Closing Gaps and Driving Achievement: Intentional, Applied Academic Pathway Supports to Advance Success in STEM Career Development

该项目将通过支持洛兰县社区学院（Lorain County Community College）表现出经济需求的优秀低收入家庭学生的保留和毕业，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。该项目为期六年，将为60名攻读网络与信息安全和微机电系统副学士学位的全日制和非全日制学生提供奖学金。该计划旨在提高学业合格的低收入家庭学生的坚持和完成。在助学金期间，新生和转学生将能够获得长达3年的奖学金支持。具体的项目活动包括学术建议、以群体为基础的活动、参与以职业为中心的网络活动，以及体验式学分学习机会。该项目将衡量这些实践的有效性，并确定需要改进的领域，以积极影响STEM职业道路上有才华的学生的完成率。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。该项目希望项目参与者的保留率达到80%；两年毕业率或转学率达75%；提高网络与信息安全和微机电系统专业的持久性和完成率。实现这些目标将丰富STEM劳动力，为美国创新经济做出贡献的学生。洛兰县社区学院的项目团队假设，综合和公平的支持资源将对学位获得和就业安置产生统计上的重大影响。项目评估将解决与STEM教育界相关的几个问题，包括综合辅导计划对学生进入STEM道路的影响程度；队列如何以及在多大程度上确保保留和完成；以及类似的项目如何增强基于工作和体验式学习的体验。积累的数据将有助于确定项目的最佳实践，然后可以与更广泛的社区共享以供复制。项目团队计划通过多种渠道和伙伴关系开展传播活动，包括美国社区学院协会、女性工程师协会、俄亥俄州制造商协会、俄亥俄州技术网等网络，以及美国制造业网络中的多个活跃合作伙伴。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 Lorain County Community College. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 60 unique full and part-time students pursuing associate degrees in Cyber and Information Security and Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems. The program is designed to enhance the persistence and completion of academically qualified low-income students. Throughout the grant period, new and transferring students will be able to receive up to 3 years of scholarship support. Specific project activities include academic advising, cohort-based activities, engagement in career-focused networking events, and experiential credit-bearing learning opportunities. The project will measure the efficacy of these practices and identify areas for improvement to positively impact completion rates for talented students in STEM career pathways.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project hopes to achieve a retention rate for project participants of 80 percent; a two-year graduation or transfer rate of 75 percent; and improve persistence and completion rates in Cyber and Information Security and Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems programs. Achieving these objectives will enrich the STEM workforce with students who can contribute to the American innovation economy. The project team at Lorain County Community College hypothesizes that aggregated and equitable support resources will have a statistically significant impact on degree attainment and job placement. Project evaluation will address several questions relevant to the STEM education community, including the extent to which comprehensive mentoring programs impact student recruitment into STEM pathways; how and to what extent cohorts ensure retention and completion; and how similar programs can enhance work-based and experiential learning experiences. Accumulated data will help identify best practices of the project, which can then be shared with the broader community for replication. The project team plans dissemination activities through multiple channels and partnerships, including networks such as the American Association of Community Colleges, Society of Women Engineers, Ohio Manufacturers' Association, Ohio TechNet, and multiple active partners in the Manufacturing USA network. 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 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.