Effective Strategies to Recruit Underserved Students to Baccalaureate Engineering Success and Transition Programs (Recruit-BEST)

学士学位工程学生成功和过渡（BEST）计划是四年制本科大学的整体学生成功计划，提供基于证据的，结构良好的活动，以提高工程学生在大学过渡中的学术和专业成功，并增加他们在工程专业的保留。这些计划往往难以吸引不同的学生，包括妇女，来自代表性不足的少数群体的学生，第一代学生，低收入和农村学生。该项目旨在通过寻找最有效的方法来研究这个问题，以达到服务不足的学生，并招募他们到最好的方案。该项目旨在确定成功、有效和可持续的战略。这将加强最佳方案，使他们能够实现自己的目标，并进一步扩大。该项目将有助于我国了解有效的征聘方法和有效的沟通渠道。此外，它将促进工程教育和劳动力的多样性。通过招募更多来自不同背景的工程专业学生，我们可以满足国家对多元化工程人才的需求，这对社会进步至关重要。通过实施战略招聘工作，我们可以提升服务不足的学生，他们的家庭和他们的社区，这些努力有可能促进农村地区的经济增长。该项目的目标是通过一个项目在PI中建立STEM教育研究技能，该项目通过评估不同的策略来招募服务不足的学生（女性，少数民族，第一代，低收入和农村学生）进入四年制大学的BEST课程，从而扩大美国工程的参与。这项研究是基于创新的传播框架，并将检查学生的最佳方案的认识和决策过程是否适用于这些方案通过调查和访谈。回应将进行分析，以研究的有效性和调整不同的招聘方法使用的最佳方案从计划组织者和学生的角度。该项目的范围是全国性的，旨在通过对项目负责人、BEST项目参与者和潜在参与者的调查和访谈，在美国范围内纳入100个BEST项目和2000多名学生。从这个项目中产生的有效招聘策略的知识将有助于文献基础，扩大其影响，并帮助解决入学率低的学生在最佳方案的挑战，同时支持学生成功计划的创建和延续。该项目还培训新的STEM教育研究人员（PI和受资助的学生），以提高他们在STEM教育中进行严格研究的能力。该项目得到了NSF的EDU Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research（ECR：BCSER）项目的支持，该项目旨在培养研究人员开展高质量STEM教育研究的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Baccalaureate Engineering student Success and Transition (BEST) programs are holistic student success programs at four-year undergraduate universities that provide evidence-based, well-structured activities to enhance engineering students' academic and professional success in the college transition and to increase their retention in the engineering major. These programs often struggle to attract diverse students, including women, students from underrepresented minority groups, first-generation students, low-income and rural students. This project aims to examine this issue by finding the most effective methods for reaching underserved students and recruiting them to BEST programs. The project seeks to identify strategies that are successful, impactful, and sustainable. This will strengthen BEST programs, allowing them to fulfill their goals and expand further. The project will contribute to our national understanding of efficient recruitment methods and effective communication channels. Additionally, it will promote diversity in engineering education and the workforce. By recruiting more engineering students from diverse backgrounds, we can address the nation's need for a diverse engineering workforce, which is critical for the advancement of society. By implementing strategic recruitment efforts, we can uplift underserved students, their families, and their communities, and these efforts have the potential to enhance the economic growth of rural areas. The goal of this project is to build STEM education research skills in the PI through a project that broadens participation in engineering in the U.S. via assessing different strategies to recruit underserved students (women, minorities, first-generation, low-income, and rural students) into BEST programs at 4-year universities. The study is based on the Diffusion of Innovations framework and will examine students’ awareness of BEST programs and decision-making processes about whether or not to apply to these programs through surveys and interviews. Responses will be analyzed to study the effectiveness and alignment of different recruitment methods in use by BEST programs from the perspectives of both program organizers and students. The project is national in scope and aims to include 100 BEST programs across the U.S. and more than 2000 students via surveys and interviews with program leaders, and BEST program participants and prospective participants. Knowledge generated on effective recruitment strategies from this project will contribute to the literature base, broadening its impact and helping to tackle the challenges of low enrollment of underserved students in BEST programs, while supporting the creation and continuation of student success programs. This project also trains new STEM education researchers (PI and supported students) to enhance their capacity to conduct rigorous research in STEM education. The project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators' capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.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.