Collaborative Research: Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM (HOPES)

美国国家科学基金会研究生教育创新奖（IGE）授予蒙大拿理工大学，蒙大拿州立大学比林斯分校和蒙大拿大学将开发和测试一套创新策略，以改善科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）研究生的心理健康和恢复力。为了实现这一目标，该项目包括对研究生和与他们密切合作的教师导师的干预措施，并寻求帮助改变部门的文化，使其更具支持性和包容性。这个项目解决了一个差距，证明的方法，以帮助研究生管理显着的精神和情感的压力和压力，他们面临的。校园里提供的咨询服务主要是为本科生设计的，人们对如何让STEM研究生科普他们具有挑战性的研究项目的压力知之甚少;克服耻辱，自我怀疑和社会孤立;并促进寻求帮助和归属感。对于女性和少数民族学生，退伍军人，残疾学生和来自弱势背景的学生来说，情况更加严峻。改善多样化研究生的福祉将提高他们成功的STEM职业前景-从而加速科学和工程进步，并为美国经济增长和竞争力做出贡献。该项目的目标是设计和试点一个创新的模式，培养研究生的终身技能，心理健康意识和福祉，同时改变教师与研究生接触的方式。第一步将是对学生和教职员工进行基线调查，以获得优先考虑和设计教育干预措施所需的信息。项目组成部分将包括：1）减少污名化的活动; 2）促进心理教育同伴指导，以帮助学生制定有效的应对策略和增强弹性; 3）STEM教师研讨会，旨在实施整体指导，提高包容性，改变部门气氛;以及4）让顾问和被咨询者一起合作解决问题的活动。在改进方法并在三个校区展示效果后，该团队将协助其他三所大学调整方法，以展示规模扩大。总的来说，该项目将建立一个创新的，有效的，可复制的模式，通过提升积极的心理健康，以改善STEM研究生教育的重要成果。评价反馈将有助于改进活动和衡量实现目标的进展情况。该项目由政府间专家组方案和促进竞争研究既定方案共同资助。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划的重点是研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

The National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to Montana Technological University, Montana State University-Billings, and the University of Montana will develop and test a suite of innovative strategies to improve the mental health and resilience of graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To accomplish this goal, the project includes interventions for both graduate students and the faculty mentors with whom they work closely, and it seeks to help transform the cultures of the departments to become more supportive and inclusive. This project addresses a gap in proven approaches to help graduate students manage the significant mental and emotional stresses and pressures they face. Counseling available on campuses mostly is designed for undergraduates, and little is known about how to empower STEM graduate students to cope with the stresses of their challenging research projects; overcome stigma, self doubt, and social isolation; and promote help-seeking and a sense of belonging. The situation is even tougher for women and minority students, veterans, students with disabilities, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Improving the well-being of diverse graduate students will boost their prospects for successful STEM careers – thereby accelerating science and engineering progress and contributing to American economic growth and competitiveness. The project goal is to design and pilot an innovative model for fostering graduate students’ life-long skills for mental health awareness and well-being, while transforming the way faculty engage with graduate students. The first step will be to conduct baseline surveys of students and faculty to obtain information needed to prioritize and design educational interventions. Project components will include: 1) activities to reduce stigma; 2) facilitated psychoeducational peer mentoring to assist students in developing effective coping strategies and enhanced resilience; 3) STEM faculty workshops aimed at implementing holistic mentoring, enhancing inclusiveness, and transforming departmental climates; and 4) activities engaging advisors and advisees together in collaborative problem solving. After refining the approach and demonstrating effectiveness on the three campuses, the team will assist three other universities in adapting the approaches to demonstrate scale up. Overall, the project will establish an innovative, effective, and replicable model for improving STEM graduate education by elevating positive mental health to an important outcome. Evaluation feedback will help improve the activities and measure progress toward achievement of the goal. Activity descriptions, facilitator guides, curricula, and scale-up guides will be published and disseminated.This project is jointly funded by the IGE program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test, and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.