BCSER-IID: Undergraduate Knowledge of the Mathematics Graduate School Application Process (Knowledge-GAP)

该项目旨在阐明本科生关于研究生院申请和录取过程的知识如何成为STEM学科中历史上代表性不足的学生获得高等数学学位的障碍。该项目将包括探索性研究和专业发展活动的结合，以提高PI在定量和定性研究方法方面的专业知识。该项目将调查全国高校的本科数学专业，专业发展活动将包括高级STEM教育研究人员的指导，学习研究方法课程，参加相关会议和研讨会。该项目旨在定位研究者，以提供有关STEM研究生院管道的知识，并探索该管道中建立的历史不平等。该项目的目标是确定哪些因素影响了本科生对数学研究生院申请和录取过程的兴趣和知识。该项目还试图确定如何最好地支持有兴趣申请数学研究生课程的学生。本研究将探讨本科生如何了解研究生院申请过程，以及他们所处环境的哪些方面有助于或阻碍了这些知识的获取。该项目旨在回答几个广泛的研究问题：(1)有多大比例的本科数学专业的学生有兴趣去读数学研究生？数学专业本科学生对研究生院申请流程了解多少？(2)数学系和大学的哪些特点有助于本科生了解研究生数学课程及其申请过程？(3)数学专业的学生是否有机会获得申请研究生数学课程所需的资源？(4)对研究生院申请流程的了解和申请资源的获取是否因学生的社会经济地位、种族和性别而异？本研究预计将产生的证据可用于创建或加强策略，以改善学生获得研究生院申请过程中的知识，并可扩大代表性不足的学生在研究生数学中的参与。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 aims to illuminate how undergraduate student knowledge about the graduate school application and admissions processes acts as a barrier to earning advanced degrees in mathematics for students historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The project will consist of a combination of exploratory research and professional development activities to advance the PI’s expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods. The project will survey undergraduate mathematics majors at colleges and universities across the country, and professional development activities will include mentoring from senior STEM education researchers, taking courses in research methods, and attending relevant conferences and workshops. This project aims to position the investigator to contribute knowledge about the STEM graduate school pipeline and to explore the historic inequalities built within that pipeline.The goal of the project is to determine which factors affect undergraduate students’ interest in and knowledge about mathematics graduate school application and admissions processes. The project also seeks to determine how best to support students interested in applying to graduate programs in mathematics. The research will explore how undergraduate students learn about the graduate school application process and what aspects of their environment facilitate or hinder the acquisition of this knowledge. The project aims to answer several broad research questions: (1) What percentage of undergraduate mathematics majors are interested in going to graduate school in mathematics? What do undergraduate mathematics majors know about the graduate school application process? (2) What features of mathematics departments and universities contribute to undergraduate knowledge about graduate mathematics programs and their application process? (3) Do mathematics majors have access to the resources needed to apply to graduate mathematics programs? (4) Do knowledge of the graduate school application process and access to application resources differ by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender of the students? The evidence expected to be produced by this research could be used to create or enhance strategies for improving student access to knowledge about the graduate school application process and could broaden participation of underrepresented students in graduate mathematics.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.