HSI Pilot Project: Improving Experiential Skills for a Diverse Software Engineering Workforce via Project-based Internships

HSI 试点项目：通过基于项目的实习提高多元化软件工程人员的经验技能

• 批准号: 2345141
• 负责人: Cengiz Gunay
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Georgia Gwinnett College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-07-01 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2345141&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HSI; Pilot; Project; Improving; Experiential

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, this Track 1 project aims to prepare undergraduate students for careers in the software industry. Software is utilized across the entirety of the workforce and the demand for qualified developers is constantly rising. This poses a significant opportunity to improve recruitment of Hispanic students and women with interests in software careers, as these groups have historically been underrepresented in the computing workforce. Further, software development students often need to complete additional online training to obtain employment, which can represent a challenge to low-income students, working individuals, and others. This project at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), an open-access HSI, will address the need for a larger and more diverse technical workforce and provide rigorous training through high-quality mentorship, long-term collaborations with nonprofit organizations, and paid project-based internships. The anticipated outcomes of this project are: (a) increased pre- and post-graduation success and improved representation of low-income and underrepresented students in the software workforce; (b) new knowledge about effective approaches for training students on real-world software projects with real clients; and (c) improved efficiency of local nonprofit organizations that serve diverse communities.The project will explore best practices for internship programs that combine specialized training, mentoring, and implementation at community nonprofits. Providing engaging pathways to broaden participation in software careers is critical as the need for well-prepared software professionals continues to grow. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, GGC provides an ideal campus to help increase post-graduation success of Hispanic students, low-income students, and others. The project aims to achieve this by (1) offering internship positions, training, and mentoring to software development students, allowing them to gain marketable skills as they engage in authentic, high-impact projects for nonprofit organizations; (2) fostering a software development community at GGC that includes alumni and industry partners and provides ongoing professional development; (3) develop strategies to recruit, engage, and support Hispanic women in software development experiences, courses, and degree programs; (4) creating sustainable collaborations with nonprofit organizations in local Hispanic communities; and (5) disseminating program outcomes nationally through a web gateway, open educational materials, conference presentations, and publications. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.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.

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构计划，这个轨道1项目旨在为本科生在软件行业的职业生涯做好准备。软件在整个劳动力中使用，对合格开发人员的需求不断上升。这为改善对软件职业感兴趣的西班牙裔学生和女性的招聘提供了一个重要的机会，因为这些群体在计算劳动力中的代表性历来不足。此外，软件开发学生通常需要完成额外的在线培训才能就业，这对低收入学生、工薪阶层和其他人来说可能是一个挑战。这个项目在格鲁吉亚Gwinnett学院（GGC），一个开放的访问HSI，将解决需要一个更大，更多样化的技术劳动力，并通过高质量的指导，与非营利组织的长期合作提供严格的培训，并支付基于项目的实习。该项目的预期成果是：（a）提高毕业前和毕业后的成功率，改善低收入和代表性不足的学生在软件劳动力中的代表性;（B）获得关于培训学生从事有真实的客户的真实软件项目的有效方法的新知识;以及（c）提高服务于不同社区的当地非营利组织的效率。该项目将探索实习计划的最佳实践，联合收割机结合专门的培训，指导，并在社区非营利组织的实施。随着对准备充分的软件专业人员的需求不断增长，提供参与途径以扩大软件职业的参与至关重要。作为西班牙裔服务机构，GGC提供了一个理想的校园，以帮助提高西班牙裔学生，低收入学生和其他人的毕业后成功。该项目旨在通过以下方式实现这一目标：（1）为软件开发学生提供实习岗位、培训和指导，使他们在为非营利组织从事真实、高影响力的项目时获得市场技能;（2）在GGC培养一个软件开发社区，其中包括校友和行业合作伙伴，并提供持续的专业发展;（3）制定战略，招募，参与和支持西班牙裔妇女在软件开发经验，课程和学位课程;（4）创建与当地西班牙裔社区的非营利组织的可持续合作;以及（5）通过网络网关、开放式教材、会议报告和出版物在全国范围内传播项目成果。该项目由HSI计划资助，旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并建立HSI的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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。