Enhancing Career Outcomes Through Mentoring, Research, and Focused Career Discernment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

西雅图大学是一所综合性私立耶稣会大学，大约有7500名本科生，该项目将通过支持保留和毕业成绩优异的低收入学生，以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24名攻读生物学、化学或数学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。低收入、有学术天赋的第一代学生将获得为期四年的1万美元奖学金。基于机构研究、S-STEM项目以往奖励的经验教训、研究文献以及对低收入第一代学生独特经历的理解，该项目将提供财政支持以及学术和支持服务系统，以促进学生的成功。通过评估，该项目将评估早期数据科学研究经验作为生物、化学和数学专业学生进一步研究和就业的催化剂的重要性。对一项创新的徽章计划进行测试，以激励使用校园服务和参与项目活动，这将产生关于游戏化在鼓励参与多维、结构化的职业识别过程方面的有效性的知识，从而补充了新兴的专注于课堂环境中游戏化的文献。毕业生将具备数据科学的基本技能，这是国家需求的关键领域，也是一系列STEM行业的宝贵技能。他们将为技术、生命科学/生物技术和环境领域的区域机会做好充分准备。除了直接服务的学生之外，该项目还将改善西雅图大学将所有STEM专业与校园内的支持办公室联系起来的机制，增加我们多样化学生群体的保留率和职业准备。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。四个关键目标指导该项目。第一种是向低收入的、有学术天赋的生物、化学或数学专业的学生颁发奖学金。第二是提高这些领域低收入学生的毕业率。三是为学生提供早期的跨学科数据科学研究经验和有针对性的职业发展活动。第四，也是最后一点，是提高对如何将学生与学术和职业服务（如辅导和职业规划）联系起来的理解。为了实现这些目标，该项目包括三个主要组成部分：徽章奖励制度，以鼓励使用支助服务；职业识别工具包，鼓励学生探索可能的职业选择；二年级的数据科学课程，作为本科研究的切入点。采用混合方法设计，该项目将评估学生参与项目活动对学业成功和就业结果的影响，以及游戏化在鼓励使用校园服务方面的有效性。通过该计划改编或开发的有前途的实践，如徽章，职业识别工具包和跨学科研究课程，将通过大学网站，会议演讲和出版物广泛传播到其他学院和大学。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，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，并产生有关学术成功，保留，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 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 Seattle University, a comprehensive private Jesuit university of approximately 7,500 primarily undergraduate students. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 24 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, or mathematics. Low-income, academically-talented, and first-generation students will be awarded scholarships of $10,000 for four years. Building on institutional research, lessons learned from prior awards from the S-STEM program, the research literature, and an understanding of the unique experiences of low-income first-generation students, the project will provide financial support and a system of academic and support services to foster student success. Through evaluation, the project will assess the significance of an early research experience in data science as a catalyst for biology, chemistry, and mathematics majors’ further research and job placement. Examinations of an innovative badging program to incentivize the use of campus services and participation in project activities will generate knowledge about the effectiveness of gamification in encouraging participation in a multi- dimensional, structured career discernment process, thus complementing an emergent literature focused on gamification in classroom settings. Graduating scholars will have fundamental skills in data science, a critical area of national need and a valuable skill set across a range of STEM industries. They will be well prepared for regional opportunities in the technology, life sciences/biotech, and environmental sectors. Beyond the students directly served, this program will improve Seattle University’s mechanisms for connecting all STEM majors to support offices across campus, increasing the retention and career preparation of our diverse student body. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Four key objectives guide the project. First is to award scholarships to low-income, academically talented students majoring in biology, chemistry, or mathematics. Second is to increase graduation rates of low-income students in those fields. Third is to provide students with an early, interdisciplinary research experience in data science and targeted career formation activities. Fourth, and finally, is to improve understanding of how to connect students with academic and career services, such as tutoring and career planning. To meet these objectives, the project includes three major components: a badge-award system to incentivize the use of support services; a Career Discernment Toolkit, which encourages students to explore possible career options; and a second-year data science course, which is designed as an entry point into undergraduate research. Using a mixed methods design, the project will assess the impact of student participation in project activities on academic success and employment outcomes and the effectiveness of gamification in encouraging the use of campus services. Promising practices adapted or developed through this program, such as badging, the Career Discernment Toolkit, and the interdisciplinary research course, will be disseminated broadly to other colleges and universities through the University website, conference presentations, and publications. This project is funded by 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 ofThis 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.