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

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、有经济需求的学生留在威廉·帕特森大学毕业，威廉·帕特森大学是一家为拉美裔服务的机构。在五年的时间里，该项目将为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学生提供奖学金并进行转学。一年级学生将获得最多四年的奖学金支持，转校生将获得最多两年的奖学金支持。奖学金获得者将获得多种支持，并获得更多从事研究和实习的机会。学者还将接受受过文化响应辅导培训的教员的指导，其中包括文化能力、隐性偏见以及对作为低收入或第一代学生的常态化感受等问题。该项目旨在产生关于响应文化的指导和个人发展计划的潜力的新知识，以支持本科生留住、毕业和毕业后在STEM相关的就业或研究生工作中的安置。该大学有培养第一代大学生的传统，他们中的许多人都是移民父母的孩子。因此，该项目有可能扩大STEM领域的参与，使包括拉丁裔低收入学生在内的不同群体的学生更多地参与STEM领域。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。该项目的目标包括：a)招收三批在学业上有天赋的低收入学生作为数学和计算机科学奖学金获得者，为他们提供奖学金支持；b)提高首次、全日制、一年级或转校生的奖学金获得率；c)提高所有奖学金获得者的毕业率；以及d)进行一项研究，调查低收入学生在大学期间的留校率与注重实力、适应文化的辅导之间的关系。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人数，从而增加STEM毕业生进入STEM劳动力队伍的人数。这些成果有助于满足新泽西州和美国的STEM劳动力需求。该研究计划将使用与NSF《教育和研究与开发共同指南》中描述的设计和开发研究项目一致的方法，并将重点放在该项目的四个目标上。相关调查结果将通过大学网站、会议、会议报告和出版物进行传播。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 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.