Developing a Diversified STEM Education Trajectory: Community College STEM Participation via Conference Participation

早期接触研究已被证明对学生决定追求STEM具有形成作用，但社区大学生并不容易获得研究经验。社区大学生占美国本科生的三分之一，并且在代表性不足的社区中占更大比例，这是一个潜在的STEM劳动力渠道，反映了当地社区的多样性。该项目将制定课外计划，使社区大学生适应STEM和学术过程。在五年的时间里，每学期都会招募一批一年级学生参加一系列研讨会，提供学术指导、指导、接触STEM研究、职业和社区建设活动。在学期末表现出色的学生将被邀请参加全国会议。该项目将招募社区大学一年级学生参加STEM会议，以探索他们与科学界的互动如何在很大程度上影响学术轨迹。该项目将调查早期的科学家身份如何在学生坚持和保留STEM方面发挥作用。在社会认知职业理论的指导下，该项目将采取行动研究方法，根据队列的需要调整方案，以解释大流行造成的大学准备和教育损失方面的变化。学生的心态将通过调查和访谈来确定，因此程序性评估可以及时做出明智的决定。该计划的长期影响将通过学生的产出来评估，如参与研究项目、课外工作、转到STEM学士学位项目、推荐信和其他学生轨迹指标。拟议中的研究将产生针对社区大学的基于学科的研究，为代表性不足的学生如何找到STEM研究的途径提供见解。这个项目旨在展示来自社区大学的代表性不足的学生如何通过利用他们的好奇心和对学习的热爱，开始认同自己是科学家。研究结果将在研究会议和论文中传播。该项目对利用会议参与促进公平具有重要意义，并将成为推动STEM劳动力多样化的动力。该项目由STEM教育中的种族平等活动（EDU种族平等）资助。该活动支持研究和实践项目，调查种族平等因素如何影响科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育和劳动力的改善。获奖项目旨在将STEM企业中受系统性不平等影响最大的个人、社区和机构的声音、知识和经验集中起来。这项活动符合美国国家科学基金会的核心价值，即支持来自全国不同人口群体、地区和组织类型的杰出研究人员和创新思想家。EDU的项目为种族平等活动提供资金，以表彰其项目与董事会四个部门的集体研究和发展重点相一致。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。

Early exposure to research has been shown to be formative to a student’s decision to pursue STEM, yet research experiences are not readily available to community college students. Community college students constitute one-third of U.S. undergraduates and consist of larger portions of underrepresented communities, a potential pipeline for a STEM workforce that reflects the diversity of the local community. This project will develop co-curricular programming that acclimates community college students to STEM and the academic process. A cohort of first year students will be recruited each semester, over five years, to a workshop series that provides academic guidance, mentorship, exposure to STEM research, careers, and community-building activities. Students who demonstrate promise at the end of the semester will be invited to attend a national conference. This project will recruit first-year community college students to attend STEM conferences to explore how their interactions with the scientific community at large impact academic trajectory. The project will investigate how identifying as a scientist early on plays a role in student persistence and retention in STEM. Informed by Social Cognitive Career Theory, the project will take an action research approach to adapt programming to the needs of the cohort to account for variabilities in college preparedness and education loss due to the pandemic. Student mindset will be determined by surveys and interviews, so that programmatic evaluation leads to informed decisions in a timely manner. The longer-term effects of the program will be assessed by student output such as participation in research programs, extra-curricular work, transfer to STEM baccalaureate programs, testimonials, and other indicators of student trajectory. The proposed study will generate discipline-based research specific to community colleges, lending insight on how underrepresented students find their way to STEM research. This project aims to show how underrepresented students from community colleges can start to identify as scientists by capitalizing on their curiosity and love of learning. Findings will be disseminated in research conferences and papers. This project has implication for using conference participation to promote equity and will be a driver for diversifying the STEM workforce.This project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education activity (EDU Racial Equity). The activity supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise. This activity aligns with NSF’s core value of supporting outstanding researchers and innovative thinkers from across the Nation's diversity of demographic groups, regions, and types of organizations. Programs across EDU contribute funds to the Racial Equity activity in recognition of the alignment of its projects with the collective research and development thrusts of the four divisions of the directorate.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.