CAREER: Levelling the Playing Field in STEM: Post-transfer Success for Underrepresented Racial Minority Community College Transfers

教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划是国家科学基金会范围内的活动，提供奖励，以支持早期职业教师谁有潜力作为研究和教育的学术榜样，领导他们的部门或组织的使命的进步，并建立一个基础，在整合教育和研究的领导终身。这个职业生涯项目将研究心理和社会因素，这些因素对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科中代表性不足的转学生的转学后成功有影响。社区学院提供了获得STEM学士学位的重要途径。以前的研究集中在为STEM学生，特别是来自历史上代表性不足的人口的学生创造有效的转学途径，但在四年制院校入学后的转学经历方面仍然存在重大挑战。使用强调学生优势和特质的资产模型，该项目将确定与代表性不足的STEM转学学生的成功和学位完成相关的促进因素和障碍。研究结果将促进知识和学术贡献的文献。通过与学生事务管理人员和专业人士的合作，该项目还将制定和实施量身定制的机构战略，以促进STEM中代表性不足的学生在转学后取得成功。经验数据将通过多阶段，混合方法设计来实现研究目标。在每个研究阶段，将进行经过验证的调查，以衡量关键的心理社会因素，如STEM自我效能，STEM身份，转移耻辱，社会和文化资本以及转移接受文化。转学生的保留率和学习成绩将在项目期间进行跟踪，然后与调查数据相匹配。将对STEM转学学生参与者进行多轮定性采访，以补充定量调查结果并将其融入背景。将开发和测试一个综合的理论模型，以揭示社会心理因素如何影响STEM成功和转移后的成功，以及这些影响如何在STEM中代表性不足的群体之间存在差异。研究结果将与教育活动相互关联，包括STEM转移成功计划和在线资源的开发。教育活动将为高等教育领导者提供信息，并促进在四年制院校中培养接受转学文化的行动。该项目由EHR核心研究（ECR）计划资助，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该奖项也部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。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。

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization, and to build a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. This CAREER project will examine psychological and social factors that are influential to post-transfer success for underrepresented transfer students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Community colleges offer essential pathways toward bachelor’s degrees in STEM. Previous studies have focused on creating effective transfer pathways for STEM students, especially students from historically underrepresented populations, but significant challenges remain regarding the transfer experience after enrollment at four-year institutions. Using an asset model that emphasizes student strengths and traits, this project will identify facilitators and barriers associated with underrepresented STEM transfer students’ success and degree completion. Findings will advance knowledge and scholarly contributions to the literature. Through collaboration with student affairs administrators and professionals, this project will also develop and implement tailored institutional strategies to promote post-transfer success among underrepresented students in STEM. Empirical data will be used through a multi-phase, mixed-method design to accomplish research goals. In each research phase, validated surveys will be administered to measure key psychosocial factors such as STEM self-efficacy, STEM identity, transfer stigma, social and cultural capital, and transfer receptive culture. Transfer students’ retention and academic performance will be tracked over the project years and then matched with survey data. Multiple rounds of qualitative interviews will be conducted with STEM transfer student participants to supplement and contextualize quantitative survey findings. An integrated theoretical model will be developed and tested to reveal how psychosocial factors influence STEM success and post-transfer success, and how such influences may differ between groups that are and are not underrepresented in STEM. Research findings will be interrelated with educational activities, including a STEM transfer success program and development of online resources. The educational activities will inform higher education leaders and promote action in fostering a transfer receptive culture in four-year institutions.This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This award is also funded in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).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.