A Financial, Academic, and Socio-emotional Support Ecosystem for Talented Low-income Students in Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology

为生物学、化学和心理学领域有才华的低收入学生提供财务、学术和社会情感支持生态系统

• 批准号: 2322189
• 负责人: Monica Alfaro
• 金额: $ 249.94万
• 依托单位: University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2028-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2322189&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Financial; Academic; Socio; emotional; Support

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 the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, a Hispanic Serving Institution. Over its 5-year duration, this project will provide scholarships to 36 unique full-time undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and/or Psychology. Two cohorts of first-year students will receive up to four years of scholarship funds through this project. The project proposes an ecosystem of three components: 1) financial, 2) academic, and 3) socio-emotional support for increasing retention and persistence of undergraduate students in preparation for STEM careers of national demand. It aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective co-curricular activities, including mentoring, undergraduate research experiences, graduate school preparation, participation in discipline-specific conferences, and a comprehensive emotional support system. Because the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez has a high population of students who are underrepresented in their pursuit of STEM fields of study, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM disciplines and to learn how mentoring, research experiences, socio-emotional support, and other activities support retention and graduation of this student population.The overall goal of the project is to increase degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates in STEM fields. Three specific aims guide the execution of the project. First is to provide the financial, academic, and socio-emotional support needed to expand personal and professional capabilities necessary to successfully complete the students' programs of study on time. Second is to implement an ecosystem of proven financial, academic, and socio-emotional support strategies, and to study the effect of that ecosystem on persistence and student success. Third, and finally, is to contribute knowledge about the implementation and sustainability of effective evidence-based co-curricular activities on student intent to pursue graduate education and/or enter the STEM workforce. Psychosocial, non-cognitive factors, such as personal crises, parental job instability, and lack of robust support systems, have generally been demonstrated to affect student persistence in STEM. In addition, low-income students often face additional challenges such as natural disasters, family emergencies, income, food and housing insecurity, responsibilities towards siblings, interruptions in education and limited social networks. An integrated approach encompassing financial, socio-emotional, and academic support for low-income students in this project can effectively address the multifaceted issues faced by this population. This project will investigate the effects of psychosocial and stress factors with a model that directly focuses on addressing these students' socio-emotional and academic support needs beyond financial assistance. Cohort building activities will be designed to establish a sense of community and belonging among students. The project includes workshops, study groups, site visits, and social events designed to support students. The evaluation of the project’s model will employ a longitudinal observation approach with regular collection of data such as retention rate, academic progress, satisfaction with the program, professional interests, and students’ ability to visualize the possibilities for personal and professional development, job opportunities, and skills required for success. In addition, researchers will probe stress-coping behavior through student interviews and open-ended questions, and promote growth mindset and social belonging for college students. The collected data will be subjected to comprehensive analysis and evaluation. The findings will provide valuable insights into the impact of the interventions on the cohort's academic, economic, and socio-emotional well-being. This knowledge will refine and improve the interventions and inform future policies and practices aimed at supporting low-income talented students. Ultimately, the goal is to foster a nurturing environment that empowers these students to thrive academically, overcome economic barriers, and maintain positive overall well-being. The project's findings hold significant potential to benefit other institutions that serve low-income, highly vulnerable STEM students, including minority-serving institutions. Results of this project will be made available by presentations at national conferences and publications within the education community. To make the project’s approach accessible to a broader audience, researchers will provide online modules for faculty professional development. These modules will cover trauma-informed advising techniques, equipping faculty members with the necessary tools and knowledge to support students effectively. 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.

该项目将通过支持高分，低收入的学生在波多黎各大学，西班牙裔服务机构Mayaguez，西班牙裔服务机构Mayaguez的保留和毕业，这将促进受过受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需求。在5年的持续时间内，该项目将为攻读生物学，化学和/或心理学学士学位的36名独特全日制本科生的奖学金。两名一年级学生将通过该项目获得多达四年的奖学金。该项目提出了一个三个组成部分的生态系统：1）财务，2）学术和3）社会情感支持，以增加本科生的保留和持久性，以准备为国家需求的STEM职业做准备。它旨在通过将奖学金与有效的课外活动联系起来，包括心理，本科研究经验，研究生院的准备，参与特定学科的特定纪律会议以及全面的情感支持系统，从而提高学生在STEM领域的持久性。因为玛雅格斯大学的波多黎各大学的学生人数不足，他们在追求STEM研究领域的人数不足，因此该项目有可能扩大参与STEM学科的参与，并能够在较低的范围内攻击该项目的整体范围，以增加研究的整体活动。字段。三个具体目标指导项目的执行。首先是提供所需的财务，学术和社会情感支持，以扩大成功完成学生学习计划所需的个人和专业能力。第二是实施一个经过验证的财务，学术和社会情感支持策略的生态系统，并研究该生态系统对持久性和学生成功的影响。第三，最后是关于有效的基于证据的课外活动的实施和可持续性的知识，以购买研究生教育和/或进入STEM劳动力。通常已证明，人们的心理社会，非认知因素，例如个人犯罪，父母的工作不稳定以及缺乏强大的支持系统，会影响STEM中的学生持久性。此外，低收入学生经常面临其他挑战，例如自然灾害，家庭紧急情况，收入，食品和住房不安全感，对兄弟姐妹的责任，教育中断和社交网络有限。一种综合方法涵盖了该项目中低收入学生的财务，社会情感和学术支持，可以有效地解决该人群所面临的多方面问题。该项目将通过一个模型来调查社会心理和压力因素的影响，该模型直接着重于解决这些学生的社会情感和学术支持需求，而不是经济援助。队列建筑活动将设计为建立社区感和学生之间的归属感。该项目包括旨在支持学生的研讨会，研究小组，现场访问和社交活动。对项目模型的评估将采用纵向观察方法，并定期收集数据，例如保留率，学术进步，对计划的满意度，专业利益以及学生能够可视化个人和专业发展的可能性，工作机会以及成功所需的技能。此外，研究人员将通过学生访谈和开放式问题来探讨压力的行为，并促进成长的心态和社会归属于大学生。收集的数据将经过全面的分析和评估。这些发现将为干预措施对队列的学术，经济和社会情感福祉的影响提供宝贵的见解。这些知识将完善和改善干预措施，并为旨在支持低收入才华学生提供支持的未来政策和实践提供信息。最终，目标是促进一个养育的环境，使这些学生能够蓬勃发展，克服经济障碍并保持积极的整体幸福感。该项目的调查结果具有巨大的潜力，可以使其他机构受益，这些机构服务于包括少数派服务机构在内的低收入，高度脆弱的STEM学生。该项目的结果将由教育社区内的国家会议和出版物的演讲提供。为了使项目的方法可以访问更广泛的受众，研究人员将为教师专业发展提供在线模块。这些模块将涵盖创伤信息的咨询技术，为教职员工提供必要的工具和知识，以有效地支持学生。该项目由NSF在科学，技术，工程和数学计划方面的奖学金提供资金，该计划旨在增加具有在STEM领域获得学位的经济需求的低收入学术才华的学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工人的教育，并为低收入学生的学术成功，保留，转移，毕业以及学术/职业途径提供知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响来评估的珍贵的支​​持。