NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Expanding the First2 STEM Success Network

在科学、技术、工程和数学（简称STEM）领域发展和保持一支多元化、创新的劳动力队伍对美国在世界上的竞争力至关重要，但全国调查显示，美国目前和未来都缺乏高素质的STEM专业人员。造成这种短缺的一个问题是，在所有宣布主修STEM领域的大学生中，超过一半的人在接受高等教育的前两年辍学或换了专业。这个问题对于第一代大学生来说尤其严重。如果我们能将STEM学位完成率提高25%，我们就能满足未来十年75%的新增劳动力需求。该项目汇集了西弗吉尼亚州的本科生、K-12教育工作者、大学教师和政策制定者，组成了First2 STEM成功联盟。该联盟旨在提高本科STEM学生的大学入学率和成功率，重点关注农村第一代（FG）学生在大学的前两年。我们提高学生STEM成功的共同愿景的核心是假设学生自己应该是解决方案的共同创造者。First2联盟将邀请350多名FG本科生参与网络改进社区（NICs）、研究实习、同侪指导活动和FIRST大使计划。作为FIRST大使，学生们将被引导探索家庭生活与STEM学习之间的脱节，并与家乡学生、K-12利益相关者、他们的大学机构和他们的州立法者进行外展，以阐明这种脱节，并提出政策/实践变化建议，以更好地支持农村第一代STEM学生的成功。我们的变革战略是实施网络改进社区（NICs）行之有效的方法来研究、改进和复制影响STEM持久性的有前途的项目。具体来说，First2改进团队将：1)改进大学的准备和过渡；2)取代扼杀STEM自我效能发展的根深蒂固的制度惯例，3)将农村家庭文化与大学STEM文化联系起来。作为一个农村州，西弗吉尼亚州在网络、联盟和长期合作的发展方面落后。First2学生成功联盟将执行一项全面的计划，为长期联盟建立组织能力，其中包括一个永久的中心组织，在此过程中，我们将学习如何有效地合作，并将记录我们所学到的东西。First2联盟的模式可以传播，以帮助其他农村州发展自己的stem能力劳动力。最后，First2联盟将提高我们对障碍和解决方案的认识，提高第一代学生在STEM领域的成功。有许多研究调查了与中学后留校率相关的因素，特别是与STEM的流失有关的因素，但很少有研究关注农村学生。First2联盟将开展一项严格的教育研究，旨在促进对影响农村学生进入和坚持STEM职业道路的因素的理解。从改进科学和研究的角度来看，我们假设我们的工作将适用于提高所有第一代STEM学生的持久性，而不仅仅是农村学生。NSF INCLUDES联盟由NSF建立的刺激竞争性研究计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。EPSCoR通过加强STEM能力和能力来提高目标辖区（州、地区、联邦）的研究竞争力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Developing and maintaining a diverse, innovative workforce in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known as STEM) is critical to American competitiveness in the world, but national surveys report a current and future shortage of highly qualified STEM professionals in the US. One problem creating this shortage is that more than half of all college students who declare a major in STEM fields drop out or change their majors in the first two years of their post-secondary education. This problem is particularly acute for first generation college students. If we could increase the STEM degree completion rate by just 25%, we would make up 75% of the additional workforce needed over the next decade. This project assembles undergraduate students, K-12 educators, college faculty and policy makers in West Virginia to form the First2 STEM Success Alliance. The Alliance aims to improve the college enrollment rate and success of undergraduate STEM students, with emphasis on rural first generation (FG) students through their first 2 years of college. At the core of our shared vision to improve student STEM success is the assumption that the students themselves should be co-creators of the solutions. The First2 Alliance will engage over 350 undergraduate FG students in the Networked Improvement Communities (NICs), research internships, peer-mentoring activities, and the FIRST Ambassador Program. As FIRST Ambassadors, students are guided to explore the disconnect between home life and STEM study, and conduct outreach to hometown students and K-12 stakeholders, their collegiate institutions, and their state legislators to illuminate the disconnect and suggest policy/practice changes to better support rural first generation STEM student success. Our change strategy is to implement the proven methodologies of Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) to study, improve and replicate promising programs that impact STEM persistence. Specifically, First2 Improvement teams will: 1) improve preparation for and transition to college; 2) replace ingrained institutional practices that stifle the development of STEM self-efficacy with 3) connect rural home culture and college STEM culture. As a rural state, West Virginia lags behind in the development of networks, alliances and long-term collaborations. The First2 Student Success Alliance will execute a comprehensive plan to build organizational capacity for a long-term Alliance, which includes a permanent hub organization and in so doing we will learn how to collaborate effectively and will document what we learn. The First2 Alliance model can be disseminated to assist other rural states in developing their own STEM-capable workforce. Finally, the First2 Alliance will advance our knowledge of barriers to and solutions that increase the success of first generation students in STEM. There are many studies that inquire into the factors that correlate with post-secondary retention in general, and with STEM attrition specifically but few that focus on rural students. The First2 Alliance will conduct a rigorous educational research study aimed at advancing understanding of the factors affecting rural students' entry into and persistence in STEM career pathways. From an improvement science and research perspective, we hypothesize that our work will apply to improving the persistence of all first generation STEM students, not just rural students.This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is co-funded by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR enhances research competitiveness of targeted jurisdictions (states, territories, commonwealth) by strengthening STEM capacity and capability.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.