Assessment of Success of the Mississippi AGEM Program: Charting the Direction for the Future

这项为期两年的研究将评估密西西比州研究生教育联盟(AGEM)的整体效果和更广泛的影响，AGEM是美国国家科学基金会资助的一个项目，旨在提高少数族裔学生在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)博士项目中的成功。该项目建立在AGEM在招聘、保留、毕业和安置少数民族博士生担任各种机构，特别是历史上的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)的STEM教职方面的成功经验的基础上，探索参与AGEM的学生的长期成果。这项研究将探索机构文化和氛围的各个组成部分随时间的变化，包括促进或阻止少数族裔博士生成功过渡到STEM教授的政策、计划和教师行为。该项目包括定量和定性评估研究相结合，并建立在最近对参与机构的教职员工和学生进行的调查的基础上。这些研究将包括对以下机构的AGEM项目教职员工、管理人员和毕业生的深入访谈？S：杰克逊州立大学(JSU)、密西西比州立大学(MSU)、密西西比大学(UM)、密西西比大学医学中心(UMMC)和南密西西比大学(USM)。在第一年，将对担任教职的AGEM毕业生进行面试。由于至少有60名AGEM毕业生已经进入教授职位，因此有一批规模可观的人才可以参加这些面试。毕业生关于他们的就业和过渡经历以及他们迈向终身教职和晋升的报告将被用来描述学生的特征。长期结果。在第二年，毕业生们？报告以及定量数据和全州调查结果将用于对每个校区现任AGEM项目管理员、教职员工和学生进行一系列个人访谈和焦点小组，以进一步确定和探索联盟内部的优势和劣势领域，并为未来的活动制定方向。STEM代表不足的少数族裔(URM)毕业生能否成功安置在教职岗位上是一项重要的计划指标。然而，这项研究超越了简单的衡量标准，从以前的项目参与者那里收集他们自己从学生过渡到教授的经历的描述。由于许多AGEM毕业生在HBCU担任教职，这项研究将向更大的社区提供有关研究生社会化和为教授做准备的信息。此外，由于AGEM毕业生中有很大一部分在主流院校学习，这项研究将促进我们对机构响应的理解，使毕业生为州和地区内不同的机构背景的需求做好准备。创建AGEM是为了实现以下目标：促进URM学生进入STEM地区的博士课程并确保他们成功完成学业；增加URM追求学术生涯的数量；以及使教师、管理人员和学生对少数群体途径问题的态度和做法发生系统性变化。由于AGEM成功地将少数民族博士生安置在HBCU的STEM教职中，AGEM尤其有能力接触到更多在这些机构注册的URM STEM学生。因此，这项评估的更广泛影响是更好地准备、建立和维持全州和地区STEM系和项目的多样化教授队伍，并加强URM本科生和其他来自不同背景的学生的教与学。

This two-year study will evaluate the overall effectiveness and broader impacts of the Alliance for Graduate Education in Mississippi (AGEM), an NSF-funded program to enhance the success of minority students in doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The project builds upon AGEM successes in the recruitment, retention, graduation, and placement of minority doctoral students in STEM faculty roles within a variety of institutions, and especially Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to explore the long-term student outcomes of AGEM participation. This study will explore change over time in various components of institutional culture and climate, including policies, programs, and faculty behaviors that promote or prohibit the successful transition of minority doctoral completers to the STEM professoriate.This project involves a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessment studies and builds upon recently performed surveys of faculty and students in participating institutions. These studies will be extended to include in-depth interviews with AGEM program faculty, administrators and graduates from Mississippi?s AGEM institutions: Jackson State University (JSU); Mississippi State University (MSU); University of Mississippi (UM); University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC); and University of Southern Mississippi (USM). In the first year, interviews will be conducted with AGEM graduates who have taken faculty roles. With at least 60 AGEM graduates who have already entered the professoriate, there is a group of significant size for these interviews. Reports from graduates about their experiences of job placement and transition as well as their advance towards tenure and promotion will be used to characterize students? long-term outcomes. In the second year, graduates? reports, along with quantitative data and results from state-wide surveys, will be used to conduct a series of individual interviews and focus groups with current AGEM program administrators, faculty, and students on each campus to further identify and explore areas of strength and weakness within the Alliance and to chart the direction for future activities.Intellectual Merit. Successful placement of STEM underrepresented minority (URM) graduates in faculty positions is an important program metric. However, this study goes beyond a simple metric to gather, from former program participants, descriptions of their own experiences of transition from student to the professoriate. Because many AGEM graduates take faculty roles at HBCUs, this study will inform the larger community about graduate student socialization and preparation for the professoriate. Furthermore, because a significant portion of AGEM graduates study in mainstream institutions, the research will advance our understanding of institutional responsiveness to preparing graduates for the demands of distinct institutional contexts within the state and region.Broader Impacts. AGEM was created to achieve the following goals: enhancing entry into and ensuring successful completion of URM students in doctoral programs in STEM areas; increasing the number of URMs pursuing academic careers; and bringing about a systemic change in attitudes and practices of faculty, administrators, and students with regard to minority pathway issues. Because of AGEM successes in placing minority doctoral students in STEM faculty roles within HBCUs, in particular, AGEM has the capacity to reach an increased number of URM STEM students enrolled at these institutions. Thus, the broader impact of this evaluation is to better prepare, establish, and maintain a diverse professoriate in STEM departments and programs across the state and region and to enhance the teaching and learning of URM undergraduates and other students from diverse backgrounds.