Expanding the Nation’s STEM Talent Pool by Accelerating Graduate Degree Completion in Computer, Software, and Cybersecurity Engineering

该项目将通过促进学生的成功，并支持国内有经济需要的高成就低收入学生在非营利性私立机构恩布里-里德尔航空大学留学和毕业，来促进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。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将资助25名本科生攻读计算机科学、软件工程或计算机工程的四年学士学位。随后，这些学者将在以下领域之一攻读为期一年的加速硕士学位：软件工程、电气和计算机工程或网络安全工程。一年级学生将获得长达五年的奖学金支持。该项目将提高学生在STEM领域的毅力，将奖学金与新创建的有效生态系统联系起来，该生态系统结合了基于证据的做法，如教师指导、学术建议、参与学习社区、专业发展活动、获得实习机会和研究机会的指导。在导师的帮助下，这些学者将制定个人发展计划，概述他们的职业目标和实现这些目标的步骤。该项目还将包括评价生态系统对支持学者取得学术成功的影响，并查明最佳做法和经验教训。该项目将有助于创建一种模式，积极吸引STEM研究领域中代表性不足的群体的学生，扩大对STEM的参与，并将25名拥有高级工程学位的有才华和多样化的工程师注入美国劳动力大军。该项目的总体目标是增加国内低收入、高成就、在STEM领域有经济需求的本科生和研究生的STEM学位完成率。指导该项目的有三个具体目标。首先是为国内低收入、高成就的学生提供经济支持，这些学生将攻读本科和工程学加速硕士学位。其次是利用循证实践来培养学生的成功，提高留校率和学位获得率。第三，也是最后一项，是评估新创建的生态系统在支持工程学学者取得学术成功方面的影响，并传播最佳做法和经验教训。关于影响国内低收入、高成就的私立院校工程专业本科生学业成功的因素，以及性别、种族背景和学科等因素如何影响他们的成功，人们知之甚少，这也是本项目的重点。在这个项目中将调查两个研究问题：(A)学者的学术成就是否通过参与这个项目而在多年来有所提高？(B)影响学者学术成功的因素是什么？从实施学者生态系统中取得的成就、最佳做法和经验教训是什么？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。

This project will contribute to 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 the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a non-profit private institution. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 25 undergraduate students to pursue four-year bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Computer Engineering. Subsequently the scholars will pursue a one-year accelerated master’s degree in one of the following areas: Software Engineering, Electrical, and Computer Engineering, or Cybersecurity Engineering. First-year students will receive up to five years of scholarship support. The project will increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with a newly created effective ecosystem that combines evidence-based practices such as faculty mentoring, academic advising, participation in the learning community, professional development activities, guidance in acquiring internships and research opportunities. With the help of mentors, the scholars will create individual development plans outlining their career goals and steps toward achieving those goals. The project will also include the evaluation of the impact of the ecosystem on supporting the academic success of scholars and the identification of best practices and lessons learned. This project will significantly contribute towards creating a model that actively engages students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields of study, broadens participation in STEM, and infuses 25 talented and diverse engineers with advanced degrees in engineering into the American workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase undergraduate and graduate STEM degree completion of domestic, low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need in STEM field. Three specific aims guide the project. First is to deliver financial support to domestic, low-income, high-achieving students who will pursue an undergraduate and accelerated master’s degree in engineering. Second is to leverage evidence-based practices to foster student success, increase retention and degree attainment. Third, and finally, is to evaluate the impact of the newly created ecosystem in supporting the academic success of scholars in engineering, and disseminate best practices and lessons learned. Little is known about the factors that affect the academic success of domestic, low-income, high-achieving undergraduate students in engineering fields at a private institution, and how factors such as gender, ethnic background and discipline impact their success, which is the focus of this project. Two research questions will be investigated in this project: (a) Does the academic success of scholars improve across the years by being part of this project? (b) What were the factors effecting the academic success of the scholars, and what are the accomplishments, best practices, and lessons learned from implementing the ecosystem for the scholars? 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.