Supporting and Mentoring the Next Generation of Scholars in Applied Mathematics

该项目将通过支持加州大学圣克鲁斯分校表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为满足全国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。加州大学圣克鲁斯分校是一所西班牙裔服务机构，约有40%的第一代学生，其中许多来自低收入家庭。该项目将在五年内为30名攻读既定“4+1”课程的学生提供为期两年的奖学金，这些学生将在四年内获得理学学士学位，并在一年内获得科学计算和应用数学的理学硕士学位。该项目将为学生提供严格的学术培训，为他们成为学术界或工业界的科学家和工程师做好准备。它旨在提高毕业率，并提供全面的支持，帮助学者成功完成从大学到研究生院的过渡。这些支持包括由训练有素的教职员工提供专门的学术指导，个人咨询，以及应用数学相关的活动，如招聘活动，基于项目的课程，与教职员工一起进行论文研究，以及参加专业会议。该项目有可能促进对沟通策略和教师指导在提高学生成功方面的功效的理解。由于加州大学圣克鲁斯分校是一所西班牙裔服务机构，该项目有可能扩大对STEM职业的参与，包括附近硅谷的职位。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。迄今为止，关于本科生留校率的大量研究都集中在大学早期阶段的学生身上。然而，对于提高低收入低年级和高年级学生的保留率和完成率的因素，人们所知甚少。其他差距包括了解如何增加本科生攻读数学科学研究生学位的动机，以及如何支持他们在这一追求中取得成功。建议的研究重点是为学生开发一个文化响应，反赤字的支持和指导系统。项目活动包括：(1)用心与学生沟通，提高学生对项目的参与度；(2)分析师长导师的赤字与反赤字心态及其对本科生和研究生成功的影响；(3)制定策略和研讨会，将赤字思维转变为文化响应，反赤字思维，并分析其对学生成功的影响。使用形成性和总结性评估技术，将对项目结果进行评估，以了解文化响应性指导对学生坚持学位、职业准备、毕业后决策和成功的有效性。这项研究的结果将用于支持教学实践的发展，以缩小加州大学圣克鲁斯分校研究生学位课程中的公平差距。此外，研究成果将通过专业协会以及以STEM教育和教育公平为重点的出版物和会议进行传播。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, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of California Santa Cruz. UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic Serving Institution, with about 40% first generation students, many of whom come from low-income families. Over five years, the project will fund two-year scholarships to thirty students who are pursuing the established "4+1" pathway, which leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in four years and a Master of Science degree in Scientific Computing and Applied Mathematics in one additional year. This project will provide students with rigorous academic training to prepare them for careers as scientists and engineers in academia or industry. It aims to increase graduation rates and provide holistic support to help Scholars successfully complete the transition from college to graduate school. The supports include dedicated academic mentoring by trained faculty and staff, personal counseling, together with applied math-specific activities such as recruitment events, project-based courses, thesis research with a faculty, and participation in professional conferences. The project has the potential to advance understanding about the efficacy of communication strategies and faculty mentoring in improving student success. Because UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic Serving Institution, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM careers, including positions in the nearby Silicon Valley.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. A great deal of research on undergraduate retention to date has focused on students during early college years. However, less is known about the factors that improve retention and completion rates for low-income juniors and seniors. Other gaps include understanding how to increase the motivation of undergraduates to pursue a graduate degree in mathematical sciences and how to support their success in that pursuit. The proposed research focuses on developing a culturally responsive, anti-deficit support and mentoring system for the students. Project activities include: (1) Mindful communication with the students to increase their participation in the program; (2) Analysis of the deficit vs. anti-deficit mindset of faculty mentors, and their impact on success of students at the senior undergraduate or graduate level; (3) Developing strategies and a workshop for changing a deficit mindset into a culturally-responsive, anti-deficit one, and analyzing its impact on student success. Using both formative and summative assessment techniques, outcomes of the project will be evaluated to understand the effectiveness of culturally responsive mentoring on student persistence to degree, career readiness, and post-graduation decisions and success. Findings from this research will be used to support development of teaching practices that close equity gaps within graduate degree programs at UC Santa Cruz. In addition, outcomes will be disseminated through professional societies, and through publications and conferences focused on STEM education and educational equity. 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.