Developing an Ecosystem of STEM Success for Built Environment Majors

该项目将促进全国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，方法是支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生留校并毕业于纽约市理工学院(城市理工学院)，这是一所城市公共拉美裔服务机构。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为大约60名正在攻读建筑环境专业大专或学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。该项目的建筑环境专业包括土木工程技术、建筑工程技术、电气工程技术、机械工程技术和环境控制技术。副学士学位学生将获得最多两年的奖学金支持，学士学位学生将获得最多四年的奖学金支持。该项目将利用现有的学生和学术支持来发展一个成功的生态系统。它将实施基于证据的有效实践，并评估这些实践、学位获得和进入美国劳动力大军或STEM研究生项目的影响。该项目将培养一批建筑环境专业的师生，为学生提供实习和本科生研究的机会，并为教师和学生提供专业发展。该项目将增加低收入STEM学生的数量，通过追求和获得建筑环境学位来实现社会和经济的流动性。该项目将更好地了解有助于低收入学术天才学生成功地从学士学位过渡到研究生学位STEM课程或STEM职业生涯的关键因素。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。该项目将通过增加学生整体经济流动性的机会，同时促进多样化的劳动力，增加纽约市的活力和生存能力。项目的目标是1)遴选、留住和毕业建筑环境专业的S-STEM学者共60人；2)提高参与的学者的一年保留率；3)培养更多的建筑环境专业的毕业生；4)增加建筑环境专业的女生招生和留存；5)通过队列发展、教师指导和邀请学者参加研讨会、实地考察、研究、实习和网络会议等活动，促进S-STEM学者的学术成功；6)确定成功促进低收入学生学术成功的策略。虽然关于第一代大学和低收入家庭学生在大学期间的经历的文献很多，但他们的学业支持经历却没有得到很好的研究。该项目将通过进行两项不同的研究来确定对建筑环境专业低收入学生和女学生的影响，从而促进对STEM学术支持中多样性和包容性的理解。将使用社会科学研究方法对该项目进行评估，收集形成性和总结性的定量和定性数据。该项目的成果将在多个层面上传播：地方、地区和国家，包括但不限于在开放获取期刊上发表的出版物和参加会议。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有经济需求的低收入学业天才学生的数量。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 New York City College of Technology (City Tech), an urban, public Hispanic-serving institution. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to about 60 unique full-time students who are pursuing an associate or baccalaureate degree in one of the Built-Environment majors. The Built-Environment majors included in the project are Civil Engineering Technology, Construction Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Environmental Control Technology. Associate degree students will receive up to two-years of scholarship support and baccalaureate degree students will receive up to four-years of scholarship support. The project will leverage existing student and academic supports to develop an ecosystem of success. It will implement evidence-based effective practices and assess the impact of these practices, degree attainment and entry into the U.S. workforce or graduate programs in STEM. The project will develop a cohort of faculty and students in the built-environment majors, provide students with opportunities for internships and undergraduate research, and provide professional development for faculty and students. The project will increase the number of low-income STEM students achieving social and economic mobility through the pursuit and achievement of degrees in the Built-Environment. The project will produce a better understanding of the key factors that contribute to the successful transition of low-income academically talented students from their baccalaureate degree attainment to either graduate degree STEM programs or to STEM careers. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will add to the vitality and the viability of New York City by increasing opportunities for the overall economic mobility of the students while promoting a diverse workforce. Project objectives are 1) To select, retain, and graduate a total of 60 S-STEM Scholars in the Built Environment majors; 2) To increase the one-year retention rates of participating Scholars 3) To produce more graduates in the Built Environment majors; 4) To increase the enrollment and retention of female students in the Built Environment Majors; 5) To promote S-STEM Scholars’ academic success through cohort development, faculty mentoring, and engaging Scholars in activities such as workshops, field trips, research, workforce internships, and networking sessions; and 6) To identify strategies successful in promoting academic success of low-income students. While there is a large body of literature on first-generation college and low-income students’ experiences in college, their academic support experiences are not well-researched. The project will advance understanding related to diversity and inclusion in STEM academic support by performing two distinct studies to determine the impact on low-income students and female student in the built environment majors. The project will be evaluated using a social science research approach to collecting both formative and summative quantitative and qualitative data. Results of this project will be disseminated at multiple levels: local, regional, and national including, but not limited to publications in open access journals and participation in conferences. This project is funded by the 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.