Southwest Ohio Scholars: (Re)defining Academic Belonging for Computer Science Students and Families

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This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at University of Cincinnati (UC). Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 36 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science (CS). The first-year students will receive 4-year scholarships. The goal of the Southwest Ohio Scholars Program (SOSP) is to attract, retain, and support low-income undergraduate students in CS at the UC, the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati with an enrollment of over 44,000 students. Paired with the university's mandatory co-op program for CS students, the scholars are anticipated to have the financial resources to complete their academic careers. A total of 36 unique scholarship recipients are anticipated to be served all together in the field of CS. The program will involve families in the summer orientation and bridge program to better understand how to support their student's success. This initiative seeks to focus on providing academic, financial, and social support to help these students succeed in their studies and eventually enter the workforce as the next generation of computer science leaders. The ultimate goal is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for CS students, enhance the CS workforce pipeline, and drive positive impacts in the broader STEM community. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The program’s three main objectives are: (1) to enroll 36 scholars in UC’s CS major, (2) to increase first-year retention rates for SOSP scholars, and (3) to increase 6-year graduation rates for SOSP scholars. The project intends to strengthen the culture of the department, bolster attitudes of belonging as well as include families as part of the university community. The project focuses on the primary drivers of an interest-building process: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals of aspiration. Data collection will follow a short-term and long-term schedule to provide a longitudinal record of how the effects of the proposed interventions on SOSP scholars' performance from their first year to graduation. This project has the potential to contribute to educational research in STEM fields. The project team plans to conduct three studies to explore how students from low-income families develop and sustain their interests in CS and what circumstances and contexts motivate these students to persist and succeed in the CS field. 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.