| NSF Org: |
EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 20, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 20, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1561637 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Michael Ford
miford@nsf.gov (703)292-5153 EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2020 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,476,474.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,476,474.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
200 CENTRAL PARK W NEW YORK NY US 10024-5102 (212)769-5975 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Central Park West at 79th Street New York NY US 10024-5192 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | ECR-EDU Core Research |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
This longitudinal research study will contribute to a broader understanding of the pathways of STEM-interested high school students from underrepresented groups who plan to pursue or complete science studies in their post-high school endeavors. The project will investigate the ways that formative authentic science experiences may support youth's persistence in STEM. The study focuses on approximately 900 urban youth who are high interest, high potential STEM students who participate in, or are alumni of, the Science Research Mentoring Program. This program provides intensive mentoring for high school youth from groups underrepresented in STEM careers. It takes place at 17 sites around New York City, including American Museum of Natural History, which is the original program site. Identifying key supports and obstacles in the pathways of high-interest, under-represented youth towards STEM careers can help practitioners design more inclusive and equitable STEM learning experiences and supports. In this way, the project will capitalize on student interest so that students with potential continue to persist.
In order to understand better the factors that influence these students, this research combines longitudinal social network and survey data with interviews and case studies, as well as an analysis of matched student data from New York City Public Schools' records. The research questions in the study are a) how do youths' social networks develop through their participation in scientists' communities of practice? b) what is the relationship between features of the communities of practice and youths' social networks, measures of academic achievement, and youths' pursuit of a STEM major? and c) what are the variations in youth pathways in relationship to learner characteristics, composition of social networks, and features of the community of practice? The research design allows for a rich, layered perspective of student pathways. In particular, by employing social network analysis, this study will reveal relational features of persistence that may be particularly critical for underrepresented youth, for whom STEM role models and cultural brokers provide an otherwise unavailable sense of belonging and identity in STEM. The study will also access a New York City Public Schools data set comprised of student-level records containing biographical and demographic variables, secondary and postsecondary course enrollment and grades, exam scores, persistence/graduation indicators, linked responses to post-secondary surveys, and post-education employment records and wages. These data enable examination of inter-relationships between in-school achievement and out-of-school STEM experiences through comparison of program participants to similar non-participant peers. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in partnership with SRI International (SRI), launched a longitudinal study examining the experiences of 733 high-interest, academically successful high school youth, from backgrounds historically marginalized in STEM, as they participated in an out-of-school (OST), science research mentoring program through the New York City Science Research Mentoring Consortium (NYCSRMC). The NYCSRMC is a partnership among 24 academic, research, and cultural institutions across NYC who share the goal of engaging youth in authentic STEM research experiences alongside scientists. The study examined relationships among and changes in a) youth participation in the communities of practice associated with sustained, mentored OST science research experiences; b) youth STEM social networks; and c) youth academic achievement, to identify variations in youth pathways and supports and outcomes related to persistence with STEM. Our study stands out in several ways: the focus on the impact of OST learning, dataset size, the inclusion of a large public school dataset, the development and testing of innovative survey instrumentation focused on STEM pathways, the integration of social network data, and the inclusion of youth as co-researchers.
This study is informed by a learning ecology framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) enabling us to examine key aspects of youth academic, social, and interpersonal development during and after participation in a science community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991). This framework provides us with an understanding of the critical role that adults and peers can play in supporting youth interest and persistence in STEM (Darling-Hammond, Flook, Cook-Harvey, Barron, and Osher, 2020) and how youths? interest and competency in STEM learning are supported within and across multiple contexts and at key transition points in youths? pursuit of a college degree and career (Barron, Martin, Takeuchi, and Fithian, 2009). These students represent the population at the center of concerns about equitable science participation (National Research Council, 2016); we see them as holding the potential for building a more diverse and equitable STEM workforce. They are passionate about STEM, do well academically, and have a record of prior achievement in STEM. They are from groups who have been historically underserved and marginalized in STEM; 76% identify as people of color. Almost half (46%) are from families with one or more parents born outside the U.S. and over a third are first generation to enter colleges (39%). More than half are multilingual (52%), communicating with their families in languages other than or in addition to English.
Participation in Supportive Communities of Practice. Findings reveal that key features of the science programs involve relational and personal elements of participating in a community of practice. Over 90% of youth report they are making valuable contributions to the scientific community; and have a strong sense of belonging and connectedness to program mentors and peers. Youth also report opportunities to learn science practices while engaging in authentic research at statistically significant higher rates at their research sites than their schools. These program features equip youth to successfully engage in STEM coursework and research internships. Additionally, 90% of youth report with high frequency that they can imagine someone of their background doing the work of scientists and enter college maintaining this mindset, the reverse of stereotype threat conditions.
OST Mentored Research Shows a Positive Relationship to School Academics. Using the large scale administrative dataset, our analysis of the comparison group shows that participating in the mentoring program is positively related to students? course taking and school attendance?two important key factors in academic success across the board and within subject areas. Youth who have completed the NYCSRMC program attempted and passed more credits in science and mathematics and have increased school attendance rates.
High STEM Persistence in Early Years of College. Seventy-five percent of participants intend to major in STEM. Our analysis of social networks surfaced a set of relational features of persistence that may be especially critical for youth, specifically adults and peers who serve as mentors, role models, cultural brokers, and supports during the transition from high school to college. While youth regularly reported concerns about obstacles in their academic and personal experiences, they also felt they had the necessary support to be successful.
Summary. The project has generated crucial insights that inform education and workforce development initiatives of how to support youth from historically marginalized populations to develop STEM social networks and key practices that provide the experiences, supports, and vision for successful pursuits in STEM as they enter college. Informal science learning organizations can use the findings to reflect on and refine key features of program design. This study has provided novel evidence to overcome a key challenge that STEM fields face: retention of the most talented, interested, and creative people who can provide the diversity of perspectives and experiences the field clearly needs to continue to be generative, innovative, and inclusive.
Last Modified: 12/23/2020
Modified by: Preeti Gupta
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