Developing an Ecosystem of STEM Success for Built Environment Majors

该项目将通过支持纽约市理工学院（City Tech）这一为西班牙裔服务的城市公立机构保留和毕业表现出经济需要的成绩优异的低收入学生，从而满足全国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。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为大约60名在建筑环境专业攻读副学士或学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。项目设置的建筑环境专业有土木工程技术、建筑工程技术、电气工程技术、机械工程技术、环境控制技术。副学士学位学生将获得长达两年的奖学金支持，学士学位学生将获得长达四年的奖学金支持。该项目将利用现有的学生和学术支持来开发一个成功的生态系统。它将实施基于证据的有效实践，并评估这些实践、学位获得和进入美国劳动力市场或STEM研究生课程的影响。该项目将培养一批建筑环境专业的教师和学生，为学生提供实习和本科研究的机会，并为教师和学生提供专业发展。该项目将增加低收入STEM学生的数量，通过在建筑环境中追求和实现学位，实现社会和经济流动性。该项目将更好地了解有助于低收入学术天才学生从学士学位成功过渡到研究生学位STEM课程或STEM职业的关键因素。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目将增加学生整体经济流动性的机会，同时促进多元化的劳动力，从而增加纽约市的活力和生存能力。项目目标为：1)选拔、保留并毕业60名S-STEM建筑环境专业学者；2)提高参与学者一年的保留率3)培养更多建筑环境专业的毕业生；4)增加建筑环境专业女生的招生和保留；5)通过群体发展、教师指导和参与研讨会、实地考察、研究、劳动力实习和网络会议等活动，促进S-STEM学者的学术成功；6)找出促进低收入家庭学生学业成功的策略。虽然有大量关于第一代大学生和低收入家庭学生的大学经历的文献，但他们的学术支持经历并没有得到很好的研究。该项目将通过进行两项不同的研究来确定对建筑环境专业低收入学生和女学生的影响，从而促进对STEM学术支持中多样性和包容性的理解。该项目将采用社会科学研究方法进行评估，以收集形成性和总结性定量和定性数据。该项目的成果将在多个层面上传播：地方、区域和国家，包括但不限于在开放获取期刊上发表文章和参加会议。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，该项目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 New York City College of Technology (City Tech), an urban, public Hispanic-serving institution. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to about 60 unique full-time students who are pursuing an associate or baccalaureate degree in one of the Built-Environment majors. The Built-Environment majors included in the project are Civil Engineering Technology, Construction Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Environmental Control Technology. Associate degree students will receive up to two-years of scholarship support and baccalaureate degree students will receive up to four-years of scholarship support. The project will leverage existing student and academic supports to develop an ecosystem of success. It will implement evidence-based effective practices and assess the impact of these practices, degree attainment and entry into the U.S. workforce or graduate programs in STEM. The project will develop a cohort of faculty and students in the built-environment majors, provide students with opportunities for internships and undergraduate research, and provide professional development for faculty and students. The project will increase the number of low-income STEM students achieving social and economic mobility through the pursuit and achievement of degrees in the Built-Environment. The project will produce a better understanding of the key factors that contribute to the successful transition of low-income academically talented students from their baccalaureate degree attainment to either graduate degree STEM programs or to STEM careers. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will add to the vitality and the viability of New York City by increasing opportunities for the overall economic mobility of the students while promoting a diverse workforce. Project objectives are 1) To select, retain, and graduate a total of 60 S-STEM Scholars in the Built Environment majors; 2) To increase the one-year retention rates of participating Scholars 3) To produce more graduates in the Built Environment majors; 4) To increase the enrollment and retention of female students in the Built Environment Majors; 5) To promote S-STEM Scholars’ academic success through cohort development, faculty mentoring, and engaging Scholars in activities such as workshops, field trips, research, workforce internships, and networking sessions; and 6) To identify strategies successful in promoting academic success of low-income students. While there is a large body of literature on first-generation college and low-income students’ experiences in college, their academic support experiences are not well-researched. The project will advance understanding related to diversity and inclusion in STEM academic support by performing two distinct studies to determine the impact on low-income students and female student in the built environment majors. The project will be evaluated using a social science research approach to collecting both formative and summative quantitative and qualitative data. Results of this project will be disseminated at multiple levels: local, regional, and national including, but not limited to publications in open access journals and participation in conferences. This project is funded by the 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.