Creating Opportunities for High-achieving Students in Science and Mathematics through Scholarships, Research Experiences, Leadership, and Community

该项目将通过支持西方学院（一所私立文理学院）中表现出经济需要的优秀低收入学生的保留和毕业，来满足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。它将通过向在生物学、生物化学、化学、地质学、数学和物理专业有经济需求的学业成绩优异的学生提供经济、学术和个人支持来实现这一目标。在为期五年的项目中，该项目每年将为两批10名二年级学生提供奖学金，每年最高可达10,000美元，为期三年。该项目建立在先前成功的1轨道S-STEM奖项的基础上，将为学者提供科学研究、实习、智力成长和专业技能发展的机会。该项目将产生和传播有关促进学生成功和提高学生对STEM归属感的知识。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、优秀本科生的STEM学位完成率。实现这一目标的计划包括招募、激励和培养一个多元化的低收入、学术成就高的STEM专业群体，以确定他们是STEM领域的科学家和领导者。该项目将通过创建和实施五项措施来补充和加强学院的支持服务：1)开设新的第一年写作密集的stem专题研讨会课程；2)为STEM专业学生开设以科学传播、职业准备和专业发展为中心的新三年级研讨会课程；3)为学者提供参加本科研究、实习经历和学科会议的保障机会；4)加强咨询和战略指导；5)在不同环境和模式下的多种领导机会，包括点对点、社区、角色示范、志愿者和直接援助。将采用多模式方法收集和分析与项目既定目标和目的有关的数据，以形成和总结的方式评估项目组成部分的效力。该项目有一个强大的研究议程，其重点是确定STEM中的障碍，它们对保留和持久性的影响，以及STEM身份如何随着学生的学术轨迹而演变。该研究计划包括密切跟踪两整个班级的大一新生直到毕业，以监测年龄结构的群体如何为年轻学生提供灵感和指导，为年长学生提供领导技能和对科学实践的深化理解，这些将为他们随后的职业和教育提供信息。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 Occidental College, a private liberal arts college. It will do so by providing financial, academic, and personal support to academically high-achieving students with financial need majoring in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics and Physics. Over its five-year duration, the project will support two annual cohorts of ten second-year students with scholarships of up to $10,000 per year for up to three years. The project builds upon a successful prior Track 1 S-STEM award and will provide Scholars with opportunities for scientific research, internships, intellectual growth, and professional skill development. The project will generate and disseminate knowledge about promoting student success and increasing students’ perception of belonging in STEM. The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The plan to achieve this goal includes recruiting, inspiring, and developing a diverse group of low-income, academically high-achieving STEM majors to identify as scientists and leaders in STEM. The project will complement and strengthen support services at the College by creating and implementing five initiatives: 1) a new first-year, writing-intensive STEM-focused seminar course; 2) a new third-year seminar course for STEM majors centered around scientific communication, career readiness, and professional development; 3) providing guaranteed opportunities for scholars to participate in undergraduate research, internship experiences, and disciplinary conferences; 4) enhanced advising and strategic mentoring; 5) multiple leadership opportunities in various settings and modalities, including peer-to-peer, community-based, role-modelling, volunteer, and direct assistance. The efficacy of the project components will be evaluated both formatively and summatively using multi-modal approaches to collecting and analyzing data associated with the project’s stated goals and objectives. The project has a robust research agenda that centers on determining barriers in STEM, their effects on retention and persistence, and how STEM identity evolves as students traverse their academic trajectory. The research plan includes closely tracking two entire classes of entering first-year college students through graduation to monitor how an age-structured cohort may provide younger students with inspiration and mentorship and older students with leadership skills and a deepened understanding of scientific practices that will inform their subsequent careers and education. 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.