfully complete the transition from college to graduate school. The supports include dedicated academic mentoring by trained faculty and staff, personal counseling, together with applied math-specific activities such as recruitment events, project-based courses, thesis research with a faculty, and participation in professional conferences. The project has the potential to advance understanding about the efficacy of communication strategies and faculty mentoring in improving student success. Because UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic Serving Institution, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM careers, including positions in the nearby Silicon Valley.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. A great deal of research on undergraduate retention to date has focused on students during early college years. However, less is known about the factors that improve retention and completion rates for low-income juniors and seniors. Other gaps include understanding how to increase the motivation of undergraduates to pursue a graduate degree in mathematical sciences and how to support their success in that pursuit. The proposed research focuses on developing a culturally responsive, anti-deficit support and mentoring system for the students. Project activities include: (1) Mindful communication with the students to increase their participation in the program; (2) Analysis of the deficit vs. anti-deficit mindset of faculty mentors, and their impact on success of students at the senior undergraduate or graduate level; (3) Developing strategies and a workshop for changing a deficit mindset into a culturally-responsive, anti-deficit one, and analyzing its impact on student success. Using both formative and summative assessment techniques, outcomes of the project will be evaluated to understand the effectiveness of culturally responsive mentoring on student persistence to degree, career readiness, and post-graduation decisions and success. Findings from this research will be used to support development of teaching practices that close equity gaps within graduate degree programs at UC Santa Cruz. In addition, outcomes will be disseminated through professional societies, and through publications and conferences focused on STEM education and educational equity. This project is funded by NSF's 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 STEM workers, 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.