| NSF Org: |
EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1650575 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Paige Smith
EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $227,862.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $227,862.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
5200 N LAKE RD MERCED CA US 95343-5001 (209)201-2039 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
CA US 95343-5001 |
| 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): | Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES |
| 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): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
This award supports a conference and related activities which will bring together researchers, higher education administrators, industry representatives, members of professional societies, and other community members to design collective impact initiatives to improve the retention and continuation of Hispanics, women, and other underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Retention and continuation to the next step in their educational careers is a particular challenge for underrepresented minorities and first-generation students, whether in community college, four-year institutions, or graduate programs (Ishitani 2006, Sowell et al. 2015). The conference focuses explicitly on this critical issue, and will identify potential remedies that can scale across different types of institutions, communities, and underrepresented groups.
This conference will employ a collective impact, networked improvement approach to help fill this gap and engage the broader community. This approach offers a means of identifying and agreeing upon shared, measurable objectives, mechanisms for coordination across individuals and organizations, a commitment to contrast and comparison, and an ethic of continuous improvement. Drawing from the extant literature and recommendations from a wide array of stakeholders, the team will propose measurable strategies for Alliances and the National INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science) Network that can be implemented, tested, enhanced, and expanded. The workshop team will draw on evidence-based knowledge, leveraging findings from disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields and from differing types of institutions and educational levels to determine whether strategies identified can yield large-scale progress towards INCLUDES goals. Results will inform the INCLUDES Alliances and the backbone organization supporting the Alliances.
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 2017 NSF INCLUDES “Conference to Advance the Collective Impact of Retention and Continuation Strategies for Hispanics and Other Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Fields” was held at the Kellogg Conference Center on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C., on March 6-8th, 2017. The purpose of the conference was to identify strategies for effectively recruiting, retaining and graduating Hispanics and members of other underrepresented groups in STEM and preparing them for jobs in industry, academia, nonprofits, and other sectors. The conference brought together 74 researchers, higher education administrators, industry representatives, members of professional societies, and other community members from regions across the United States. Participants shared their experiences and expertise in broadening participation in STEM fields and in identifying measures with potential to significantly improve outcomes for Hispanics, women, and other underrepresented groups in STEM fields.
Panels focused on lessons learned about collective impact, the K-12 pipeline to college and the importance of community, Latino student success in two-year institutions, increasing Latino retention in undergraduate STEM programs, recruitment of highly competitive Latinos and other underrepresented minorities into graduate schools and strategies for successful completion of graduate studies, and industry partnerships to identify a diverse workforce. Panel and keynote presentations focused on evidence-based knowledge, leveraging findings from disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields and from differing types of institutions and educational levels to determine whether strategies identified can yield large-scale progress towards INCLUDES goals. In addition, small breakout sessions offered opportunities for attendees to share their ideas on (1) lessons learned from collective impact projects; (2) obstacles confronting students at various points and in different sectors of the education, career, and industry STEM pathways; and (3) best practices for overcoming barriers and ensuring that the strategies identified would be successful in different contexts.
Prior to the conference, presenters drafted white papers for distribution to all attendees. Following the conference, papers were revised and conference proceedings made available to participants and the general public at http://graduatedivision.ucmerced.edu/NSF_INCLUDES_Conference. This project website also includes a list of participants, select remarks, and conference photos. Additional resources of interest to conference attendees and others seeking to broaden participation of Latinos and other underrepresented minorities in STEM fields are available at the related CAHSI website, http://cahsi-includes.cs.utep.edu/index.php/resources/.
Evaluation of the conference indicates that participants found it to be a much-needed opportunity to share information, calibrate where other researchers were at this early stage of the NSF INCLUDES initiatives, and learn about best practices in increasing representation in STEM fields. More specifically, the post-conference survey revealed that a majority of conference attendees had increased their knowledge about URM students in STEM fields (93%), expanded their professional networks (100%), and planned to develop a new partnership in their efforts to recruit and retain URM students in STEM fields (67%). We anticipate that conference attendees will continue to share strategies and lessons learned in order to significantly broaden participation in STEM fields, and that results will inform the INCLUDES Alliances and the backbone organization supporting the Alliances.
Last Modified: 01/18/2018
Modified by: Marjorie S Zatz
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