RAPID: Investigating Challenges to Matriculation and Completion for Underrepresented STEM Graduate Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

该RAPID项目旨在实证研究在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间，代表性不足的少数族裔（URM）学生在STEM研究生课程中入学、坚持和完成的障碍。该项目的基本假设是，在危机期间，urm可能会经历更大的经济困难，并削弱完成研究生学位的动力。为了解决这一问题，研究生院理事会将与教育机会理事会和传统黑人研究生院理事会合作，收集和分析数据，以记录URM学生的关键决策点，并建立关于他们在大流行期间研究生院愿望和完成态度的基线信息。该项目将产生的结果可以为研究生提供建议和支持结构，以应对当前的挑战，并指导干预措施，以扩大STEM研究生教育的参与。研究人员将调查四个研究问题：(1)2020年秋季入学人数不足的研究生的障碍是什么？(2)目前就读STEM研究生课程的代表性不足的学生保留的障碍是什么？(3) 2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行后，URM即将升学的大四学生想要继续深造有哪些挑战？(4)在体验式学习经历因大流行而中断的环境中，正在采用哪些策略使urm为研究生学业的成功做好准备？定量和定性数据将通过调查和焦点小组从本科项目主管、研究生院长和其他关键利益相关者那里收集。数据将使用简单的描述和多元回归技术进行分析，结果将与研究生教育界广泛分享。本项目由EHR核心研究项目的STEM教育研究能力建设竞赛资助。ECR支持基础STEM教育研究，解决与STEM学习和学习环境相关的问题，扩大STEM的参与，以及STEM专业劳动力的发展。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智力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 RAPID project aims to empirically examine obstacles to the matriculation, persistence, and completion of underrepresented minority (URM) students in STEM graduate programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The underlying assumptions of the project are that URMs may experience greater economic hardship and erosion in motivation to complete a graduate degree during crises. To address this problem, the Council of Graduate Schools will collaborate with the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools to collect and analyze data to document the critical decision points for URM students and establish baseline information about their graduate school aspirations and attitudes toward completion during the pandemic. The project will produce results that can inform graduate student advising and support structures to address the current challenges and guide interventions to broaden participation in STEM graduate education.The investigators will investigate four research questions: (1) What are the obstacles to the matriculation of underrepresented graduate students in the Fall 2020? (2) What are the obstacles to the retention of underrepresented students currently enrolled in STEM graduate programs? (3) What are the challenges for sustaining graduate school aspirations among URM rising college seniors following the COVID-19 pandemic? and (4) In an environment where experiential learning experiences have been disrupted by the pandemic, what strategies are being used to prepare URMs for graduate school success? Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from undergraduate pipeline program directors, graduate deans, and other key stakeholders through surveys and focus groups. Data will be analyzed using both simple descriptive and multivariate regression techniques, and the results will be shared broadly with the graduate education community. This project is funded by the Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research program. ECR supports fundamental STEM education research that addresses issues relevant to STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM professional workforce development,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.