Supporting Undergraduate Scholar Cohorts to Prepare Career-Ready Engineering and Science Graduates

该项目将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，方法是支持西弗吉尼亚大学理工学院留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。西弗吉尼亚大学理工学院是一所公立大学，主要是本科院校。该项目为期五年，将为至少20名全日制本科生提供奖学金，以支持他们攻读电气和计算机工程或计算机科学和信息系统专业的学士学位。奖学金获得者将是学业上有天赋的、低收入的全日制新生，并将获得最长四年的奖学金。该项目旨在通过将奖学金与有效的支持活动联系起来，提高学生在STEM领域的坚持性，包括教师、STEM专业人员和同行的指导；队列共享的生活和学术经验；本科生研究经验；职业探索；以及参加特定学科的会议。此外，将鼓励学者完成创业研究辅修课程，目的是提高学者对STEM职业潜在经济和社会效益的认识。由于该大学的学生比例偏低，该项目有可能通过增加来自低收入背景、准备就业的STEM毕业生的数量，扩大STEM领域的参与度。研究结果的传播将帮助美国其他农村、地理上处于不利地位的地区实施类似的教育计划，重点是提高学生的就业能力和创造当地就业机会。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。有三个具体目标：1)增加工程或计算机科学专业学者的招聘、留住和毕业；2)调整、实施和研究循证做法和战略的影响，以支持STEM学生的成功；以及3)实施可持续的课程和共同课程改进。预期的项目成果包括增加具有高度积极性和创业精神的STEM毕业生的数量，并将更多的毕业生安置在以技术为基础的行业和以技术为基础的初创企业。该项目将提高大学收集和分析学生数据的能力，并有效地诊断STEM学生的需求和支持活动对STEM学生成功的影响。该项目的研究部分将侧重于项目活动对低收入STEM学生留校率、在STEM领域追求职业生涯的动机、对毕业的坚持和职业准备的影响。它还将调查创业辅修课程的影响。对项目影响的评估将包括倾向评分技术，将学者与未获得奖学金的非学者进行比较。该项目的成果将通过期刊出版物、会议报告、项目网站和新闻媒体亮相与当地和科学界分享。该项目有可能加强西弗吉尼亚州、阿巴拉契亚地区和美国合格工程师和科学家的渠道。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 at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, a public, primarily undergraduate institution. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide at least 20 full-time undergraduate students with scholarships to support pursuit of bachelor’s degrees in either Electrical and Computer Engineering or Computer Science and Information Systems. The Scholars will be academically talented, low-income, full-time freshman and will receive scholarships for up to four years. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, including mentoring by faculty, STEM professionals, and peers; cohort-shared living and academic experiences; undergraduate research experiences; career exploration; and participation in discipline-specific conferences. In addition, Scholars will be encouraged to complete a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies, with the goal of raising Scholars’ awareness of the potential economic and social benefits of STEM careers. Because the University has a high proportion of underrepresented students, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM fields by increasing the number of career-ready STEM graduates from low-income backgrounds. Dissemination of the research findings will help other rural, geographically disadvantaged regions of the U.S. to implement similar educational programs focused on increasing student employability and local job creation.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific goals: 1) increase recruitment, retention and graduation of Scholars majoring in engineering or computer science; 2) adapt, implement, and study the impact of evidence-based practices and strategies to support STEM student success; and 3) implement sustainable curricular and co-curricular improvements. The expected project outcomes include increasing the number of career-ready STEM graduates with high motivation and an entrepreneurial mindset and placement of more graduates in technology-based industries and technology-based start-up ventures. The project will improve the University’s capacity to collect and analyze student data and effectively diagnose the needs of STEM students and the impact of support activities on STEM student success. The project’s research component will focus on the impact of project activities on low-income STEM students’ retention, motivation to pursue careers in STEM fields, persistence to graduation, and career preparation. It will also investigate the impact of the entrepreneurship minor. Evaluation of project impact will include propensity score techniques to match Scholars with a comparison group of non-scholars who do not receive scholarships. The outcomes of this project will be shared with local and scientific communities through journal publications, conference presentations, project websites, and news media appearances. The project has the potential to strengthen the pipeline of qualified engineers and scientists in West Virginia, the Appalachian region, and the United States. 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.