Caminos a la Ciencia/Pathways to Science: A Program Designed to Recruit, Retain, and Develop Latinas in STEM Disciplines

这是一个多年期项目，旨在推进“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目的工作，以更好地理解和促进激励拉丁裔人通过教育途径进入科学、技术、工程或数学（STEM）职业的实践。该项目将致力于确定和解决影响拉丁裔在整个高中阶段参与STEM教育水平的因素。这些因素将包括(a)获得STEM学习机会的可及性；(b)影响他们参与这些活动的语言问题；(c)家庭或社区对STEM教育的鼓励程度；(d)经济压力，如为家庭提供支持或照顾孩子。项目团队由作为骨干组织的伦道夫-梅肯学院（Randolph-Macon College）组成，与一组专注于stem的财富500强企业和非营利组织，以及州和地方政府和当地公立学校系统合作。该项目将在高中一年级时，根据老师的推荐和书面论文，确定有前途的学生。被选中的学生将被邀请在连续三个暑假（大一、大二和大三之后）参加有针对性的活动。这些活动将旨在实现以下几个目标：(a)建立一个具有凝聚力的群体，以拥抱跨学科的STEM研究；(b)发展和培养领导才能；(c)让学员接触在STEM领域取得杰出成就的拉丁裔；(d)培养成功申请大学并在大学环境中坚持下去的技能。将为这些学生及其家庭提供协同活动，以将目标扩展到学年。在每个夏季结束时，学生将获得他们选择的认可机构的适度奖学金。研究问题将是(1)与这些结构的初始测量相比，目标人群的参与度（包括态度、对STEM学科的兴趣和对STEM大学教育的兴趣）如何变化？(2)与stem公司和非营利组织的合作在多大程度上解释了参与者群体中观察到的敬业度变化？(3)父母参与和其他外部因素在多大程度上解释了观察到的焦点人群的参与变化？为了回答这些问题，该项目将使用多种数据收集途径，包括(a)学生对STEM的态度（S-STEM）调查，该调查衡量学生对STEM科目的信心和效率、21世纪学习技能和对STEM职业的兴趣的变化；(b)营前和营后调查，衡量学生对STEM主题的兴趣和家庭参与度；(c)与家庭成员接触的观察性评估。重点人口将包括拉丁裔。该项目将对三分之一的人口进行为期5年、三分之一的人口进行为期4年、三分之一的人口进行为期3年的跟踪调查，以便在资助期结束后收集相关数据，并跟踪整个群体直到高中毕业后的第二年。数据解释策略将包括敬业度变化的纵向趋势分析和促成这种变化的因素的解释性分析。该项目的主要成果将是确定与拉丁裔从高中到大学的成功途径相关的因素。该项目将进行形成性和总结性评估，以改进和调整计划，以及确定工作的潜在可扩展性。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。

This is a multi-year project aimed at advancing efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that motivate Latinas to pursue educational pathways to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) occupations. The project will work toward identifying and addressing the factors which influence Latinas' levels of engagement in pursuing STEM education throughout their high school years. These factors will include (a) accessibility to STEM learning opportunities; (b) language issues that affect their participation in these activities; (c) level of family or community encouragement to pursue STEM education; and (d) financial pressures, such as providing support for the family or child care. The project team consists of Randolph-Macon College, which serves as the backbone organization, working together with a group of STEM-focused Fortune 500 corporations and nonprofits, as well as state and local government and local public-school systems. The program will identify promising students during their freshman year of high school based on recommendation from a teacher and a written essay. Selected students will be invited to campus for each of three consecutive summers (after the freshman, sophomore, and junior years) where they will participate in targeted activities. These activities will be designed to accomplish several goals: (a) to create a cohesive cohort with an identity embracing intellectual interdisciplinary STEM enquiry; (b) to develop and nurture leadership skills; (c) to expose the cohort to prominent successful Latinas in STEM fields; and (d) to develop skills leading to success in applying to and persisting in a college environment. Synergistic activities will be included for these students and their families to extend the goals into the academic year. At the conclusion of each summer, students will earn modest scholarships to an accredited institution of their choice.The research questions will be (1) How does engagement, including attitudes, interest in STEM disciplines, and interest in pursuing college education in STEM change for the target population, compared to initial measures of these constructs?; (2) To what extent do partnerships with STEM-focused corporations and nonprofits account for change in engagement observed in participant cohorts?; and (3) To what extent does parental involvement and other external factors account for an observed engagement change in the focus population? To answer these questions, the project will use multiple data collection pathways, including (a) the Student Attitudes Toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey, which measures changes in confidence and efficacy in STEM subjects, 21st century learning skills and interest in STEM careers; (b) pre- and post-camp surveys, which measure interest in STEM topics, and family engagement; and (c) observational assessments of engagements with family members. The focus population will consist of Latinas. The project will follow one third of the population for five years, one third for four years, and one third for three year to collect pertinent data past the end of the funding period to follow the entire cohort through the second year after graduation from high school. Data interpretation strategies will include longitudinal-trend analysis of engagement change and explanatory analysis of the factors that contribute to that change. The main outcome of the project will be the identification of factors that are associated with a successful Latina's pathway from high school to college. The project will conduct formative and summative evaluation to make improvements and adjustments to the program, as well as to determine potential scalability of the work.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.