Creating Bold STEM Leaders Through Graduate Entrepreneurial Training

美国国家工程院建议，作为正规教育的一部分，向学生灌输创新和创业品质，以解决紧迫的问题，并保持在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的全球竞争力。培养企业家技能和企业家心态加强和补充了STEM学科传统上获得的技术技能、知识和能力。一支受过创业技能培训的跨学科劳动力队伍将为STEM迅速变化的职业格局做好准备。这项授予康涅狄格大学的国家科学基金会研究生教育创新奖(IGE)将实施创业奖学金计划，目标是通过一个独特的教育和体验机会框架，逐步培训STEM研究生的创业技能、知识和能力。通过该计划获得的创业技能和多样化的心态将有助于作为研究员服务于研究员和更广泛的社会：领导科学创新初创公司；在老牌公司、政府和学术界担任研究和创新角色；或进入工程劳动力中更传统的角色。创业奖学金计划包括精心设计的课程、计划和活动框架，以指导学生在学习、实践和完善创业技能的过程中进行创业奖学金之旅。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，并鼓励他们发展创业技能和心态以及新兴的创业网络。该项目的目标是建立、试验、测试、评估、改进和验证拟议的奖学金计划。将使用多层次和多维度的评估工具来评估具有形成性和总结性数据的计划，并测试、提炼和放大其教育和发展价值，并传播试点模式的细节、结果和影响，以增进创业和工程教育方面的知识和理解。该项目所产生的知识可以为未来整合跨学科框架、教学法和领导力实践的方法提供启发，并允许广泛的实施和测试干预措施，潜在地缩小STEM创业道路上的差距，并为社区为当前和未来的工作机会做好更好的准备。研究生教育创新(IGE)计划侧重于研究生教育方面的研究。IGE的目标是试验、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社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.