Enhancing Career and Academic Pathways through High-Quality Evidence-Based Educational Practices

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This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by leveraging an established consortium of four institutions of higher education across California and Texas. Over its 6-year duration, the project will provide 85 scholarships to high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need, of which 24 will earn an associate degree in Computer Science (CS) at a feeder college, then transfer to a partnering consortium 4-year institution to earn a bachelor’s degree in CS. Scholars will be funded for up to four years, with the possibility for an additional year to complete a graduate degree. Scholars will actively engage in co-curricular activities focused on cybersecurity, data science, and professional development to support their trajectories through undergraduate and graduate studies. The goal of the program is to help position scholars for full-time career opportunities that meet the needs of the industry. Graduating scholars will be equipped to contribute to industry demands and grand challenges of the 21st century in cybersecurity and data science.The research component of this project will inform the education research and computing communities about the specific elements that are needed to create inclusive learning environments in computing, while also building a foundation of knowledge on factors that facilitate the adoption and sustainability of evidence-based reforms that serve low income, academically talented students in computing. This study will utilize a sociocultural lens to examine how S-STEM scholars develop and expand communities of computing practice. Research methods will include participant observation, semi structured individual and group interviews, document analysis, and survey methods. Analysis will involve inductive and deductive coding practices, constant comparative analysis, and statistical analysis of differences in student outcomes. 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.