Preparing Students for Careers in Computer Science and Math

华盛顿州的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）工作非常集中，而且由于缺乏合格的候选人，每年约有4.5万个STEM工作岗位空缺，这是一个很大的技能不匹配问题。这些高薪工作对美国经济至关重要，为低收入家庭的学生提供了向上流动的巨大机会。为了解决这一问题，西华盛顿大学（WWU）的STEM奖学金（S-STEM）第二轨道项目旨在(a)增加计算机科学或数学（CS/M）领域有学术天赋的低收入学生的保留率；(b)支持他们毕业，为他们就业做好准备；(c)为所有在WWU学习计算机科学/计算机科学的学生提供更好的教育机会；(d)研究方案活动的影响；(e)为培养多样化、具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力做出贡献。该项目将通过纳入研究表明可以增加STEM中代表性不足群体的项目特征，扩大女性和少数族裔对STEM的参与。工业界和世界海洋大学之间的合作伙伴关系将通过工业界专业人士的定期参与和世界海洋大学最近的CS/M校友网络的创建来加强，他们将指导学者。我们将为这些导师提供指导，项目的经验将使这些导师成为更好的未来管理者，并更加意识到来自弱势背景的人取得成功的障碍，从而进一步改善和多样化STEM劳动力。定期的形成性和总结性评估将由外部评估人员提供，以导致持续的项目改进。研究结果将通过会议演讲、出版物以及当前和未来S-STEM项目团队的区域活动广泛传播。在项目的整个生命周期内，将根据学术潜力和领导素质，选出至少50名独特的学生获得奖学金。该项目预计将在第一年后保留85%的学者，并至少75%的学者在WWU的CS/M专业毕业。这些目标将通过若干循证战略实现，包括早期咨询；建立学习型社区的第一年项目；教师、同行和专业指导；以及定期举办的活动，旨在保护这个社区，让学生为CS/M的职业生涯做好准备。包括所有学生的小团队将加强学者社区的垂直联系，并使学生能够培养领导技能。这个项目建立在一个早期的奖项的基础上，该奖项有类似的活动，并成功地招募和留住了有才华的低收入学生，大多数毕业生都在计算机科学/计算机管理领域工作。但是，没有正式调查这一成功的原因。该项目将试图了解该计划的各个方面如何影响有助于STEM保留和成功的重要心理因素。具体来说，这个问题是：“项目特点如何以及在多大程度上促进自我效能感、CS/M身份和归属感的发展？”此外，本项目将调查早期CS接触（大一的课程作业和职业意识）对CS/M专业的影响。由于许多新生对计算机科学的了解有限，早期接触计算机科学可能会吸引这些学生进入计算机科学领域。先前S-STEM资助的证据表明，早期接触计算机科学也对数学专业产生了积极影响，因为许多人辅修了计算机科学或选修了比要求更多的计算机科学课程，许多人选择了应用数学学士学位或选择了以计算或应用为重点的高年级选修课。其假设是，早期接触计算机科学将通过扩大数学专业学生对职业选择的认识，并通过发展技能来提高他们的概念理解和解决问题的能力，从而改善他们的经验。本项目所产生的知识将有助于更好地理解项目活动的影响，并可能在实践中为更好地支持CS/M低收入学生提供信息。

The state of Washington has a very high concentration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs and a large skills mismatch as about 45,000 STEM jobs go unfilled each year due to the lack of qualified candidates. These high-paying jobs are vital to the economy of the United States and provide great opportunities for upward economic mobility for low-income students. To address the problem, this Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Track 2 project at Western Washington University (WWU), a public masters granting university, is designed to (a) increase retention of low-income academically-talented students in computer science or math (CS/M); (b) support them through graduation, thus preparing them for employment; (c) improve educational opportunities for all students studying CS/M at WWU; (d) study the impact of program activities; and (e) contribute to the development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce. The program will broaden participation by women and minorities in STEM by incorporating program features that research shows increase the retention of underrepresented groups in STEM. Partnerships between industry and WWU will be enhanced by regular participation of industry professionals and the creation of a network of recent WWU CS/M alumni who will mentor scholars. Guidance will be provided to these mentors and experience with the program will make these mentors better future managers and more aware of obstacles to success for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, further improving and diversifying the STEM workforce. Regular formative and summative evaluations will be provided by an external evaluator leading to continuous program improvement. Results will be widely disseminated through conference presentations, publications, and a regional event for current and future S-STEM project teams.Over the life of the project, at least 50 unique students will be selected for the scholarships based on academic potential and leadership qualities. The project expects to retain 85% of the Scholars after the first year and at least 75% through graduation in CS/M at WWU. The objectives will be achieved by several evidence-based strategies including early advising; a first-year program that builds a learning community; faculty, peer and professional mentoring; and regular events designed to preserve this community and prepare students for CS/M careers. Small teams that include students from all cohorts will enhance vertical connections in the community of scholars and enable students to develop leadership skills. This project builds on an earlier award that had similar activities and was successful in that talented, low-income students were recruited and retained, and most graduates are working in CS/M fields. However, the reasons for that success were not formally investigated. This project will seek to understand how all aspects of this program affect important psychological factors that contribute to retention and success in STEM. Specifically the question is: "how, and to what extent, do the program features contribute to the development of self-efficacy, CS/M identity, and sense of belonging?" Further, the project will investigate the effect of early CS exposure (coursework and career awareness in freshman year) on CS/M majors. Because many incoming freshmen have limited knowledge of CS, early CS exposure may attract such students to CS. Evidence from the previous S-STEM grant indicates that early CS exposure also positively impacted math majors as many minored in CS or took more CS courses than required and many opted for a BS in Applied Math or chose upper-division electives with a computational or applied focus. The hypothesis is that early CS exposure will improve the experience of math majors by expanding their awareness of career options and by developing skills that enhance their conceptual understanding and problem-solving capabilities. The knowledge generated by this project will lead to better understanding of the effects of program activities and may inform changes in practice to better support low-income students in CS/M.