Scholarships, Academic, and Co-curricular Supports to Increase Access to Graduate Degrees and Careers in Engineering

该项目将为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献，方法是支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的STEM学生留校和毕业。该项目将在五年内向30名学生提供为期两年的奖学金，让他们攻读匹兹堡大学斯旺森工程学院的理科硕士学位。这些学位涵盖十个工程专业：化学、石油、生物工程、土木工程、环境、电气、计算机、工业、材料科学和机械工程。除了奖学金外，该项目还将为学生提供学术和联合课程支持，帮助他们获得在劳动力市场和创业追求中取得成功所需的知识和技能。该项目旨在增加获得工程学硕士学位的低收入家庭学生的数量，并为这些学生提供获得行业认可的证书的机会。该项目将促进对消除障碍的战略的理解，这些障碍干扰了低收入学生在获得理科学士学位后过渡到研究生院的能力。该项目的总体目标是提高STEM领域低收入、高成就本科生的研究生学位完成率。该项目的具体目标是1)通过奖学金创造获得理科硕士学位的机会，2)通过课程改进、指导和行业实习等活动建立进入专业职业生涯的桥梁。实现这些目标的战略包括培养学生进行研究和参与创新的能力，通过教师结构的学徒制度指导学生，以及提供以研究生为中心的社区活动。评估和评价计划将使用直接措施(例如，行为观察；政策变化)和间接措施(例如，调查)来评估项目在提供机会/奖学金、提高研究生院的成功程度以及建立通往职业生涯的成功桥梁方面的成功。该项目还将解决关键的研究问题，包括奖学金激励是否会增加低收入学业天赋学生在工科研究生项目中表现出的经济需求，以及减少或消除经济障碍是否会增加低收入学生攻读高等学位的兴趣和动力。混合方法的研究方法将包括对来自参与者访谈和调查的信息进行定性分析。该项目的成果将通过短讯、时事通讯、小册子、同行评议的期刊出版物以及在美国工程教育工作者协会会议等会议上的陈述来传播。该项目由NSF的科学、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学术天才学生的数量。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业成功、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 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 STEM students with demonstrated financial need. Over five years, the project will provide two-year scholarships to 30 students to pursue Master of Science degrees from the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. These degrees span ten engineering programs: Chemical, Petroleum, Bioengineering, Civil, Environmental, Electrical, Computer, Industrial, Materials Science, and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to scholarships, this project will provide students with academic and co-curricular supports to help them gain the knowledge and skills needed for success in the workforce and in entrepreneurial pursuits. The project aims to increase the number of low-income students who graduate with a master's degree in engineering, as well as provide the students with opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials. The project will advance understanding of strategies for eliminating barriers that interfere with the ability of low-income students to transition to graduate school after they earn a Bachelor of Science degree. The overall goal of this project is to increase graduate degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates in STEM fields. The specific aims of the project are to 1) create access to Master of Science degrees through scholarships and 2) create bridges into professional careers through activities such as curricular improvements, mentoring, and industry internships. Strategies to accomplish these aims include building capacity for students to do research and be involved in innovation, mentoring students through faculty-structured apprenticeships, and providing graduate student-centered community activities. The assessment and evaluation plan will use both direct (e.g., behavioral observations; policy changes) and indirect measures (e.g., surveys) to evaluate the project's success in providing access/scholarships, increasing success in graduate school, and developing successful bridges to professional careers. The project will also address key research questions, including whether scholarship incentives increase the enrollment of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need in engineering graduate programs and whether reduction or elimination of financial barriers increase the interest and motivation of low-income students to pursue advance degrees. A mixed-methods research approach will include a qualitative analysis of information from participant interviews and surveys. Results of this project will be disseminated through short communications, newsletters, brochures, peer-reviewed journal publications, and presentations at conferences such as the American Society of Engineering Educators Conference. 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.