Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Allyson Flaster

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Advanced training and education in STEM are of critical importance for the nation’s workforce and economic status. Equitable access to graduate level training reduces barriers for individuals from minoritized groups. Standardized graduate exams are becoming less important in the graduate admissions process, which places a higher weight on letters of recommendation for the selection of graduate students for a program. This project focuses on examining the language used by mentors in describing...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Nicole C Kelp

Institution: Colorado State University

Broadening participation in STEM is critical on many levels, from the equity perspective of removing barriers for success for people from historically excluded groups and from the perspective of increasing knowledge in the field of STEM. Both people and scientific endeavors benefit from increasing inclusion. However, evidence indicates that students who experience marginalization due to their socioeconomic status, first generation college attendance, or race and ethnicity are underrepresented...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Wendy M DuBow

Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder

This study addresses the longstanding problem of the lack of diversity among persons studying and working in the field of computer science (CS). The statistics describing the gender and race/ethnicity of those who earn CS degrees tell a story of a discipline that has been slow to change. The percentage of CS undergraduate degrees that have been earned by women has barely risen in nearly two decades. The lack of representation of Hispanic, African American, and Native American students in...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Julianne Wenner

Institution: Clemson University

Families are children’s first teachers and significantly influence children’s interest, engagement, and aspirations (IEA) in science. Family attitudes, conversations about science, expectations for their children, and family science/STEM career role models can be influential, particularly for people who identify with populations that are underrepresented in science. However, what families from these populations provide in terms of support for IEA in science is often framed as inadequate or...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Ryan Baker, Nicole Else-Quest, Bruce M McLaren, Timothy J Nokes-Malach, Jon R Star

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carnegie-Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University

Despite evidence that gender differences in math achievement have narrowed or disappeared in recent decades, stereotypes about men being better than women at math emerge early in childhood and persist through adulthood. These perceptions appear to influence female students’ interest and performance in math, as well as their pursuit of STEM careers. Given the potential motivational benefits of digital learning games, games might provide a pathway for reducing math anxiety for female students...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Julie J Park

Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

This project will explore how Black undergraduate and graduate students in STEM view the relationship between religion and science, and the implications for their persistence in STEM. The project is of significance because religion and religious communities were recently identified as a vital source of support for many of Black students, although for STEM students the dichotomy between science and religion can be challenging. While numerous studies document perceived tensions between religion...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Bailey Brown, Rebecca Zarch

Institutions: Spelman College, SageFox Consulting Group, LLC

This research project seeks to examine longstanding inequities in access to and participation in computer science (CS) education. Decades of research have shown that certain subgroups (e.g., women, students with disabilities, underrepresented minority students) tend to face substantial barriers to participating in CS courses and programs. As computing education continues to expand in K-12 education systems, it is important to understand how early experiences in computing education relate to...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: EDU Racial Equity

Principal Investigator: Tabbye M Chavous

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Persistent racial disparities are notable across STEM fields from who receives undergraduate degrees to the unequal opportunities and outcomes that hamper scientists’ careers later in life. Past research shows that contact with faculty, advising, and undergraduate research can reduce racial inequities, but it is not clear whether and how these work in all STEM fields. This project will explore how experiences like these create “STEM microclimates” for undergraduates with intersecting...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Adrianna Kezar

Institution: University of Southern California

This project addresses the fundamentally important question of who the faculty in the United States are, and how they advance knowledge and prepare the future workforce in STEM. Faculty are central to the success of higher education, and through teaching, research, and service, faculty contribute to the education of the future workforce in STEM, the advancement of knowledge, and the success of the higher education enterprise. Since 2004, when data was last collected for the National Study of...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Sara Hooshangi

Institution: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Participation in computer science by women is a significant goal for NSF and benefits the nation’s workforce in emerging technologies. Academic and career path decisions are made by individuals and understanding barriers that contribute to student selection of computer science careers may reduce the gender gap in this field. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University seeks to understand personal, social, and institutional constraints that influence the decision-making of first-year...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Fashina Alade

Institution: Michigan State University

Advancing participation in STEM is significant for meeting NSF’s goals and benefits the nation. Michigan State University aims to improve understanding of the impacts of STEM-focused children’s media programming by identifying children’s understanding of racial diversity cures in educational television shows. The professional development plan will build research capacity by exploring children's attention to and interpretations of diversity cues and then building a multi-method study that...

Effective: 2022-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Roger E Beaty, Mark Fuge, Dan R Johnson

Institutions: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, University of Maryland, College Park, Washington and Lee University

This collaborative project from research teams at Pennsylvania State University, University of Maryland, and Washington and Lee University focuses on measuring creativity in undergraduate engineering education. The ability to think creatively is essential for success in STEM fields, particularly engineering, which requires designing solutions to complex problems that often have no single or "correct" solution. The Next Generation Science Standards identify creative thinking skills, such as...

Effective: 2022-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Kristen N Bieda, Megan E Staples

Institutions: Michigan State University, University of Connecticut

Creating and justifying mathematical claims is an essential learning goal and valued outcome of a mathematics education. To advance equitable learning outcomes, it is essential that teachers pursue this goal in ways that ensure every student has opportunities to develop and share justifications in their classrooms. The intended outcomes of this pilot study are: (1) practice-grounded, foundational knowledge about how students’ participation in mathematical justification can advance equity...

Effective: 2022-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: James R Neumeister

Institution: National Opinion Research Center

This research project focuses on understanding the experiences and perspectives of marginalized groups in STEM fields. Three aims frame the project team's research plan. First is to examine factors that influence and predict career trajectories of subgroups of STEM doctoral students and graduates based on their career motivations and aspirations. Second is to develop and integrate culturally responsive student and context-level measures to investigate the career pathways of STEM PhD students....

Effective: 2022-2024

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Erin M Lynch

Institutions: Winston-Salem State University, QUALITY EDUCATION FOR MINORITIES NETWORK

Pipelines to Pathways: Humanizing Diversity in STEM, is proposed to improve mentorship and training in emerging research designed to improve STEM student outcomes, particularly for those students coming from underserved and underrepresented populations in STEM. This two-day workshop is designed to attract STEM faculty, both K-12 and post-secondary, and research scholars in STEM teaching and student learning to present and learn about evidence-based practices and methodology design to implement...

Effective: 2022-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Tim McEldowney

Institution: West Virginia University Research Corporation

This project aims to illuminate how undergraduate student knowledge about the graduate school application and admissions processes acts as a barrier to earning advanced degrees in mathematics for students historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The project will consist of a combination of exploratory research and professional development activities to advance the PI’s expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods. The project will survey undergraduate mathematics...

Effective: 2022-2022

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Lori Andersen

Institution: University of Hawaii

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2), and by the EHR Core Research program. The project will investigate the use of science curriculum features to develop culturally diverse fifth-grade students’ abilities to use scientific thinking tools. Thinking tools will include crosscutting concepts such as systems and system models, patterns, and cause and effect, as well as cultural concepts, such as reciprocity, human-nature relations,...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Kerrie G Wilkins-Yel

Institution: University of Massachusetts Boston

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. This project aims to serve the national interest by addressing the inequitable representation of graduate Women of Color (WoC) (i.e., Black/African American, Latina, Indigenous, and Asian...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Ginger Shultz

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

This project aims to increase the support students from non-dominant groups receive in schools by understanding better how teacher training and curricular resources can make curricula relevant and compelling to those students. Culturally relevant education makes visible the value of students’ diverse perspectives and experiences and may better support underserved students in STEM. While culturally relevant educational approaches are powerful, they rely on the teachers' competence in the...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Shetay Ashford-Hanserd

Institution: Texas State University - San Marcos

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization, and to build a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. This project will examine the effects of community cultural wealth on the persistence of Black and...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Bryce Hughes

Institution: Montana State University

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. This project awarded to a CAREER scholar has the goal to examine the participation of LGBTQ students in undergraduate STEM programs to understand how...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Valerie J Taylor

Institution: Lehigh University

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. This CAREER award supports experimental and longitudinal studies that aim to increase diversity and inclusion in higher education STEM culture. The...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Kirstin C Busch

Institution: North Carolina State University

Developing solutions to large-scale collective problems -- such as resilience to environmental challenges -- requires scientifically literate communities. However, the predominant conception of scientific literacy has focused on individuals, and there is not consensus as to what community level scientific literacy is or how to measure it. Thus, a 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, “Science Literacy: Concepts, Contexts, and Consequences,” stated that...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Preeti Gupta

Institution: American Museum Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History plans to investigate the relationship between mentored research and youths’ STEM trajectory from high school to early college. The study builds on a previously funded project that examined the experiences of 733 high school youth who participated in an out-of-school, in-depth science research and mentoring program through the New York City Science Research Mentoring Consortium. The current study will examine how 380 of the initial participants navigate...

Effective: 2021-2026

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David W Shaffer

Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison

This project will advance research in an important area needed for contributing to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians through the creation and validation of a process designed to effectively and fairly code educational data. Over its five-year duration, this project will develop and test an approach to coding data on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It will do so in a manner that takes into account...

Effective: 2021-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Sandra L Laursen

Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder

ADVANCE and Beyond: Understanding Processes of Institutional Change to Promote STEM Equity and EducationThis research has significance in seeking to provide evidence-based support to scholars and practitioners who are working to promote systemic institutional change in STEM higher education. To solve stubborn problems that lead to inequitable outcomes, such as biased faculty tenure and promotion processes, uneven leadership opportunities, and hostile departmental climates, requires more than a...

Effective: 2021-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Sara E Grineski, Danielle Morales

Institutions: University of Utah, Worcester State University, University of Texas at El Paso

Understanding mentoring relationships is critical to increasing diversity in STEM fields. Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Utah propose to study the effects of mentor relationship mismatch on student outcomes during NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs. This project aims to employ a novel approach to studying mentoring by examining multilevel mentoring and demographics of students and the mentor team. The project aims to collect data...

Effective: 2021-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Ramon Barthelemy, Charles R Henderson, Adrienne Traxler

Institutions: University of Utah, Western Michigan University, Wright State University

This project is a collaboration among the University of Utah as the lead institution and Western Michigan University and Wright State University as partners to investigate how women and gender and sexual minorities (GSM) construct and navigate their professional networks to support their post PhD physics careers. The goal is to use social network analysis with qualitative methods to characterize the professional support networks of women and GSM physicists to test the central hypothesis:...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Logan Fiorella

Institution: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc

With support from NSF’s EHR Core Research (ECR) program, this project seeks to serve the national interest by identifying effective instructional methods to support student understanding of core science concepts. This project will study learning in the biological sciences among introductory and advanced undergraduates. Science educators and policy makers aim to facilitate students’ development of deep conceptual understanding and the ability to solve novel problems in the classroom and the...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jonathan T Eckhardt, Brent D Goldfarb

Institutions: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Maryland, College Park

This is a collaborative project, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the lead institution and the University of Maryland as the partnering institution, to explore the entrepreneurial proclivity of undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields. The researchers propose a multi-method approach led by an interdisciplinary team to (1) identify factors that influence entrepreneurial proclivity and (2) develop and test interventions related to closing gender disparities in STEM entrepreneurship....

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: John Fife

Institutions: Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University

Interest in STEM is often shaped in middle school and understanding the STEM attitude and interest of African American middle school students would be significant in reducing barriers to STEM careers. Virginia State University aims to advance knowledge on the impacts of holistic contextual factors, such as race/ethnicity, school quality, family dynamics, gender, social supports, daily danger exposure, social status, and interpersonal competence, on STEM interest and attitudes. The project...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Sammy L Steen Jr

Institution: George Mason University

This project aims to increase the number of Black male youth who can be successful in advanced mathematics while in public schools. The researcher will use a mixed-methods design to gain a comprehensive and culturally appropriate student perspective. The project includes the implementation of a group counseling program for Black male students beginning in seventh grade and following them through eighth grade. The researcher will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate quantitative...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jonathan E Cook, Ciara Glover

Institutions: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc.

Understanding the impact of adversity experiences on STEM persistence and performance is significant to broaden participation of individuals from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented. Researchers at Georgia State University and Pennsylvania State University aim to study the effects of adversity experiences on student motivation to pursue STEM majors and student persistence and performance in STEM degree programs. The project aims to develop and use a model that predicts how...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Dustin B Thoman

Institution: San Diego State University Foundation

It is critically important that the United States create and maintain a thriving scientific workforce that propels future discoveries and innovations. The academic research laboratory is an essential context where students learn what science is, what is expected of a scientist, and decide whether they will pursue or persist within the scientific community. This project investigates the transmission of norms, expectations, and values between and among scientists, their students, and their...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Alexander J Stokes

Institution: University of Hawaii

This capacity-building project, administered by the University of Hawaii, is designed to develop the investigator’s knowledge and skills in STEM Education research (SER) through participation in intensive professional growth activities including mentoring by a team of experts in STEM Education research, workshops in research methods and cultural competence, and participation in SER professional conferences. In tandem with the project’s professional development activities, the investigator...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Angela Calabrese Barton

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The primary objective of this study is to develop, test and refine a model to describe how youth develop knowledge within their communities using critical data practices. Critical data practices include what youth do with, in relation to, and oriented around data to learn about their world and solve new problems. For example, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, youth have engaged with data such as local COVID-19 dashboards for their schools and cities, visualizations of viral spread, and social...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Amy J Ko, Mo Zhang

Institutions: University of Washington, Educational Testing Service

This project aims to promote equitable design of Computer Science (CS) assessment in secondary and post-secondary education in the United States and globally, increasing the diversity of students engaging in CS learning through reduced test bias. In this study, we aim to address difficulties in assessing computer programming by investigating critical characteristics of programming tasks using both response process and product data. Findings will have direct practical implications for developing...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Omar S Lopez

Institution: Texas State University - San Marcos

Improving graduation rates of STEM majors for Hispanic students at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) will contribute to the goal of broadening participation in STEM career fields. Texas State University aims to identify links between investment inputs and success in graduating Hispanic students from Hispanic-Serving Institutions using data submitted to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Patterns in HSI inputs that are associated with institutions that are more efficient at...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Heidi Schweingruber

Institution: National Academy of Sciences

Inequity in education is a critical issue in the United States with well-documented evidence that many students receive substantially lower quality educations due to structural inequity in public schooling. These inequities are particularly pronounced in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education where issues of access to high quality instruction and advanced coursework are intertwined with stereotypes and biases about which students can succeed in STEM. Using the...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Aleata K Hubbard

Institution: WestEd

This project will explore the significance of race and equity in secondary computer science (CS) education. Despite the importance of CS across all aspects of life, there is little racial diversity in the field along the pipeline from elementary school to industry. At the secondary level, even students who are highly interested and confident in CS remain underrepresented in the field. To address this problem, researchers have created culturally responsive computing approaches to effectively...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Michelle Friend

Institution: University of Nebraska at Omaha

Researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Southern Methodist University will investigate the efficacy of a Work-Learn model for providing individuals experiencing homelessness with the skills and scaffolding that will enable them to enter the job market. The research team will examine the impact of integrating micro-internships with online courses targeting computer science skills for homeless adult learners and analyze the interaction among group dynamics and learner success and...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Zerrin Ondin

Institution: Georgia Tech Research Corporation

The importance of removing barriers to accessing STEM instructional materials is paramount to broadening the representation of students with visual impairments in STEM careers. Tactile graphics are important STEM instructional aids, but they are often difficult to understand or have limited content compared to the original. This project aims to conduct a synthesis of the existing body of knowledge of student experiences with tactile graphics to develop a set of best practices and establish...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Juan M Madera

Institution: University of Houston

Promotion and tenure decisions at universities are of critical significance to the integrity of the research enterprise because they determine the career progression of scholars and scientists. Despite significant investments in pipeline interventions to diversify academia, faculty of color and women are underrepresented in tenured and tenure track positions. Underrepresentation has important implications for the nation's prospects of developing a diverse STEM workforce. For undergraduate and...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Daniel Klasik

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

While course grades are a primary way instructors communicate with students about their academic performance, there is less research on how grades are interpreted differently by college students. As a result, differential responses to grades may affect which students pursue STEM degrees and may therefore be an important contributing factor in the well documented gender and race/ethnicity gaps in STEM degrees. Prior studies examining this hypothesis, however, have been largely limited to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David I Miller

Institution: American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences

This project will integrate high-quality experimental evidence on the existence of, and strategies to reduce, gender bias in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including how gender bias may intersect with other identities such as race and ethnicity. Biases favoring men could thwart women’s training and careers in STEM fields in many ways, but research also suggests promising interventions for changing biased cultures and structures. This project will synthesize...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Erin A Cech

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ideological Roadblocks to Diversifying STEM: Resistance and Allyship in STEM Diversity and Inclusion EffortsThe aim of this project is to break important ground in STEM inequality research by better understanding how powerful and privileged groups in STEM respond to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in their workplaces and professions. Despite the millions of dollars invested each year in DEI-related training, recruitment, and retention efforts, STEM fields have struggled to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER Institute

Principal Investigator: Matthew Irvin

Institution: University of South Carolina at Columbia

The goal of the Institute for Measurement MEthodology in Rural STEM Education (IMMERSE) is to increase the capacity of researchers to measure and study key concepts central to rural STEM education research. Drawing on measurement science and a unified validity framework, the IMMERSE training will enable rural researchers in STEM, social sciences, and education to undertake empirical studies that attend to rurality. Specifically, participants in the IMMERSE experience will obtain the skills to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Qingxia Li

Institution: Fisk University

The project is designed to enable the principal investigator to conduct an exploratory research project while acquiring skills and competencies to conduct robust STEM education research. The research component will examine factors and experiences that impact African American students’ decision to pursue careers that require quantitative and computational skills. The mentored professional development component will provide the investigator with expertise in qualitative research design and...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Ashish Amresh

Institutions: Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University

Advancing participation in computer science is significant for meeting NSF’s goals and benefits the nation. Arizona State University aims to improve pathways in computer science for Native American tribal school students through co-developed culturally relevant computer science programming. Teachers in tribal high schools on the Navajo Nation will use real-world coding exercises that focus on communities, nature, and the arts to provide a richer understanding of computing and its...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Brian M Galla, Eric Kuo

Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing and testing a novel theoretical framework to understand and mitigate sources of disengagement and promote sources of engagement in undergraduate introductory physics courses. A premise of this project is that students under psychological threat—those who appraise demands of physics as exceeding coping resources—are more likely to disengage from physics. Critically, reducing psychological threat is suggested to boost engagement,...