Mentored Pathways from Community College to Graduate School and Chemistry Careers

该项目将通过支持有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业，为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做出贡献。在五年的时间里，该项目将为四组30名在西南学院攻读副学士学位的学生提供120个奖学金，为在圣地亚哥州立大学攻读化学和生物化学学士学位和研究生学位的30名转校生和15名研究生提供45个奖学金。这个项目将创建一条整合的指导和研究途径，将西南学院和圣地亚哥州立大学的化学和生物化学项目联系起来。西南学院和圣地亚哥州立大学都是为拉美裔服务的机构。因此，该项目有可能通过确定和消除学生转学和转学后成功的障碍来提高STEM研究生课程和职业的多样性。除了经济支持，学者们将有机会在他们的整个学术生涯中参与持续的本科生研究经历。其他支持包括：由教师、研究生和同行提供指导；学生有机会参加国家和地区专业会议并在会议上展示他们的研究；以及职业/研究生院应用研讨会。导师将参加关于导师最佳实践的培训，以确保所有学生都能获得高质量的研究体验。这些拟议的活动旨在提供一条从社区大学进入研究生院和STEM职业生涯的指导途径。该项目的目标是：提高学生在西南学院和圣地亚哥州立大学的化学课程和学位的成功率、保留率和完成率；促进有学术天赋的低收入学生转到圣地亚哥州立大学攻读化学/生物化学专业；以及提高毕业后研究生院的录取率和/或STEM就业就业率。知识创造活动将集中在三个领域。首先，该项目将研究奖学金和参与项目活动如何影响衡量学生成功的传统指标，如GPA、转化率、持久度、贷款、获得学位的时间、职业规划和学位后的就业。其次，运用社会认知职业理论的视角，通过测量科学自我效能感、自信心、科学认同感和归属感，考察项目活动对学生情感领域的影响。最后，将对指导活动本身进行评估，以了解结构化指导经验对导师和受训者的影响。通过同行评议出版物、会议报告和外展传播成果，将使其他社区学院-大学合作伙伴关系能够应用从该项目中学到的经验教训，以提高其他地区的学生成功。预计学生参与的研究项目还将产生新的化学科学知识，包括有机化学、化学生物学、药物化学、生物化学、催化、物理化学和分析化学。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、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 project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. Over five years, this project will fund 120 scholarships to four groups of 30 students who are pursuing associate degrees at Southwestern College, and 45 scholarships for 30 transfer students and 15 graduate students who are pursuing baccalaureate and graduate degrees in chemistry and biochemistry at San Diego State University. This project will create an integrated mentoring and research pathway that bridges the chemistry and biochemistry programs at Southwestern College and San Diego State University. Both Southwestern College and San Diego State University are Hispanic-Serving Institutions. As a result, the project has the potential to improve diversity in STEM graduate programs and careers by identifying and removing roadblocks to student transfer and post-transfer success. Along with financial support, scholars will have opportunities to participate in sustained undergraduate research experiences throughout their academic careers. Additional supports include: mentoring by faculty, graduate students, and peers; opportunities for students to attend and present their research at national and regional professional conferences; and career/graduate school application workshops. Mentors will participate in training on best practices in mentoring to ensure high-quality research experiences for all students. These proposed activities are designed to provide a mentored pathway from community college into graduate school and STEM careers. The objectives of this project are to: improve student success, retention, and completion of chemistry courses and degrees at Southwestern College and at San Diego State University; facilitate transfer of academically talented, low-income students to San Diego State University as Chemistry/Biochemistry majors; and increase graduate school acceptance rates and/or STEM career placement rates after graduation. Knowledge generation activities will focus on three areas. First, the project will examine how scholarships and participation in program activities affect traditional metrics of student success such as GPA, transfer rates, persistence, loans, time to degree, career plans, and employment after degree. Second, using the lens of social cognitive career theory and measurements of scientific self-efficacy, confidence, scientific identity, and sense of belonging, it will examine how students' affective domain is influenced by program activities. Finally, the mentoring activities themselves will be evaluated to understand the effects of structured mentoring experiences on both mentors and mentees. Dissemination of results through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and outreach will enable other community college-university partnerships to apply lessons learned from this program to enhance student success in other locations. It is expected that the research projects in which students participate will also produce new scientific knowledge in chemistry, including organic chemistry, chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, catalysis, physical chemistry, and analytical chemistry. 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 STEM workers, 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.