GP-IMPACT: Broadening pathways to geosciences with an integrated program at The University of Michigan

最近的几项研究表明，科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科对我们国家的繁荣和全球竞争力具有国家重要性，以及吸引和培养未来STEM劳动力的紧迫性。在地球科学领域，预计下一个十年(AGI，2014)将有约135 000个职位需要填补，大大超过可获得地球科学高级学位的现有学生人数。预计要解决地球科学劳动力严重短缺的问题，就需要代表不足的少数群体(URM)更多地参与地球科学，目前这一比例远低于其他STEM学科。在密歇根大学(U-M)，地球科学领域的URM参与度低是一个特别严重的问题，该校地球与环境科学系的URM本科生数量约占专业总数的5%。这是一个重要的社会问题，无论是从地球科学工作者的实际角度，还是从伦理和社会学角度看，多样性的内在价值都是如此。该项目旨在将密歇根大学地球科学专业的URM学生的比例提高到反映密歇根州总体人口结构的水平。这将通过以下方式实现预期的社会成果：(1)增加在全国一流公立大学地学系接受培训的URM学生的数量，以及(2)促进和传播关于招收和留住地球科学领域URM学生的最佳实践的知识。该项目的目标是大幅增加密歇根大学地球科学专业的URM学生的数量和成功率。尽管密歇根大学已经为招收和留住STEM学科的不同学生开展了许多活动，但这些活动的重点是工程和生物学，而应用于地球科学的活动寥寥无几。此外，这些活动目前是脱节的，因此没有吸引和留住URM学生在密歇根大学攻读地球科学的综合机制。拟议的项目将建立在这些现有的、经过验证的项目的基础上，并在组织之间建立合作伙伴关系，以在两个关键时刻支持URM学生：高中和四年制机构地球科学学位项目之间，以及社区大学和四年制机构地球科学学位项目之间。将实现五个目标：(1)激励和招募高中生在密歇根大学攻读地球科学；(2)建立基础设施，在高中和大学之间的关键时刻支持对地球科学感兴趣的学生；(3)增加从社区大学转到密歇根大学学习地球科学的URM学生人数；(4)通过研究和实地经验培养学生对地球科学的兴趣；以及(5)使学生获得在地球科学领域的就业机会。这些目标将通过以下方式实现：在课堂、实验室和实地开发和实施新的实践经验；为对地球科学感兴趣的学生建立高中和大学之间的桥梁的暑期计划；旨在建立支持性学生队列的社交媒体和同行指导活动；将招收学生和促进社区大学转学的既定做法应用于地球科学；以及发展媒体和与专业地球科学家的互动，旨在突出职业机会。该项目将把拟议的活动与密歇根大学现有的和正在开发的项目联系起来，所有这些项目都采用循证方法。一个新颖的方面是，它将为URM地球科学专业的学生从高中到本科阶段建立一条无缝和连续的管道。该项目的成果将为采用这种综合办法增加科技、经济和经济领域的多样性的重要性提供新的视角。将通过一个创新的大学范围的数据挖掘过程，对新开发项目中的学生与未参与该项目的学生以及参与其他项目和其他STEM领域的学生的表现进行量化比较。我们还将通过在线调查和面对面访谈来评估学生对项目各个阶段的态度。产生的证据将被用来评估将这种综合战略转移到其他学科、部门和机构的前景。

Several recent studies have showcased the national importance of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines for our nation's prosperity and global competitiveness, as well as the urgency of both engaging and preparing the future STEM workforce. Within the geosciences, it is projected that there will be ~135,000 positions to fill in the next decade (AGI, 2014), greatly exceeding the number of available students earning advanced degrees in the geosciences. Resolving the severe shortage in the geosciences workforce is projected to require increased participation in the geosciences by underrepresented minorities (URM), which is currently well below that of other STEM disciplines. Low URM participation in the geosciences is a particularly acute problem at The University of Michigan (U-M), where the number of undergraduate URM students majoring in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is approximately 5% of total majors. This is an important societal issue both from the practical standpoint of the geosciences workforce as well as ethical and sociological standpoints regarding the inherent value of diversity. This project aims to increase the proportion of URM students majoring in geosciences at U-M to a level that reflects the overall demographics of the state of Michigan. This will achieve the desired societal outcomes by (1) increasing the number of URM students trained in one of the nation's premiere geosciences departments at a flagship public university, and (2) advancing and disseminating knowledge on best practices for recruiting and retaining URM students in the geosciences. The goal of this project is to substantially increase the number and success rate of URM students majoring in the geosciences at U-M. Although there are numerous activities already in place at U-M for recruiting and retaining diverse students in STEM disciplines, their focus is on engineering and biology, and only a few are applied to the geosciences. Further, these activities are currently disjointed, so there is no integrated mechanism for attracting and retaining URM students to pursue geosciences at U-M. The proposed project will build on these current, proven programs and create partnerships between organizations to support URM students at two critical junctures: between high school and 4-year institution geoscience degree programs, and between community college and 4-year institution geoscience degree programs. Five objectives will be pursued: (1) inspire and recruit high schools seniors to pursue geoscience at U-M; (2) establish infrastructure to support students interested in geosciences through the critical juncture between high school and college; (3) increase the number of URM students transferring from community colleges to U-M to study geosciences; (4) develop student interest in geosciences through research and field experiences; and (5) expose students to career opportunities in the geosciences. These objectives will be achieved through the development and implementation of new hands-on experiences in the classroom, lab, and field; a summer program to bridge high school and college for students interested in geosciences; social media and peer-mentoring activities designed to establish supportive student cohorts; application to the geosciences of established practices for recruiting students and facilitating transfer from community college; and development of media and interactions with professional geoscientists designed to highlight career opportunities. This project will link the proposed activities together with existing and developing programs at U-M, all of which employ evidence-based methods. A novel aspect is that it will create a seamless and continuous pipeline for URM geosciences students from high school through the undergraduate years. Outcomes of this project will provide new perspectives on the importance of such an integrated approach to increasing diversity in the STEM fields. Quantitative comparisons of performance of students within the newly developed program to those not involved in the program, and those involved in other programs and in other STEM fields, will be conducted via an innovative University-wide data mining process. We will also assess student attitudes towards the various phases of the project with online surveys and face-to-face interviews. This generated evidence will be used to evaluate prospects for transfer of such integrated strategies to other disciplines, departments, and institutions.