The Emerge Scholars Program: Preparing Students for an Innovative Future

该项目将通过支持在南佛罗里达州立大学（SFSC）（一所综合性社区学院和西班牙裔服务机构）中表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为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做出贡献。在为期6年的时间里，ESP将为40名攻读工程技术副学士学位的独特学生提供奖学金。学位是高级制造的专业。一年级和转学生将获得最多两年的奖学金支持。该项目旨在通过“引导路径”模式提高STEM的持久性，该模式包括队列、教师指导和成功指导。学生将有机会与当地制造商一起从事工业项目，并获得顶点经验。该项目的一个重要成果将是评估引导路径模型，该模型预计将提高来自农村人口的不同STEM学生的学生成功。该项目还将有助于该机构了解影响学生自我效能感和坚持完成两年制工程技术学位的主要因素。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。这四个具体目标是：(1)增加从高中到两年制学位，再到四年制大学或STEM职业的负担得起的途径，(2)改善代表性不足群体学生的教育公平，(3)提高中学后学历水平，(4)提高社会流动性。区域需求职业列表将工程技术专业确定为高优先级，需要更多的学生进入该学位。该项目将调查在指导路径框架的背景下，STEM高影响力的集体实践在多大程度上有助于来自低收入、农村、代表性不足的少数族裔社区的学生在工程技术项目中取得成功。该研究将通过比较学者和非奖学金资格的工程专业学生的队列来控制种族和第一代的中介效应。传播计划包括与学院领导团队和教师内部分享结果和实践，以及向同行机构和类似项目进行外部传播。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，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 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 South Florida State College (SFSC), a comprehensive community college and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Over its 6-year duration, the ESP will provide scholarships to 40 unique students who are pursuing an associate of science (A.S.) degree in engineering technology. Degrees are a specialization in advanced manufacturing. First-year and transfer students will receive up to two-years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase persistence in STEM through a "Guided Pathway" model that includes cohorts, faculty mentoring, and success coaching. Scholars will have the opportunity to work on industry projects with local manufacturers as well as capstone experiences. A significant outcome of this project will be to assess the Guided Pathways model, which is predicted to increase student success in diverse STEM students from rural populations. The project will also contribute to the institution’s understanding of the main factors that influence students’ self-efficacy and persistence in completing a two-year engineering technology degree. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The four specific aims are to: (1) increase affordable pathways from high school to a two-year degree and then to a four-year institution or STEM career, (2) improve educational equity among students from underrepresented groups, (3) increase post-secondary credential-attainment levels, and (4) raise social mobility. The Regional Demand Occupation List identified the engineering technology major as a high priority and more recruitment of students into the degree is needed. The project will investigate the extent that the collective STEM high-impact practices operating in the context of Guided Pathways framework contribute to success of students from low-income, rural, underrepresented minority communities in engineering technology programs. The study will control for mediating effects of race and first generation by comparing cohorts of scholars to non-scholarship-eligible engineering students. The dissemination plan includes internal sharing of results and practices with the college's leadership team and faculty, as well as external dissemination to peer institutions and similar programs. 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.