Undergraduate Research, Training in Entrepreneurship, and Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory to Increase Baccalaureate Graduation Rates at a Historically Black College

该项目将通过支持利文斯通学院（一所私立的四年制历史悠久的黑人学院）的优秀低收入学生的保留和毕业，为国家对高技能科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。该项目为期五年，将为30名攻读生物学、计算机信息系统和/或数学学士学位的本科生提供奖学金。在项目的第一年，将招募一年级、二年级和三年级的STEM学生。在项目的第二年，将招收更多的一年级学生。这些学者将在大学的第四年获得奖学金，支持他们完成STEM学士学位课程。该项目旨在通过将奖学金与有效的支持活动（包括与服务学习和创业相关的指导和本科生研究经历）联系起来，提高学生在STEM领域的坚持度。由于利文斯通学院有很高比例的学生来自STEM中代表性不足的人群，因此该项目有可能扩大STEM的参与。它也有可能告诉其他学院和大学，本科生研究和创业方面的指导和正式培训如何提高低收入背景学生的留校率和毕业率。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、优秀本科生的STEM学位完成率。有四个具体目标：(1)增加学生的教育、研究和创业机会；(2)吸引、招聘、留住和培养有才华的STEM学生；(3)加强学生为STEM研究生院和STEM劳动力的准备；(4)通过以工作为基础的学习和创业经验促进学生的发展。为了帮助学生发展与坚持相关的心理社会结构，如自我效能感、结果预期和个人目标设定，该项目计划在利文斯通学院之前由美国国家科学基金会资助的研究基础上，利用社会认知职业理论（SCCT）作为支持学生成功的概念框架。SCCT已被证明在预测不同中学生群体的数学/科学兴趣和目标方面是有用的。该项目计划进一步了解SCCT如何促进来自STEM代表性不足社区的高等教育学生的学士学位保留，毕业和STEM职业准备。该项目将为教师提供与SCCT相关的教学和课程实践方面的专业发展，重点是促进参与学生的已识别构念（如自我效能感）的发展。该项目将采用混合方法进行评估，包括验证工具、定性访谈和分析、教学大纲改进评估协议、参与指标以及评估形成性和总结性结果的保留/毕业率。该项目的结果将通过一个已建立的STEM教育工作者网络，以及通过期刊文章和会议演讲提供。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 highly skilled scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high achieving, low-income students at Livingstone College, a private four-year Historically Black College. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide scholarships to 30 undergraduate students as they pursue bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Computer Information Systems, and/or Mathematics. During the first year of the project, a cohort of first, second, and third-year STEM students will be recruited. During the second year of the project, an additional cohort of first year students will be recruited. These Scholars will receive scholarships through their fourth year in college, supporting them as they progress through their STEM bachelor’s degree program. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, including mentoring and undergraduate research experiences that are tied to service learning and entrepreneurship. Because Livingstone College has a high proportion of students from populations that are underrepresented in STEM, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM. It also has the potential to inform other colleges and universities about how mentoring and formalized training in undergraduate research and entrepreneurship may improve retention and graduation of students from low-income backgrounds.The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are four specific aims: (1) enhance educational, research, and entrepreneurship opportunities for students; (2) attract, recruit, retain and graduate talented STEM students; (3) enhance preparation of students for STEM graduate school and the STEM workforce; and (4) advance student development through work-based learning and entrepreneurship experiences. To help students develop psychosocial constructs associated with persistence, such as self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and personal goal setting, the project plans to build upon prior NSF-funded research at Livingstone College on the use of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a conceptual framework for supporting student success. SCCT has been shown to be useful in predicting the math/science interests and goals of diverse groups of secondary students. This project plans to further understand how SCCT may facilitate baccalaureate retention, graduation, and STEM career preparation among post-secondary students from communities that are underrepresented in STEM. The project will deliver faculty professional development in pedagogical and curricular practices associated with SCCT, with a focus on fostering development of the identified constructs (e.g., self-efficacy) in participating students. The project will be evaluated using a mixed methods approach that includes validated instruments, qualitative interviews and analyses, syllabi improvement evaluation protocol, participation metrics, and retention/ graduation rates for evaluating both formative and summative outcomes. Results of the project will be made available through an established network of STEM educators, as well as through journal articles and conference presentations. 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.