Scholarships with Integrated Academic, Mentoring, Career Development, and Wellness Supports to Increase STEM Degree Attainment of Rural Undergraduate Students

该项目将通过支持威尔逊学院表现出经济需求的优秀低收入本科生的教育、留校和毕业，为满足国家对受过良好教育的科学家的需求做出贡献。威尔逊学院的大多数学生都来自宾夕法尼亚州富兰克林县及其周边的农村和高度工业化地区。该项目为期五年，将为21名攻读生物学、生物化学、化学和/或环境科学学士学位的农村学生提供四年奖学金。除了资金支持外，该项目还将为学者提供额外的、基于证据的支持，包括：(1)通过引入由同行导师教授的新的每周STEM背诵课、学术成功中心提供的研讨会以及专门用于提高应试技能、减少压力和焦虑的重点课程来提供学术支持；(2)点对点辅导和互动式队列建设；(3)工作/职业发展、校友指导、实习机会；(4)强调健康和减压。该项目将提供有关如何将健康、减压技术和时间管理技能结合起来，影响有学术天赋、经济需求未得到满足的农村STEM本科生的教育成果的知识。这个项目的意义在于它有可能招募和更好地教育来自宾夕法尼亚州农村的STEM学生，使他们成为具有更健康生活管理技能的有效科学专业人员。还将在整个学院传播有效的战略，从而加强该机构并向全国其他小型私营研究机构通报情况。该项目的目标是提高来自宾夕法尼亚州农村高度工业化地区的低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。本项目将研究健康和减压活动作为农村本科生STEM教育体验的每周组成部分如何影响：(1)短期（学期）和长期（年）学期的整体和学术相关的自我报告压力或焦虑；(2)学业成绩（综合GPA和STEM专业GPA）；(3)在所选STEM领域学习1年或4年；(4)毕业后的职业选择与安置。该研究将使用从学生、教师、导师和其他利益相关者那里收集的定性和定量指标，将学者的结果与其他STEM和非STEM学生的结果进行比较。该项目旨在促进对如何更好地发展STEM本科课程的理解，以教育训练有素的STEM毕业生，他们对工作与生活的平衡有着深刻的认识，并善于在一生中管理压力。吸取的经验教训将传播给其他高等教育机构，特别是那些在招收和留住农村STEM本科生方面面临类似挑战的机构。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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 project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists by supporting the education, retention, and graduation of high-achieving, low-income undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need at Wilson College. Most students at Wilson College are from the rural and highly industrialized region within and surrounding Franklin County Pennsylvania. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide four-year scholarships to 21 rural students who are pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and/or Environmental Science. In addition to financial support, this project will provide Scholars with additional, evidence-based supports, including: (1) academic support through the introduction of new weekly STEM recitation classes taught by peer mentors, workshops offered by the Academic Success Center, and focused class periods dedicated to improving test-taking skills and reducing stress and anxiety; (2) peer-to-peer mentoring and interactive cohort building; (3) job/career development, alumni mentoring, and internship opportunities; and (4) an emphasis on wellness and stress reduction. This project will generate knowledge about how incorporating wellness, stress-reduction techniques, and time-management skills affects the educational outcomes of academically-talented, rural STEM undergraduates with unmet financial need. The significance of this project is its potential to recruit and better educate STEM students from rural Pennsylvania to be effective science professionals with healthier life management skills. Effective strategies will also be disseminated throughout the College, thus strengthening the institution and informing other small, private research institutions across the country.The goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who originate from a rural, highly-industrialized region of Pennsylvania. This project will examine how integration of wellness and stress-reduction activities as a weekly component of the STEM educational experience for rural undergraduates affects: (1) overall and academic-related self-reported stress or anxiety over the short (semester) and long (year) terms; (2) academic performance (overall GPA and STEM major GPA); (3) one-year retention and four-year persistence in the chosen STEM field; and (4) career choice and placement after graduation. The research study will use qualitative and quantitative metrics collected from students, faculty, mentors, and other stakeholders, comparing results of Scholars to results of other STEM and non-STEM students. This project aims to advance understanding of how to better develop STEM undergraduate programs to educate highly-trained STEM graduates with a deep appreciation for a work-life balance and who are adept at managing stress throughout their lifetimes. Lessons learned will be disseminated to other institutions of higher education, particularly those that face similar challenges with recruiting and retaining undergraduate rural STEM students. 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.