RAPID: Emerging Adults’ Daily Well-Being, Social Experiences, and Academic Persistence in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

与COVID-19大流行相关的快速社会变化使教育有必要转移到网上。这种转变也增加了学生在网上受到歧视的机会，这反过来又会对学生的学习成绩和发展产生负面影响。先前的研究表明，在多元化、跨学科的STEM劳动力对应对复杂的科学挑战至关重要的时刻，歧视可能会让学生放弃从事STEM职业。在传统的面对面教育环境中，与不同的同学和教师的积极互动可以促进认知表现、教育成就和STEM参与的维持，尽管有负面经历。这些积极的互动是否会转移到网络环境中，以及它们是否会同样缓冲歧视的影响，目前还不太清楚。这项研究捕捉到了学生幸福感和学术成果的重要日常变化，可以为未来大学在危机期间的教育和学生健康实践提供信息。对于那些被迫迅速转向在线教学的教育机构来说，这些发现可能特别有趣。正如2019冠状病毒病大流行所表明的那样，在STEM领域需要新颖的想法和优秀的领导力。本研究将确定可能保护和促进STEM职业成果的因素。该项目利用了一个现有的种族多样化的大学STEM专业样本，这些学生之前（大流行前）报告了他们的日常课堂经历、幸福感和学术成果。本研究使用几乎相同的方法，在两个7天周期内收集了额外的数据。该项目旨在：(1)描述大学年龄族裔多元化STEM专业学生日常遭受歧视的频率；(2)评估歧视比率与大流行前水平的差异程度；(3)研究日常歧视是否与STEM学生的日常幸福感、学业效能和对未来STEM职业的预期结果相关；(4)探索在有限的面对面互动背景下，数字同伴和大学社会支持作为日常歧视与结果之间关联的调节因子。探索性开放式问题将确定参与者与COVID-19相关的教育经历。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。

Rapid societal shifts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have necessitated that education move online. Such shifts also increase students’ exposure to online discrimination, which can in turn negatively impact students’ academic performance and development. Prior research suggests that discrimination can push students away from pursuing STEM careers at a moment when a diverse, interdisciplinary STEM workforce is critical to confronting complex scientific challenges. In traditional in-person educational settings, positive interactions with diverse classmates and instructors can facilitate the maintenance of cognitive performance, educational attainment, and STEM participation despite negative experiences. Whether these positive interactions transfer to an online context, and whether they similarly buffer the effects of discrimination, is less understood. This study captures important daily variations in students’ well-being and academic outcomes that can inform future university practices regarding education and student wellness during crises. The findings may be of particular interest to educational institutions that have been forced to quickly shift to online instruction. As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, there is a need for novel ideas and excellent leadership in STEM fields. This study will identify factors that may protect and promote STEM career outcomes.This project capitalizes on an existing ethnically diverse sample of college STEM majors who previously (pre-pandemic) reported on their daily in-class experiences, well-being, and academic outcomes. The present study collects additional data, using nearly identical methods, across two 7-day cycles. The project aims to: (1) Describe the frequency of daily discrimination experienced by college-aged ethnically diverse STEM majors; (2) Assess the extent to which rates of discrimination differ from their pre-pandemic levels; (3) Examine whether daily discrimination is correlated with STEM students’ day-to-day well-being, academic efficacy, and outcome expectations for their future STEM careers; and (4) Explore digital peer and university social supports as moderators of associations between daily discrimination and outcomes in a context of limited in-person interaction. Exploratory open-ended questions will identify participants’ educational experiences related to COVID-19.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.