CAREER: Levelling the Playing Field in STEM: Post-transfer Success for Underrepresented Racial Minority Community College Transfers

学院早期职业发展(Career)计划是国家科学基金会范围内的一项活动，旨在为有潜力在研究和教育中充当学术榜样的早期教师提供支持，在其部门或组织的使命中领导进步，并为终身领导教育和研究的整合奠定基础。这一职业项目将考察影响科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科转学后成功的心理和社会因素。社区大学提供获得STEM学士学位的必经之路。以前的研究侧重于为STEM学生，特别是来自历史上代表性不足的学生创造有效的转学途径，但在四年制院校入学后的转学体验方面仍然存在重大挑战。使用强调学生优势和特点的资产模型，该项目将确定与STEM转学学生的成功和学位完成相关的促进者和障碍。这些发现将促进对文献的知识和学术贡献。通过与学生事务管理人员和专业人员的合作，该项目还将制定和实施有针对性的机构战略，以促进STEM中代表性不足的学生在转学后取得成功。实证数据将通过多阶段、混合方法设计来实现研究目标。在每个研究阶段，将进行验证性调查，以衡量关键的心理社会因素，如STEM自我效能、STEM身份、转移污名、社会和文化资本以及转移接受性文化。转学学生的留校率和学习成绩将在项目期间进行跟踪，然后与调查数据相匹配。将对STEM转学学生参与者进行多轮定性访谈，以补充和阐述定量调查结果。将开发和测试一个完整的理论模型，以揭示心理社会因素如何影响STEM成功和转移后的成功，以及这种影响在STEM中代表性不足和未被充分代表的群体之间可能存在哪些差异。研究成果将与教育活动相互关联，包括STEM转移成功计划和开发在线资源。教育活动将向高等教育领导者提供信息，并促进在四年制院校中培养接受转移的文化的行动。该项目由EHR核心研究(ECR)计划资助，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究、扩大STEM的参与以及STEM劳动力发展的工作。该奖项的部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization, and to build a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. This CAREER project will examine psychological and social factors that are influential to post-transfer success for underrepresented transfer students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Community colleges offer essential pathways toward bachelor’s degrees in STEM. Previous studies have focused on creating effective transfer pathways for STEM students, especially students from historically underrepresented populations, but significant challenges remain regarding the transfer experience after enrollment at four-year institutions. Using an asset model that emphasizes student strengths and traits, this project will identify facilitators and barriers associated with underrepresented STEM transfer students’ success and degree completion. Findings will advance knowledge and scholarly contributions to the literature. Through collaboration with student affairs administrators and professionals, this project will also develop and implement tailored institutional strategies to promote post-transfer success among underrepresented students in STEM. Empirical data will be used through a multi-phase, mixed-method design to accomplish research goals. In each research phase, validated surveys will be administered to measure key psychosocial factors such as STEM self-efficacy, STEM identity, transfer stigma, social and cultural capital, and transfer receptive culture. Transfer students’ retention and academic performance will be tracked over the project years and then matched with survey data. Multiple rounds of qualitative interviews will be conducted with STEM transfer student participants to supplement and contextualize quantitative survey findings. An integrated theoretical model will be developed and tested to reveal how psychosocial factors influence STEM success and post-transfer success, and how such influences may differ between groups that are and are not underrepresented in STEM. Research findings will be interrelated with educational activities, including a STEM transfer success program and development of online resources. The educational activities will inform higher education leaders and promote action in fostering a transfer receptive culture in four-year institutions.This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This award is also funded in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).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.