Engineering Persistence: A Support System for Low Income Students to Catalyze Diversity and Success

该项目旨在满足国家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，方法是促进学生的成功，并支持罗文大学(RU)留住并毕业有经济需求的国内高成就低收入学生。罗文大学是新泽西州的一所公立机构，拥有约15,000名本科生和2,700名研究生。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将提供最长四年的可续期奖学金，为二十四(24)名不同的全日制、高成就、低收入学生(3组，每组8名学生)提供攻读工程学科学士学位的奖学金。由于入学的经济成本和许多其他因素，这些学生在完成学位方面经常面临巨大的挑战。除了获得经济支持外，学者还将参加一个多层次的学术和联合课程支持计划，以帮助克服通常会阻碍学生在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域留住和坚持毕业的障碍。该项目将通过提供：(1)每年10,000美元的奖学金；(2)工程生活学习社区(ELC)和其他综合元素和服务，帮助学生发展STEM身份和归属感；以及(3)通过参与以培养学生多元化、公平和包容(DEI)心态为重点的领导力项目，为学生提供一个以证据为基础的、多方面的支持系统。作为支持计划的一部分，项目团队将启动新的创新战略，为所有工科学生提供包容性的课程，举办以Dei为重点的ELC研讨会，并为S-STEM学者提供多元化催化剂领导力计划。主要的项目成果将是提高低收入、有学术天赋的工程学学生的持久率，以及培养出为STEM劳动力、特别是工程劳动力做好准备的工程学学生。为了提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率，该项目将实现五个关键目标。首先是提供奖学金，鼓励低收入、有经济需要的有才华的学生(奖学金学生)毕业于俄亥俄州立大学工程学院的工程专业。第二是实施、研究和评估一个学术和联合课程支持系统，该系统整合了新的和现有的元素和服务，旨在增强奖学金学生坚持并成功学习工程学的能力。第三是促进学生的归属感、STEM认同感以及对多样性和公平问题的欣赏和理解。这一目标将通过该项目促进和加强包容性学习和社会环境，通过课程、特别研讨会、指导和社会活动让所有工程学学生参与Dei体验来实现。与第三个目标密切相关的是，第四个目标是为奖学金学生发起和研究创新的多元化催化剂领导力计划，以培养领导技能和持久的公平心态。第五，就项目总体支助模式的影响和效力产生新的知识。为了实现这些目标，该项目将采用新的以证据为基础的战略和干预措施，并将与几个RU办公室建立战略伙伴关系，包括学生生活办公室、住宿学习与大学住房办公室和学生成功计划办公室。除了奖学金，战略和学生干预将包括：德克萨斯大学工程生活学习中心，为包括奖学金学生在内的每年约125名学生简化向大学的过渡；为所有一年级学生和整个学生的本科工程培训提供DEI课程组成部分；参与现有的大学课程；以及面向奖学金学生的新的DEI激励型多元化领导力计划。与此同时，这一领导力课程将向所有工科学生开放，以促进和提升包容性的环境。该项目将通过采用混合方法技术的项目评估和与一组非奖学金工程专业学生的准实验设计来增加STEM教育知识库，以分析和了解项目活动和干预措施在留住、参与、Dei心态、学业表现、劳动力准备、毕业和总体学生成功方面的影响程度和有效性。该项目所产生的知识将通过在当地和国家场所举办的讲习班、传统出版方法以及编写《多样性催化剂培训手册》加以传播，该手册将包括实际的、有证据的包容战略。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project aims to serve the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by fostering student success and supporting the retention and graduation of domestic, high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Rowan University (RU), a public institution in New Jersey with approximately 15,000 undergraduate and 2,700 graduate students. Over its 6-year duration, this project will provide renewable scholarships for up to four years to twenty-four (24) distinct full-time, high-achieving, low-income students (3 cohorts with 8 students each) who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in an engineering discipline. These students often face significant challenges to degree completion due to the financial costs of attendance and numerous other factors. In addition to receiving financial support, scholars will be part of a multi-tiered academic and co-curricular support program to help overcome barriers that often can hinder retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and persistence to graduation. The project will implement an evidence-based, multi-faceted support system for students by providing: (1) $10,000 annual scholarships; (2) an Engineering Living-Learning Community (ELC), and other integrated elements and services to help foster students’ development of a STEM identity and a sense of belonging; and (3) opportunities to build leadership skills through participation in a leadership program with a focus on student development of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mindset. As part of the support program, the project team will initiate new and innovative strategies that will result in an inclusive curriculum for all engineering students, DEI-focused ELC seminars, and a Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for the S-STEM Scholars. Primary project outcomes will be an increased persistence rate of low-income, academically talented students in engineering and the production of engineering students who will be well-prepared for the STEM workforce, in general, and engineering workforce, in particular.To increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, this project will pursue five key goals. First is to provide scholarships to encourage low-income, talented students with demonstrated financial needs (Scholarship Students) to graduate with engineering majors in the College of Engineering at RU. Second is to implement, study, and assess an academic and co-curricular support system that integrates new and extant elements and services designed to empower Scholarship Students to persist and succeed in their engineering studies. Third is to advance student development of sense of belonging, STEM identity, and appreciation and understanding of diversity and equity issues. This goal will be pursued through the project’s promotion and enhancement of inclusive learning and social environments by engaging all engineering students in DEI experiences through curriculum, special seminars, mentoring, and social activities. Closely related to the third goal, a fourth goal is to initiate and investigate an innovative Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for Scholarship Students to develop leadership skills and an enduring equity mindset. Fifth is to generate new knowledge with respect to impact and effectiveness of the project’s overall support model. To accomplish these goals, the project will employ new and evidence-based strategies and interventions and will also engage in strategic partnerships with several RU offices including the Office of Student Life, the Office of Residential Learning & University Housing, and the Office of Student Success Programs. In addition to the scholarships, strategies and student interventions will be comprised of: the RU Engineering Living-Learning Center to ease the transition to college for approximately 125 students each year including the Scholarship Students; DEI curriculum components for all first-year students and throughout students’ undergraduate engineering training; engagement with existing University programs; and a new DEI motivated Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for Scholarship Students. At the same time, this leadership program will be open to all engineering students to promote and enhance an inclusive environment. The project will add to the STEM education knowledge base through project evaluation by employing mixed methods techniques and a quasi-experimental design with a comparison group of non-Scholarship engineering students to analyze and gain insights regarding the extent of impact and effectiveness of the project's activities and interventions on retention, engagement, DEI mindset, academic performance, workforce preparation, graduation, and overall student success. The knowledge generated by this project will be disseminated through workshops both locally and in national venues, traditional publication methods, and through the development of a Diversity Catalyst Training Manual, which will include practical, evidenced-based inclusion strategies. 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.