HSI Pilot Project: Improving Experiential Skills for a Diverse Software Engineering Workforce via Project-based Internships

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构计划”的支持下，这个第一轨道项目旨在为本科学生在软件行业的职业生涯做好准备。软件在整个劳动力中被使用，对合格开发人员的需求也在不断上升。这为提高对软件职业感兴趣的西班牙裔学生和女性的招聘提供了一个重要的机会，因为这些群体历来在计算机劳动力中代表性不足。此外，软件开发专业的学生通常需要完成额外的在线培训来获得工作，这对低收入学生、在职个人和其他人来说是一个挑战。佐治亚格威内特学院（GGC）的这个项目是一个开放获取的HSI，将满足对更大、更多样化的技术劳动力的需求，并通过高质量的指导、与非营利组织的长期合作以及基于项目的带薪实习提供严格的培训。该项目的预期结果是：(a)增加了毕业前和毕业后的成功，提高了低收入和代表性不足的学生在软件劳动力中的代表性；(b)有关有效方法的新知识，以训练学生与真实客户进行实际软件项目；(c)提高为不同社区服务的当地非营利组织的效率。该项目将探索实习项目的最佳实践，将专业培训、指导和社区非营利组织的实施结合起来。随着对准备充分的软件专业人员的需求不断增长，提供吸引人的途径来扩大软件职业的参与是至关重要的。作为一个西班牙裔服务机构，GGC提供了一个理想的校园，帮助提高西班牙裔学生，低收入学生和其他学生毕业后的成功。该项目旨在通过(1)为软件开发学生提供实习职位、培训和指导，让他们在为非营利组织从事真实的、高影响力的项目时获得市场技能；(2)在GGC建立一个软件开发社区，包括校友和行业合作伙伴，并提供持续的专业发展；(3)制定策略，在软件开发经验、课程和学位项目中招募、吸引和支持西班牙裔女性；(4)与当地西班牙裔社区的非营利组织建立可持续的合作关系；(5)通过门户网站、开放教育材料、会议报告和出版物在全国范围内传播项目成果。本项目由科学与技术研究所资助，旨在加强科学与技术研究所的本科教育，扩大科学与技术研究所的参与，并加强科学与技术研究所的能力建设。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, this Track 1 project aims to prepare undergraduate students for careers in the software industry. Software is utilized across the entirety of the workforce and the demand for qualified developers is constantly rising. This poses a significant opportunity to improve recruitment of Hispanic students and women with interests in software careers, as these groups have historically been underrepresented in the computing workforce. Further, software development students often need to complete additional online training to obtain employment, which can represent a challenge to low-income students, working individuals, and others. This project at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), an open-access HSI, will address the need for a larger and more diverse technical workforce and provide rigorous training through high-quality mentorship, long-term collaborations with nonprofit organizations, and paid project-based internships. The anticipated outcomes of this project are: (a) increased pre- and post-graduation success and improved representation of low-income and underrepresented students in the software workforce; (b) new knowledge about effective approaches for training students on real-world software projects with real clients; and (c) improved efficiency of local nonprofit organizations that serve diverse communities.The project will explore best practices for internship programs that combine specialized training, mentoring, and implementation at community nonprofits. Providing engaging pathways to broaden participation in software careers is critical as the need for well-prepared software professionals continues to grow. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, GGC provides an ideal campus to help increase post-graduation success of Hispanic students, low-income students, and others. The project aims to achieve this by (1) offering internship positions, training, and mentoring to software development students, allowing them to gain marketable skills as they engage in authentic, high-impact projects for nonprofit organizations; (2) fostering a software development community at GGC that includes alumni and industry partners and provides ongoing professional development; (3) develop strategies to recruit, engage, and support Hispanic women in software development experiences, courses, and degree programs; (4) creating sustainable collaborations with nonprofit organizations in local Hispanic communities; and (5) disseminating program outcomes nationally through a web gateway, open educational materials, conference presentations, and publications. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.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.