Expanding the Nation’s STEM Talent Pool by Accelerating Graduate Degree Completion in Computer, Software, and Cybersecurity Engineering

该项目将通过促进学生的成功和支持国内，高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明在安柏瑞德航空大学，一个非营利的私人机构的经济需要，促进国家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。在六年的时间里，该项目将为25名本科生提供奖学金，以攻读计算机科学，软件工程或计算机工程的四年制学士学位。随后，学者将在以下领域之一攻读为期一年的加速硕士学位：软件工程，电气和计算机工程或网络安全工程。一年级学生将获得长达五年的奖学金支持。该项目将通过将奖学金与新创建的有效生态系统联系起来，提高学生在STEM领域的坚持性，该生态系统结合了基于证据的实践，如教师指导，学术咨询，参与学习社区，专业发展活动，获得实习和研究机会的指导。在导师的帮助下，学者们将制定个人发展计划，概述他们的职业目标和实现这些目标的步骤。该项目还将包括评价生态系统对支持学者取得学术成功的影响，并确定最佳做法和经验教训。该项目将为创建一个积极吸引STEM研究领域代表性不足的群体的学生的模式做出重大贡献，扩大STEM的参与，并为美国劳动力队伍注入25名具有高级工程学位的才华横溢的多元化工程师。该项目的总体目标是提高国内低收入，高成就本科生的本科和研究生STEM学位完成率，这些本科生在STEM领域有明显的经济需求。该项目有三个具体目标。首先是为国内低收入、高成就的学生提供财政支持，这些学生将攻读本科和加速工程硕士学位。其次是利用循证实践来促进学生的成功，提高保留率和学位获得率。第三，也是最后一点，是评估新创建的生态系统在支持工程学者的学术成功方面的影响，并传播最佳实践和经验教训。影响国内低收入、高成就的私立大学工程专业本科生学业成功的因素，以及性别、种族背景和学科等因素如何影响他们的成功，这是本项目的重点。本项目将调查两个研究问题：（a）学者的学术成就是否因参与本项目而逐年提高？(b)影响学者学术成功的因素是什么？学者在实施生态系统中取得了哪些成就、最佳实践和经验教训？该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 fostering student success and supporting the retention and graduation of domestic, high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a non-profit private institution. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 25 undergraduate students to pursue four-year bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Computer Engineering. Subsequently the scholars will pursue a one-year accelerated master’s degree in one of the following areas: Software Engineering, Electrical, and Computer Engineering, or Cybersecurity Engineering. First-year students will receive up to five years of scholarship support. The project will increase student persistence in STEM fields by linking scholarships with a newly created effective ecosystem that combines evidence-based practices such as faculty mentoring, academic advising, participation in the learning community, professional development activities, guidance in acquiring internships and research opportunities. With the help of mentors, the scholars will create individual development plans outlining their career goals and steps toward achieving those goals. The project will also include the evaluation of the impact of the ecosystem on supporting the academic success of scholars and the identification of best practices and lessons learned. This project will significantly contribute towards creating a model that actively engages students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields of study, broadens participation in STEM, and infuses 25 talented and diverse engineers with advanced degrees in engineering into the American workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase undergraduate and graduate STEM degree completion of domestic, low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need in STEM field. Three specific aims guide the project. First is to deliver financial support to domestic, low-income, high-achieving students who will pursue an undergraduate and accelerated master’s degree in engineering. Second is to leverage evidence-based practices to foster student success, increase retention and degree attainment. Third, and finally, is to evaluate the impact of the newly created ecosystem in supporting the academic success of scholars in engineering, and disseminate best practices and lessons learned. Little is known about the factors that affect the academic success of domestic, low-income, high-achieving undergraduate students in engineering fields at a private institution, and how factors such as gender, ethnic background and discipline impact their success, which is the focus of this project. Two research questions will be investigated in this project: (a) Does the academic success of scholars improve across the years by being part of this project? (b) What were the factors effecting the academic success of the scholars, and what are the accomplishments, best practices, and lessons learned from implementing the ecosystem for the scholars? 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.