SPARKing Representation in Cognitive Science

非洲裔美国人、拉丁裔/o/e/x/和土著学生和研究人员在认知心理学和认知科学领域的代表性不足。这些研究领域通常侧重于了解大脑如何表示和操纵知识，以及这些心理表示和过程是如何在大脑中实现的。认知心理学和认知心理学和/或认知科学的培训专注于了解人类如何感知、思考和交流，为从学术界到行业的各种职业定位，专门研究从人工智能到商业和营销的主题。认知领域是未来就业增长的核心；这项提案的目的是支持多样化劳动力的发展。Spark Society支持所有级别的学习者和研究人员(本科生、研究生、早期职业生涯、高级学者)，其首要目标是创建一个支持基础设施，帮助历史上被边缘化的个人在这一研究领域出类拔萃。通过小组辅导、点对点辅导和跨多个平台传播信息资源的形式提供支持。改善处于历史边缘的学者的经历有助于创造一个更公正的社会。星火学会与几个国家认知科学家会议合作，允许为历史上被边缘化的学者建立社区，并在他们所在的任何地方提供指导。这创造了一种归属感，并有可能减少孤立感，这种孤立感迫使历史上被边缘化的学习者和研究人员远离该领域。导师模式得到了评估措施的补充，包括对博士项目的分析。了解研究生项目招生和要求的变化如何影响认知科学和认知心理学项目构成多样性的变化，并通过制定明确的方法来确定为什么历史上被边缘化的学者大多缺席整个领域的领导，将允许更有针对性地制定有效的项目，以支持该领域的培训，并创造一个空间，使领导力成为一种开放和可取的途径。这项研究将侧重于制定方法，以便评估在招收历史上被边缘化的学生方面的毕业生政策的有效性。这一目标的核心是确定相关计划，对与招聘有关的政策变化进行编码，并考虑结果(即，计划完成、工作安置)。开发评估政策变化对研究生多样性的影响的方法，并找出阻碍领导层多样性的驱动因素，是朝着创建一个更多样化和更具包容性的研究领域和伴随劳动力的长期目标迈出的重要一步。该项目也得到了EDU STEM教育种族平等计划(EDU RACE Equity)的支持。该计划支持通过研究和实践促进STEM教育和劳动力发展中的种族平等的项目。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。

African American, Latina/o/e/x/, and Indigenous students and researchers are underrepresented in cognitive psychology and cognitive sciences. These fields of study generally focus on understanding how the mind represents and manipulates knowledge and how these mental representations and processes are realized in the brain. With its focus on understanding how humans perceive, think, and communicate, cognitive psychology and training in cognitive psychology and/or the cognitive sciences positions individuals for careers ranging from academia to industry, specializing in topics from artificial intelligence to business and marketing. Cognitive fields are a centerpiece of future jobs growth; the aim in this proposal is to support the development of a diverse work force. The SPARK Society supports learners and researchers at all ranks (undergraduate, graduate, early career, senior scholars) with the overarching goal of creating a support infrastructure to help historically marginalized individuals excel in this field of study. Support is provided in the form of group mentoring, peer-to-peer mentoring, and dissemination of informational resources across multiple platforms. Improving experiences of historically marginalized scholars helps create a more just society. The Spark Society partners with several national conferences for cognitive scientists, allowing for community building for historically marginalized scholars and providing mentoring wherever they are located. This creates a sense of belonging and has the potential to reduce feelings of isolation that drive historically marginalized learners and researchers away from the field.The mentorship model is supplemented by evaluative measures, including analyses of PhD programs. Understanding how changes in graduate program recruitment and requirements have impacted changes in the compositional diversity of cognitive science and cognitive psychology programs, and by developing clear methodologies to identify why historically marginalized scholars are largely absent from field-wide leadership, will allow for more targeted development of effective programs to support training in the field and create a space where leadership is an open and desirable avenue. The research will focus on developing methodologies that allow for evaluation of graduate policy effectiveness in recruitment of historically marginalized students. Central to this aim is identification of relevant programs, coding of policy changes related to recruitment, and consideration of outcomes (i.e., program completion, job placement). Development of methodologies that assess the impact of policy change on graduate student diversity and identify drivers hindering diversity in leadership are important steps towards the long-term goals of creating a more diverse and inclusive field of study and accompanying workforce.This project is also supported by the EDU Racial Equity in STEM Education program (EDU Racial Equity). The program supports projects that advance racial equity in STEM education and workforce development through research and practice.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.