Supporting Undergraduate Mathematics and Computer Science Students with Scholarships and Culturally Responsive Mentoring

该项目将通过支持威廉·帕特森大学（一所为西班牙裔服务的机构）中表现出经济需要的优秀低收入家庭学生的保留和毕业，来满足全国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。该项目为期五年，将为26名攻读数学、计算机科学和计算机信息技术学士学位的全日制、一年级和转学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得最多四年的奖学金支持，转学生将获得最多两年的奖学金支持。这些学者将获得多种支持，并有更多的机会从事研究和实习。学者们还将得到接受过文化响应性指导培训的教师的指导，其中包括文化能力和隐性偏见等问题，以及作为低收入家庭或第一代学生的正常感受。该项目旨在提供有关文化响应性指导和个人发展计划潜力的新知识，以支持本科生留校、毕业和毕业后在stem相关就业或研究生工作中的安置。这所大学有培养第一代大学生的传统，其中许多人是移民父母的孩子。因此，该项目有可能为包括拉丁裔和低收入学生在内的不同人口的学生扩大STEM领域的参与。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目的目标包括：a)招收三组低收入、有学术天赋的学生作为数学和计算机科学学者，并向他们提供奖学金；b)提高新生、全日制学生、一年级学生或转学生的年度保留率；c)提高所有学者的毕业率；d)进行一项调查研究，调查低收入学生的大学留校率与基于实力的、文化响应型辅导之间的关系。预期的项目成果包括加强女性进入目标STEM专业的招聘，增加目标专业的入学率，从而增加进入STEM劳动力的STEM毕业生数量。这些成果有助于满足新泽西州和美国的STEM劳动力需求。研究计划将使用与美国国家科学基金会教育和研究与发展共同指南中描述的设计和开发研究项目一致的方法，并将重点放在项目的四个目标上。相关的调查结果将通过大学网站、会议、会议演讲和出版物传播。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

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 William Paterson University, a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide scholarships to 26 full-time, first year and transfer students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, computer science, and computer information technology. First-year students will receive up to four years of scholarship support and transfer students will receive up to two-years of scholarship support. The Scholars will have access to multiple supports and increased opportunities to engage in research and internships. Scholars will also be mentored by faculty trained in culturally-responsive mentoring, which includes issues such as cultural competence and implicit bias and normalizing feelings about being a low-income or first-generation student. The project aims to produce new knowledge about the potential for culturally responsive mentoring and individual development plans to support undergraduate student retention, graduation, and post-graduation placement in STEM-related employment or graduate work. The University has a tradition of educating first-generation college students, many of whom are children of immigrant parents. As a result, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields for a population diverse students, including Latinx, low-income students. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project objectives include to: a) enroll three cohorts of low-income, academically talented students as Mathematics and Computer Science Scholars, supporting them with scholarships; b) improve year-over-year retention rates for Scholars who are first-time, full-time, first-year or transfer students; c) improve graduation rates for all Scholars; and d) perform a research study that investigates the relationship between college retention for low-income students and strength-based, culturally responsive mentoring. The intended project outcomes include strengthening recruitment of women into the target STEM majors, increasing enrollment across the targeted majors, and, consequentially, increasing the number of STEM graduates who enter the STEM workforce. These outcomes can contribute to the STEM workforce needs of New Jersey and the United States. The research plan will use methods consistent with Design and Development research projects described in the NSF Common Guidelines for Education and Research and Development and will focus on the project’s four objectives. Pertinent findings will be disseminated through the University website, meetings, conference presentations, and publications. 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.