Creating Bold STEM Leaders Through Graduate Entrepreneurial Training

美国国家工程院（National Academy of Engineering）建议，作为正规教育的一部分，向学生灌输创新和创业素质，以解决紧迫的问题，并保持科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的全球竞争力。培养创业技能和创业心态可以加强和补充传统上在STEM学科中获得的技术技能、知识和能力。一支接受过创业技能培训的跨学科劳动力队伍将为STEM领域快速变化的职业前景做好准备。美国国家科学基金会研究生教育创新（IGE）奖授予康涅狄格大学，将实施创业奖学金计划，目标是通过独特的教育和体验机会框架，逐步培养STEM研究生的创业技能、知识和能力。通过该项目获得的创业技能和多样化的思维方式将有助于为研究员和更广泛的社会服务：领导科学创新的初创企业；在知名公司、政府和学术界担任研究和创新职位；或者在工程队伍中扮演更传统的角色。创业奖学金项目包括精心设计的课程、项目和活动框架，以指导学生在创业奖学金之旅中学习、实践和完善创业技能。在为期一年的奖学金课程中，通过体验式教育模块向学生介绍多方面和多样化的创业概念，并鼓励学生发展创业技能和思维方式，以及迅速发展的创业网络。计划的目标是建立、试办、测试、评估、完善及确认提议的奖学金计划。将采用多层次、多维度的评估工具，通过形成性和总结性数据对该项目进行评估，测试、完善和扩大其教育和发展价值，并传播试点模式的细节、成果和影响，以促进对创业和工程教育的认识和理解。该项目产生的知识可以阐明未来整合跨学科框架、教学法和领导实践的方法，并允许广泛实施和测试干预措施，这可能会缩小STEM创业途径的差距，并使社区更好地为当前和未来的工作机会做好准备。研究生教育创新（IGE）项目专注于研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试点、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。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。

The National Academy of Engineering recommends instilling innovative and entrepreneurial qualities in students as a part of their formal education to address pressing problems and maintain global competitiveness in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Developing entrepreneurial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset reinforces and complements the technical skills, knowledge, and competencies traditionally acquired in STEM disciplines. An interdisciplinary workforce trained in entrepreneurship skills will be well positioned for the rapidly changing landscape of careers in STEM. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of Connecticut will implement the Entrepreneurship Fellowship program with the goal to progressively train STEM graduate students in entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and competencies through a unique framework of educational and experiential opportunities. The entrepreneurial skills and diverse mindsets gained through the program will help serve the fellows and broader society as the fellows: lead scientifically innovative startups; hold research and innovation roles at established companies, government, and academia; or enter more traditional roles in the engineering workforce. The Entrepreneurship Fellowship program consists of a framework of carefully designated courses, programs, and activities to guide students in their entrepreneurship fellowship journey as they learn, practice, and refine entrepreneurial skills. Over the course of the one-year fellowship, students are introduced to multifaceted and diverse entrepreneurship concepts through experiential educational modules and are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets along with burgeoning entrepreneurial networks. The objectives of the project are to build, pilot, test, assess, refine, and validate the proposed fellowship program. Multi-level and multi-dimensional assessment tools will be used to evaluate the program with formative and summative data and to test, refine, and amplify its educational and developmental values, and disseminate the details, outcomes, and impacts of the pilot model to advance knowledge and understanding in entrepreneurship and engineering education. Knowledge generated from this project could illuminate future approaches to integrate interdisciplinary frameworks, pedagogy, and leadership practices, and allow for wide implementation and test interventions that could potentially narrow the gaps in STEM entrepreneurship pathways and better prepare communities for present and future work opportunities.The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.