Support for Electrical Engineering Students Emphasizing Pathways to the Electric Power Sector

该项目将通过支持本杰明富兰克林理工学院（BFIT）（位于马萨诸塞州波士顿的一个少数民族服务机构）的高成就、低收入学生的保留和毕业，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。 在六年的时间里，该项目将为34名攻读电气工程（EE）学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。 奖学金的期限取决于资助的起始年份;对于新生，期限为四年;大学生，三年;大三学生，两年。 波士顿免学费学生，谁是由波士顿免学费计划资助三年，将获得为期一年的奖学金。学者社区将得到以下支持：在缅因州预科过夜，以了解电力能源，可持续性和缅因州独特的生态;关于电力的动手研讨会;与当地波士顿初中和高中学生的指导机会;以及接触电气和电子工程师协会（IEEE）电力和能源协会活动和其他专业活动。学者们将一起上课，参加每周的IEEE会议，参加一年一度的电力日活动，在学习小组中一起学习，并受益于BFIT广泛的支持服务。该项目的重要意义在于增加电气工程师的人数，特别是在电力行业，这是一个正在经历短缺的行业，包括在工程领域代表性不足的少数民族。它将作为中学、高中、社区学院、大学和工业界的潜在模式，表明这些选区之间的伙伴关系鼓励学生--特别是少数族裔--学习工程，从而增加美国工程师中少数族裔的代表性，并增加整体合格的工程师。该项目旨在进一步了解旨在提供学术和社会支持，进度反馈，提高自我效能和项目参与的活动对S-STEM学者的自我认同和坚持EE学位的动机的影响程度。其结果可以应用到类似的情况下，希望提高学生的保留和持久性的计划。 为了提高低收入，高成就的本科生的STEM学位完成率，并证明经济需要，该项目旨在提高保留到EE毕业并进入STEM劳动力，特别是进入电力行业，对于学术合格的波士顿公立高中学生来说，经济手段有限。特别是，BFIT将与几个实体合作，包括为波士顿周围的区域电网提供服务的八家公司，一个中学项目，三所波士顿公立高中和一所社区学院。这些学校的大多数学生都是有经济需要的少数民族学生。该项目的目标是：1）有90%的第二年留存率与90%的五年毕业率;和2）有至少一半的学者在电力实习，并在该行业的工作。实现这些目标除了满足学生的经济需求外，还需要多种因素。研究表明，学术和非学术因素影响STEM学科的成功水平，虽然重要，但仅靠财政支持无法提高保留率和毕业率。因此，该项目探讨了机构和部门层面的支持，以促进成功的学术和社会学生的经验的影响，回答了这个问题：“在多大程度上做活动，旨在提供学术和社会支持，进度反馈，提高自我效能和计划参与的影响S-STEM学者的自我认同和动机坚持EE度？“Tinto的机构行动模型将被用作理论透镜，以探索项目活动如何影响S-STEM学者坚持EE的动机。将使用调查和学院数据系统等定量措施以及访谈，观察和退出门票等定性措施对该项目进行全面评估。该项目的调查结果将通过讲习班、研讨会、会议和出版物在基金会内部和向广大公众传播。 该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT), a Minority-Serving Institution located in Boston, Massachusetts. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 34 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering (EE). The duration of the scholarship depends on the starting year of funding; for freshmen, the duration is four years; sophomores, three years; and juniors, two years. Boston Tuition-free students, who are funded by the Boston Tuition-free program for three years, will receive a scholarship with a one-year duration. The community of scholars will be supported by: a pre-matriculation overnight stay in Maine to learn about electric energy, sustainability, and Maine's unique ecology; a hands-on seminar about electric power; mentoring opportunities with local Boston middle and high school students; and exposure to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society events and other professional activities. The scholars will take classes together, attend weekly IEEE meetings, participate in an annual Electric Power Day event, learn together in study groups, and benefit from BFIT's extensive support services. The significance of the project would be an increase in the number of electrical engineers, particularly in electric power, an industry that is experiencing a shortage, including minorities underrepresented in engineering. It will serve as a potential model to middle schools, high schools, community colleges, universities, and industry demonstrating that partnerships among these constituencies encourages students - particularly minorities - to study engineering, resulting in an increase in both minority representation among engineers in the US, and more qualified engineers overall. The project aims to further the understanding of the extent that activities aimed at providing academic and social support, progress feedback, increased self-efficacy and project involvement impact S-STEM Scholars’ self-identity and motivations to persist in EE degrees. Its results can be applied to similar contexts and programs desirous of improving their students’ retention and persistence. To increase STEM degree completion rate of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, this project aims to improve retention to graduation in EE and entry into the STEM workforce, particularly into the electric power industry, for academically qualified Boston Public High School students with limited financial means. In particular, BFIT will partner with several entities, including eight companies that service the regional electric power grid around Boston, a middle school program, three Boston Public high schools, and one community college. Most students from these schools are underrepresented minority students with financial need. The objectives of the project are: 1) to have a 90% second-year retention rate with a 90% five-year graduation rate; and 2) to have at least half of the Scholars intern in electric power and pursue work in that industry. Achieving these objectives requires multiple factors in addition to meeting students’ financial needs. Research has demonstrated that academic and non-academic factors affect levels of success in STEM disciplines, and, while important, financial support alone cannot increase retention and graduation rates. Therefore, the project explores the effects of institutional and departmental level support to promote successful academic and social student experiences, answering the question: "To what extent do activities aimed at providing academic and social support, progress feedback, increased self-efficacy and program involvement impact S-STEM Scholars’ self-identity and motivations to persist in EE degrees?" Tinto’s model of institutional action will be used as a theoretical lens to explore how project activities impact S-STEM Scholars’ motivations to persist in EE. A comprehensive evaluation of this project, using quantitative measures such as surveys and the college’s data system, and qualitative measures such as interviews, observations, and exit tickets, will be performed. The findings of the project will be disseminated both within BFIT and to the broader public, through workshops, seminars, conferences, and publications. 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.