Developing Pathways to Diversify the Profession of Engineered Materials

这项为期五年的计划旨在满足国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求。它将通过向大约80名从华盛顿社区学院转学到华盛顿大学的学生提供奖学金和教育机会来做到这一点。这些学者将攻读材料密集型工程领域的学士学位，包括化学工程、材料科学与工程和机械工程。该项目涉及华盛顿大学与大西雅图地区的四所社区学院之间的合作：埃德蒙兹社区学院、埃弗雷特社区学院、格林河社区学院和西雅图中央社区学院。这些学院的转校生将被选中获得两年奖学金，以完成他们在华盛顿大学的学士学位。这些毕业生将有资格获得额外的一年奖学金，以攻读硕士学位。该项目旨在通过丰富活动来支持社区大学生，预计这些活动将增加他们成功完成材料密集型工程领域的学位。该项目的具体目标是：i)将申请进入材料密集型系的转校生人数增加一倍；ii)增加材料密集型系中代表性不足群体的学生人数；iii)毕业后，成功地为学者们安排全日制STEM工作、研究生院或国际经验。该计划将实施新的和经过验证的做法相结合，以实现其目标。计划的亮点包括从华盛顿大学带到社区大学的建议推广计划，从地区高中学生到该项目支持的毕业生的学生导师阶梯，以及涉及学者参与教师研究项目、工业实习和/或在日本东北大学进行国际交流经验的体验活动选择。该计划还将整合学术和专业发展活动，以建立社区，促进学者的学术和个人成长。该项目的研究采用了包括调查、焦点小组和机构数据在内的混合方法，旨在确定影响社区大学学生在材料密集型领域攻读并完成学士学位和硕士学位的因素。此外，本研究旨在确定项目元素对学生自我效能感、成就水平和职业认同的影响。该项目的努力有可能对华盛顿大学的材料密集型系产生重大影响，并产生一个在华盛顿州和全国范围内都广泛适用的模式。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学项目奖学金资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入有经济需求的低收入学业天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来科学家、工程师和技术人员的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学术成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This five-year project aims to contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers and technicians. It will do so by providing scholarships and educational opportunities to approximately 80 students who transfer from a community college in Washington to the University of Washington. These Scholars will pursue bachelor's degrees in "materials-intensive" engineering fields, including Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. This project involves a partnership between the University of Washington and four community colleges in the greater Seattle region: Edmonds Community College, Everett Community College, Green River Community College, and Seattle Central Community College. Transfer students from these colleges will be selected to receive two-year scholarships to complete their bachelor's degrees at the University of Washington. These graduates will be eligible for an additional one-year scholarship to pursue a master's degree. The project aims to support community college students with enrichment activities that are predicted to an increase their successful completion of degrees in materials-intensive engineering fields. The specific goals of the project are to: i) double the number of transfer students who apply for admission to the materials-intensive departments; ii) increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in the materials-intensive departments; and iii) upon graduation, successfully place the Scholars in full-time STEM employment, graduate school, or an international experience. The program will implement a blend of new and proven practices to achieve its goals. Programming highlights include an advising outreach program brought from the University of Washington to the community colleges, a student mentor ladder that spans from regional high school students to graduates who were supported by the project, and a choice of experiential activities involving engagement of the Scholars in faculty research projects, industrial internships, and/or an international exchange experience at Tohoku University in Japan. The program will also integrate academic and professional development activities to build community and promote the Scholars' academic and personal growth. Using a mixed-methods approach that includes surveys, focus groups and institutional data, the program's research study aims to identify the factors that influence community college students to pursue and complete bachelor's and, potentially, master's degrees in materials-intensive fields. Additionally, the study aims to determine the impact of the project elements on student self-efficacy, achievement levels, and professional identity. The efforts of this program have the potential to substantially impact the materials-intensive departments at the University of Washington and to yield a model that is broadly applicable, both across the State of Washington and nationally. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.