Engineering Persistence: A Support System for Low Income Students to Catalyze Diversity and Success

该项目旨在满足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，通过培养学生的成功，并支持在罗文大学（RU）有经济需要的国内、成绩优异的低收入学生的保留和毕业。罗文大学是新泽西州的一所公立大学，拥有约15,000名本科生和2,700名研究生。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为24名攻读工程学科学士学位的全日制、高成就、低收入学生（3组，每组8名学生）提供长达4年的可再生奖学金。由于出勤的经济成本和许多其他因素，这些学生往往面临着完成学位的重大挑战。除了获得财政支持外，学者们还将参与一个多层次的学术和课外支持计划，以帮助克服通常会阻碍他们留在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域并坚持到毕业的障碍。该项目将为学生提供以证据为基础的多方面支持系统：(1)每年10,000美元的奖学金；(2)工程生活学习社区（ELC），以及其他综合元素和服务，以帮助学生培养STEM身份和归属感；(3)通过参与领导力项目培养领导技能的机会，重点培养学生的多元化、公平和包容（DEI）心态。作为支持计划的一部分，项目团队将启动新的创新战略，为所有工程专业学生提供包容性课程，以dei为重点的ELC研讨会，以及为S-STEM学者提供多元化催化剂领导计划。项目的主要成果将是提高低收入、有学术天赋的工程专业学生的坚持率，并培养出为STEM劳动力做好充分准备的工程专业学生，尤其是工程专业学生。为了提高有经济需求的低收入、优秀本科生的STEM学位完成率，该项目将实现五个关键目标。首先是提供奖学金，鼓励低收入，有经济需要的有才华的学生（奖学金学生）毕业于俄罗斯国立大学工程学院的工程专业。第二是实施、研究和评估一个学术和课外支持系统，该系统整合了新的和现有的元素和服务，旨在使奖学金学生能够坚持并在工程学习中取得成功。第三是促进学生的归属感，STEM身份，以及对多样性和公平问题的欣赏和理解的发展。这一目标将通过该项目通过课程、特别研讨会、指导和社会活动吸引所有工程专业学生参与DEI体验，从而促进和增强包容性学习和社会环境。与第三个目标密切相关的是，第四个目标是为奖学金学生发起和调查一个创新的多元化催化剂领导计划，以培养领导技能和持久的公平心态。第五是产生关于项目整体支持模型的影响和有效性的新知识。为了实现这些目标，该项目将采用新的循证战略和干预措施，并将与几个RU办公室建立战略合作伙伴关系，包括学生生活办公室，住宿学习和大学住房办公室以及学生成功计划办公室。除了奖学金，策略和学生干预将包括：RU工程生活学习中心，以缓解每年约125名学生向大学的过渡，包括奖学金学生；DEI课程内容适用于所有一年级学生和整个学生的本科工程培训；参与现有的大学课程；以及DEI为奖学金学生发起的新的多元化催化剂领导计划。同时，这个领导力项目将向所有工程专业的学生开放，以促进和加强一个包容的环境。该项目将通过项目评估增加STEM教育知识库，采用混合方法技术和准实验设计，与非奖学金工程学生进行比较，以分析和了解项目活动的影响程度和有效性，以及对保留，参与，DEI心态，学业表现，劳动力准备，毕业和整体学生成功的干预措施。该项目产生的知识将通过地方和国家场所的讲习班、传统出版方法和编制《多样性促进者培训手册》来传播，该手册将包括实用的、以证据为基础的包容战略。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。

The project aims to serve the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by fostering student success and supporting the retention and graduation of domestic, high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Rowan University (RU), a public institution in New Jersey with approximately 15,000 undergraduate and 2,700 graduate students. Over its 6-year duration, this project will provide renewable scholarships for up to four years to twenty-four (24) distinct full-time, high-achieving, low-income students (3 cohorts with 8 students each) who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in an engineering discipline. These students often face significant challenges to degree completion due to the financial costs of attendance and numerous other factors. In addition to receiving financial support, scholars will be part of a multi-tiered academic and co-curricular support program to help overcome barriers that often can hinder retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and persistence to graduation. The project will implement an evidence-based, multi-faceted support system for students by providing: (1) $10,000 annual scholarships; (2) an Engineering Living-Learning Community (ELC), and other integrated elements and services to help foster students’ development of a STEM identity and a sense of belonging; and (3) opportunities to build leadership skills through participation in a leadership program with a focus on student development of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mindset. As part of the support program, the project team will initiate new and innovative strategies that will result in an inclusive curriculum for all engineering students, DEI-focused ELC seminars, and a Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for the S-STEM Scholars. Primary project outcomes will be an increased persistence rate of low-income, academically talented students in engineering and the production of engineering students who will be well-prepared for the STEM workforce, in general, and engineering workforce, in particular.To increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, this project will pursue five key goals. First is to provide scholarships to encourage low-income, talented students with demonstrated financial needs (Scholarship Students) to graduate with engineering majors in the College of Engineering at RU. Second is to implement, study, and assess an academic and co-curricular support system that integrates new and extant elements and services designed to empower Scholarship Students to persist and succeed in their engineering studies. Third is to advance student development of sense of belonging, STEM identity, and appreciation and understanding of diversity and equity issues. This goal will be pursued through the project’s promotion and enhancement of inclusive learning and social environments by engaging all engineering students in DEI experiences through curriculum, special seminars, mentoring, and social activities. Closely related to the third goal, a fourth goal is to initiate and investigate an innovative Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for Scholarship Students to develop leadership skills and an enduring equity mindset. Fifth is to generate new knowledge with respect to impact and effectiveness of the project’s overall support model. To accomplish these goals, the project will employ new and evidence-based strategies and interventions and will also engage in strategic partnerships with several RU offices including the Office of Student Life, the Office of Residential Learning & University Housing, and the Office of Student Success Programs. In addition to the scholarships, strategies and student interventions will be comprised of: the RU Engineering Living-Learning Center to ease the transition to college for approximately 125 students each year including the Scholarship Students; DEI curriculum components for all first-year students and throughout students’ undergraduate engineering training; engagement with existing University programs; and a new DEI motivated Diversity Catalyst Leadership Program for Scholarship Students. At the same time, this leadership program will be open to all engineering students to promote and enhance an inclusive environment. The project will add to the STEM education knowledge base through project evaluation by employing mixed methods techniques and a quasi-experimental design with a comparison group of non-Scholarship engineering students to analyze and gain insights regarding the extent of impact and effectiveness of the project's activities and interventions on retention, engagement, DEI mindset, academic performance, workforce preparation, graduation, and overall student success. The knowledge generated by this project will be disseminated through workshops both locally and in national venues, traditional publication methods, and through the development of a Diversity Catalyst Training Manual, which will include practical, evidenced-based inclusion strategies. 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.