Promoting Retention by Fostering Identity and Belongingness in Low Income Students Majoring in Scientific Disciplines and Mathematics

该项目旨在通过提高阿卡迪亚大学（Arcadia University，一所小型文理学院）有学术天赋、经济需求未得到满足的低收入学生的留校率、毕业率和就业机会，满足全国对受过良好教育的科学家和数学家的需求。尽管有许多与STEM相关的职业机会，但阿卡迪亚的STEM专业，包括那些经济需求未得到满足的学生和来自STEM学科中代表性不足的群体的学生，通常比其他本科生的保留率和毕业率要低。为了满足国家对这些学者的需求，将创建一个跨学科计划，整合我们的STEM部门（生物，化学和物理，数学和计算机科学），为21个本科STEM专业（“STEM学者”）提供六年的学术和财政支持。STEM学者将参加一个跨学科的队列体验，以促进他们的STEM身份和对STEM社区的归属感的发展，这两者都与增加STEM学科的学生保留率相关。作为队列体验的一部分，学生将有机会与STEM教师接触，与其他STEM专业人士建立联系，并在社区研究项目和其他高影响力活动中使用跨学科解决问题的技能。这些经历将促进STEM学者和STEM教师之间的关系，同时也帮助学者培养技术技能和专业信心，从而提高STEM学位毕业率并继续从事STEM职业。阿卡迪亚大学（Arcadia University）的这一项目将为三个小组提供为期四年的奖学金，每个小组由7名低收入、有学术天赋的21名学生组成，主修生物学、化学、计算机科学、数学和精算科学，他们的经济需求尚未得到满足。该项目由机构数据提供信息，表明STEM学者将受益于有针对性的干预措施，旨在促进(a)第一年保留率提高到80%或更高，(b)毕业率提高到60%或更高，(c) STEM项目中代表性不足的学生保留率提高到80%或更高。(d) STEM职业安排。与该战略对学生体验和学生成功的关注相一致，STEM学者将参与现有的以及基于证据的，但对阿卡迪亚来说是新的课程和课外活动，并选择(1)培养STEM身份，(2)促进STEM社区的归属感，以及(3)利用STEM技能促进更广泛的非STEM社区的归属感，以解决社区内的不平等问题。学者们将参与跨学科的问题解决方法和基于社区的研究项目，以进一步加深他们在STEM和非STEM社区的归属感，并加强他们的STEM身份。阿卡迪亚将研究高影响力活动对STEM学者在STEM和非STEM社区中发展STEM身份和归属感的影响，以及这些活动对第一年和整体保留率的影响，以及对劳动力的准备。提高STEM领域的留用率和毕业率，成功追求STEM相关职业或研究生院，将进一步加强美国的STEM劳动力，并有助于其构成多样化。项目方法、结果和结论将通过已出版的文献和其他渠道广泛传播，使其他类似机构能够从这项工作中受益。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（STEM）计划资助，该计划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 aims to serve the national need for well-educated scientists and mathematicians by improving the retention rates, graduation rates, and career opportunities of academically talented, low-income students with unmet financial need at Arcadia University, a small liberal arts school. Despite the availability of many STEM-related career opportunities, STEM majors at Arcadia, including those with unmet financial need and from groups underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, often have lower retention and graduation rates than other undergraduates. To address the national need for these scholars, an interdisciplinary program will be created that integrates our STEM departments (Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science) to provide academic and financial support for 21 undergraduate STEM majors ("STEM Scholars") over six years. STEM Scholars will participate in an interdisciplinary cohort experience to foster the development of their STEM identity and sense of belonging to the STEM community, both of which are correlated with increased student retention in the STEM disciplines. As part of the cohort experience, students will have opportunities to engage with STEM faculty, network with other STEM professionals, and use interdisciplinary problem-solving skills for community-based research projects and other high-impact activities. These experiences will foster relationships among the STEM Scholars and STEM faculty, while also helping Scholars develop technical skills and professional confidence, and so result in increased STEM-degree graduation rates and continuation to STEM careers. This project at Arcadia University will provide four-year scholarships to three cohorts of seven low-income, academically talented scholars (21) majoring in biology, chemistry, computer science, math, and actuarial science who have unmet financial need. This project is informed by institutional data suggesting that STEM Scholars would benefit from targeted interventions designed to promote increases in (a) first-year retention to 80% or higher, (b) graduation rates to 60%, or higher, (c) the retention of underrepresented students in our STEM programs to 80% or higher. and (d) STEM career placement. Consistent with the strategy's focus on the student experience and student success, STEM Scholars will engage in existing as well as evidence-based but new-to-Arcadia curricular and co-curricular activities and opportunities selected to (1) foster STEM identity, (2) promote a sense of belonging in the STEM community, and (3) promote a sense of belonging in the wider non-STEM community using STEM skills to address inequities within the community. Scholars will be engaged in interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving and community-based research projects to further deepen their sense of belonging in STEM- and non-STEM communities and strengthen their STEM identity. Arcadia will study the effects of high-impact activities on the development of STEM identity and sense of belonging in STEM and non-STEM communities among our STEM Scholars, and the effects of these activities on first-year and overall retention, as well as preparation for the workforce. Improved retention and graduation in STEM fields and successful pursuit of STEM-related careers or graduate school will further strengthen the nation's STEM workforce and help diversify its composition. The project approaches, results, and conclusions will be broadly disseminated through the published literature and other channels, allowing other similar institutions to benefit from this work. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) 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.