HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Western MA Engineering Pathways Program

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）”的支持下，这个名为“西部文学硕士工程途径计划”的第二轨项目将通过支持霍利奥克社区学院（HCC）、马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校和西新英格兰大学（WNEU）工程项目中代表性不足的学生的招聘、保留、毕业和转学，为满足国家对多样化工程劳动力的需求做出贡献。在四年的时间里，该项目将从合作伙伴霍利奥克高中和韦斯特菲尔德高中寻找对工程感兴趣的学生，开发和测试创新干预措施，并在学术道路上支持学生。早期参与工程概念和持续全面的学生支持将增强STEM领域传统上代表性不足的学生的身份、自我效能和自信。西部文学硕士工程路径计划有三个目标：1)创建改进的路径，以扩大历史上在工程领域代表性不足的学生的参与；2)振兴HCC的工程项目，以更好地响应多样化的学生群体和地区雇主的需求；3)为马萨诸塞州西部的目标学生建立有效的路径，进行基础研究，以一种可在全国复制的方式实施和维持。在教育服务合作组织、女性工程师协会（SWE）和50K联盟等项目合作伙伴的支持下，项目活动将吸引并留住更多的工程专业学生，特别是那些自认为是女性、拉丁裔或其他历史上被边缘化群体的学生。该项目将调查本科工程教育中女性、拉丁裔学生和具有多种边缘化身份（MMI）的学生在工程教育方面的经验和决策之间的差异。研究问题将决定高中和社区大学的学生如何在攻读本科工程教育方面做出决定；拉丁裔和女性学生，尤其是那些MMI学生，在决策过程中与同龄人的差异；为满足拉丁裔学生的需求而进行的制度改革，特别是那些有MMI的学生，如何改善他们和其他本科工程专业学生的成果；以及如何利用公平的途径设计将利益相关者的关注点从机构成果转向以学生为中心的成果。该项目的研究结果将支持每个伙伴机构的公平和包容努力，并将指导其他为西班牙裔服务的机构努力增加拉丁裔对工程未来的贡献。项目团队将与5万联盟合作，在全国范围内分享有前途的实践和STEM教育研究成果。改善与当地工业的联系和互动，将为雇主在培养未来工程师和增加劳动力多样性方面提供发言权。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并在HSI进行能力建设。考虑到hsi的多样性和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进基础研究(1)关于参与式学生学习，(2)关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及(3)提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划支持的项目也将借鉴这些方法，为如何实现这些目标提供新的知识。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project called The Western MA Engineering Pathways Program, will contribute to the national need for a diverse engineering workforce by supporting the recruitment, retention, graduation, and transfer of underrepresented students in engineering programs at Holyoke Community College (HCC), the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Western New England University (WNEU). Over a four-year period, the project will identify students from partners Holyoke High School and Westfield High School who express an interest in engineering, develop and test innovative interventions, and support students along the academic pathway. Early engagement with engineering concepts and ongoing comprehensive student supports will bolster STEM identity, self-efficacy, and self-confidence among traditionally underrepresented students in the field. The Western MA Engineering Pathways Program has three goals: 1) Create improved pathways to broaden the participation of students historically underrepresented in engineering, 2) Revitalize HCC’s engineering programs to be more responsive to a diverse student body and to regional employer demands, and 3) Produce fundamental research on building an effective pathway for targeted students in the Western Massachusetts that can be implemented and sustained in a way that is replicable nationally. With support from project partners at the Collaborative for Educational Services, the Society for Women Engineers (SWE), and the 50K Coalition, project activities will attract and retain more students in engineering, especially students who identify themselves as women, Latinx, or from other historically marginalized groups. The proposed project will investigate the differences between the experiences and decisions surrounding engineering education for women, Latinx students, and students with multiple marginalized identities (MMI) in undergraduate engineering education. Research questions will determine how high school and community college students make decisions around pursuing undergraduate engineering education; the ways in which Latinx and female students, especially those with MMI, differ in their decision-making process from their peers; how institutional changes made to address the needs of Latinx students, especially those with MMI, improve their outcomes and those of other undergraduate engineering students; and how equitable pathway design can be used to shift stakeholders’ foci from institutional outcomes to student-centered outcomes.Findings from this project will support equity and inclusion efforts at each partnership institution and will guide efforts at other Hispanic-Serving Institutions seeking to increase Latinx contributions to the future of engineering. The project team will work with the 50k Coalition to share promising practices and STEM education research findings on a national scale. Improved connection and interaction with local industry will provide employers with a voice in preparing future engineers and increasing diversity in their workforce. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.