FORCE: Focus on Occupations, Recruiting, Community, and Engagement

该项目将宣布科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）专业的新生的保留率从不到30%提高到60%以上，并将在大学完成STEM学士学位的本科生（新生和转学生）人数从四年平均约120人增加到约180人。 该项目的主要论点是，专注于STEM相关的职业机会和获得这些机会的途径将特别有利于那些尚未宣布自己的专业的学生，以及那些宣布打算在STEM领域主修但有可能辍学的新生。 该项目正在吸引教师，高年级学生和校友，努力让学生对STEM职业感兴趣并告知他们。 智力优势：活动包括：（1）个人邀请潜在的专业考虑STEM学位路径;（2）针对微积分前学生的学习社区，并以新课程为中心，向学生介绍STEM学位和职业轨迹的广度;（3）住宅学习社区的发展;（4）有意和积极的STEM专业的横向和纵向网络（和校友）通过活动，一个门户网站，以连接STEM专业的STEM工作在校园，和基于网络的社交网络工具;（5）建立一支学生大使队伍，他们代表STEM学科作为同行导师，招聘人员和活动使者;（6）扩大本科研究项目的参与。 这些活动是基于性别平等，STEP和其他资助的工作在俄克拉荷马州大学调查有效的机制，以提高保留和毕业率（STEM）专业和最近的校园调查，以确定为什么学生辍学STEM专业或不考虑他们作为一个选项，因为他们进入大学。 该项目的STEM方面的跨学科使以前没有考虑过STEM专业的学生和那些对自己的决定和选择不确定的学生能够在STEM中寻求最佳匹配，而不是（或至少在此之前）完全离开STEM。更广泛的影响。跨学科的方法强调了跨部门伙伴关系的力量，使其他机构可能会考虑这样一个统一的方法。文献表明，拟议的活动将有利于所有STEM专业：男性主导领域的女性，一般男性以及第一代学生等其他边缘化人群。

This project is increasing retention rates of freshmen who declare a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) major from less than 30% to over 60% and increasing the number of undergraduates (freshmen and transfer students) who complete a bachelor's degree in STEM at the university from a four-year mean of about 120 to about 180. The main thesis of the project is that a focus on STEM related career opportunities and the pathways to obtain them will be of particular benefit to those students not yet declaring their majors and entering freshmen who declare their intent to major in STEM fields but are at risk of dropping out of that major. The project is engaging faculty, upper classmen and alumni in efforts to interest students in and inform them about STEM careers. Intellectual Merit: Activities include: (1) personal invitations to potential majors to consider a STEM degree path; (2) a learning community targeting pre-calculus students and centered around a new course introducing students to a breadth of STEM degree and career trajectories; (3) the growth of a residential learning community; (4) deliberate and pro-active horizontal and vertical networking of STEM majors (and alumni) through events, a portal to connect STEM majors to STEM jobs on campus, and web-based social networking tools; (5) building a cadre of student ambassadors who represent the STEM disciplines as peer tutors, recruiters, and emissaries at events; and (6) expanding participation in undergraduate research projects. These activities are based on gender equity, STEP and other funded work at the University of Oklahoma investigating effective mechanisms to increase retention and graduation rates in (STEM) majors and a recent on-campus survey to determine why students dropped out of STEM majors or did not consider them as an option as they entered the university. The interdisciplinary within STEM aspect of this project is enabling students who had not previously considered a STEM major and those who become uncertain about their decisions and options to seek an optimal match within STEM instead of (or at least before) leaving STEM altogether. Broader Impact. The interdisciplinary approach underscores the power of cross-department partnership so that other institutions might consider such a unified approach. The literature suggests that the proposed activities will benefit all STEM majors: women in male-dominated fields, men in general, and other marginalized populations such as first-generation students.