HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Western MA Engineering Pathways Program

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道2项目称为西部MA工程路径计划，将有助于通过支持招聘，保留，毕业和转移工程项目中代表性不足的学生在霍利奥克社区学院（HCC），马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校，和西新英格兰大学（WNEU）。在四年的时间里，该项目将确定来自合作伙伴霍利奥克高中和韦斯特菲尔德高中的学生，他们对工程感兴趣，开发和测试创新干预措施，并支持学生沿着学术道路。早期参与工程概念和持续的全面学生支持将加强传统上代表性不足的学生在该领域的STEM身份，自我效能和自信。西部MA工程路径计划有三个目标：1）创建改进的途径，以扩大学生的参与历史上在工程方面代表不足，2）振兴HCC的工程项目，以更好地响应多样化的学生群体和地区雇主的需求，和3）为马萨诸塞州西部的目标学生建立一个可以实施和持续的有效途径进行基础研究在全国范围内推广。在教育服务合作项目合作伙伴的支持下，女工程师协会（SWE）和50 K联盟，项目活动将吸引和留住更多的工程专业学生，特别是那些认为自己是女性，拉丁裔或其他历史边缘化群体的学生。拟议的项目将调查的经验和周围的妇女，拉丁裔学生工程教育的决定之间的差异，并在本科工程教育的多重边缘化身份（MMI）的学生。研究问题将确定高中和社区学院的学生如何围绕追求本科工程教育的决定;在其中Latinx和女学生，特别是那些与MMI，在他们的决策过程中不同于他们的同龄人的方式;如何制度的变化，以解决Latinx学生的需求，特别是那些与MMI，提高他们的成果和其他本科工程专业的学生;以及如何公平的途径设计可以用来转移利益相关者的焦点从机构的成果，以学生为中心的outcomes.Findings从这个项目将支持公平和包容性的努力，在每个伙伴关系机构，并将指导努力在其他西班牙裔服务机构寻求增加拉丁美洲的贡献工程的未来。该项目团队将与50 k联盟合作，在全国范围内分享有前途的实践和STEM教育研究成果。改善与当地行业的联系和互动，将为雇主提供一个声音，准备未来的工程师和增加其劳动力的多样性。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于不同的性质和背景下的HSIs，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（一）参与学生学习，（二）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM的参与，以及（三）提高我们对如何在HSIs建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划所支持的项目也将从这些方法中汲取经验，以产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。该奖项反映了NSF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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project called The Western MA Engineering Pathways Program, will contribute to the national need for a diverse engineering workforce by supporting the recruitment, retention, graduation, and transfer of underrepresented students in engineering programs at Holyoke Community College (HCC), the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Western New England University (WNEU). Over a four-year period, the project will identify students from partners Holyoke High School and Westfield High School who express an interest in engineering, develop and test innovative interventions, and support students along the academic pathway. Early engagement with engineering concepts and ongoing comprehensive student supports will bolster STEM identity, self-efficacy, and self-confidence among traditionally underrepresented students in the field. The Western MA Engineering Pathways Program has three goals: 1) Create improved pathways to broaden the participation of students historically underrepresented in engineering, 2) Revitalize HCC’s engineering programs to be more responsive to a diverse student body and to regional employer demands, and 3) Produce fundamental research on building an effective pathway for targeted students in the Western Massachusetts that can be implemented and sustained in a way that is replicable nationally. With support from project partners at the Collaborative for Educational Services, the Society for Women Engineers (SWE), and the 50K Coalition, project activities will attract and retain more students in engineering, especially students who identify themselves as women, Latinx, or from other historically marginalized groups. The proposed project will investigate the differences between the experiences and decisions surrounding engineering education for women, Latinx students, and students with multiple marginalized identities (MMI) in undergraduate engineering education. Research questions will determine how high school and community college students make decisions around pursuing undergraduate engineering education; the ways in which Latinx and female students, especially those with MMI, differ in their decision-making process from their peers; how institutional changes made to address the needs of Latinx students, especially those with MMI, improve their outcomes and those of other undergraduate engineering students; and how equitable pathway design can be used to shift stakeholders’ foci from institutional outcomes to student-centered outcomes.Findings from this project will support equity and inclusion efforts at each partnership institution and will guide efforts at other Hispanic-Serving Institutions seeking to increase Latinx contributions to the future of engineering. The project team will work with the 50k Coalition to share promising practices and STEM education research findings on a national scale. Improved connection and interaction with local industry will provide employers with a voice in preparing future engineers and increasing diversity in their workforce. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.