Bridging the STEM Entrepreneurial Gap for Under-Represented Minority Women By Using the NSF I-Corps' Program Methodology

朱利安·C·麦迪逊大厦有限责任公司(JCMB)项目包括对STEM卓越创业计划(STEET)的研究、评估和报告，该计划是一项试点倡议，旨在利用NSFI-Corps™框架作为示范计划方法，增强STEM创业支持计划的文化和背景相关性。为了服务于促进科学进步的国家利益，该项目的目标是对促进STEM教育和企业所有权经验感兴趣的代表不足的少数群体(URM)妇女。通过增加与STEM相关的职业选择的多样性，该项目为美国人口中处于边缘地位的群体提供了广泛的社会福利和教育进步。陡峭培训计划的目标是为对创业感兴趣的女性扩大NSFI-Corps™计划的参与。该项目的范围集中于评估准备活动，这些活动共同利用了START的创业规划和NSF计划方法，以实现最大效率。项目团队跟踪深度参与者与企业合作伙伴的接触情况，以利用指导机会。利用培训前、中期和培训后的调查和访谈，收集整个项目时间表的数据，以分析其预期结果。该方法为以STEM为重点的创业以及NSFI-Corps™项目的女性参与提供了一个坚实的研究模型。该项目将通过捕获具有创业精神的URM女性参与者的关键数据(例如，真实或感知的障碍)，通过学术、专业发展和导师网络与国内和国际社会接触，并在参与的学术机构之间建立新的和/或改进的跨学科课程，在这一创新研究领域创建一个更广泛的社区。该项目可在NSF创新网络(NIN)中扩展和传输，在该网络中，节点、枢纽、团队和参与的高等教育机构(IHE)可以实施预期的研究成果，以提高URM妇女在鼓励创新和创业的STEM项目中的多样性和参与度。JCMB维护一个内部存储库，其中包含调查数据和访谈，经过处理，然后汇总以保护机密性(受访者的个人信息)。摘要项目调查和个人访谈结果在任何出版物(即科学或管理期刊)之前都会被指定化名。一旦收集和分析，JCMB将以汇总的形式提供所有数据，以确保受访者的身份得到维护。个人可识别的数据在项目期间和研究完成后的三年内受到访问控制；然后销毁。JCMB打算将经过净化/汇总的结果分发给担心STEM创业缺乏多样性的广大受众。这一奖项反映了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。

The Julian C. Madison Building, LLC (JCMB) project includes the research, evaluation, and reporting of the STEM Entrepreneurial Excellence Program (STEEP) – a pilot initiative to enhance cultural and contextual relevancy for a proven STEM entrepreneurship support program using the NSF I-Corps™ framework as the model program methodology. In service to national interests promoting the progress of science, this project targets under-represented minority (URM) women interested in advancing their STEM education and experience for business ownership. By increasing diversity in STEM-related career options, this project provides broad societal benefits and advances in education for marginalized sectors of the US population.The STEEP Training Initiative goal is to broaden participation in the NSF I-Corps™ program for URM women interested in entrepreneurship. This project’s scope focuses on evaluating readiness activities that collectively utilize STEEP’s entrepreneurial planning and NSF program methodology for maximum efficacy. The project team tracks STEEP participants’ engagement with corporate partners to leverage mentoring opportunities. Utilizing pre-, interim, and post-training surveys and interviews, data is collected across the project timeline to analyze its intended results. The approach serves as a solid research model for long-term sustainability for STEM-focused entrepreneurship, as well as NSF I-Corps™ program participation for URM women.This project will create a broader-access community in this innovative research area by capturing critical data (e.g. obstacles – real or perceived) on URM women participants with entrepreneurial spirits; engaging the national and international community through academic, professional development and mentorship networks; and establishing new and/or improved interdisciplinary programs among the participating academic institutions. This project is scalable and transferable across the NSF Innovation Network (NIN) where Nodes, Hubs, Teams, and participating institutions of higher education (IHE) can implement the expected research findings to improve diversity and participation for URM women across STEM programs that encourage innovation and entrepreneurism.JCMB maintains an internal repository of survey data and interviews that is processed, then summarized to protect confidentiality (biographical information from the respondents). Summarized project survey and individual interview results are assigned pseudonyms prior to any publication (i.e. scientific or managerial journals). Once collected and analyzed, JCMB will present all data in aggregate form ensuring that the identity of respondents is maintained. Personally-identifiable data is access-controlled during the project and for three years after the study is complete; then destroyed. JCMB intends to distribute sanitized/summarized results to a broad audience concerned with the lack of diversity in STEM entrepreneurship.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.