To succeed and prosper in a global economy and interconnected world, university graduates need international knowledge, intercultural communication skills, and global perspectives. However, students who are members of underrepresented groups are often the least likely to have an international research experience. This award provides support for a two-day workshop that is will bring together Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experts who are involved in providing underrepresented minority students with international research experiences. At the workshop these experts will identify the main barriers to underrepresented group participation in international research, develop a set of best practices for increasing inclusion, explore methods for project evaluation, and discuss the types of institutional support needed to establish, maintain and promote such experiences to a more diverse set of American undergraduate students. This workshop aims to assemble a network of experts to explore the dynamics of international engagement by minority students, distill their findings into a report, and disseminate effective practices to various groups, including higher education institutions, professional societies, NGOs, and the private sector, that can broaden participation and enable a more diverse set of undergraduate students to undertake research abroad opportunities.
This two-day workshop will bring together a set of STEM faculty that have been successful in developing sustainable research abroad programs with a focus on recruiting underrepresented undergraduate students. The workshop will explore how to increase the number of URMs undertaking international STEM research opportunities, recognizing the complexity of this effort. A more diverse set of U.S. students doing international research will result when we successfully navigate complex interactions between, for example, the educational and cultural perspectives of different U.S. minority groups, the ways that different scientific disciplines engage internationally, the variation in support structures for diversity and international engagement across different educational institutions, and the cultural and scientific landscapes of the many countries where the students might conduct research.
The materials produced by the workshop will be broadly disseminated through various means such as academic networks, professional societies, and networks and PI meetings of various NSF programs focused on diversity and international research.
The workshop has the potential to deliver many positive outcomes, including 1) increased awareness of the national need both for U.S. STEM students to be globally engaged, and for greater diversity in that population of students; 2) increased opportunities for URM students to participate in research abroad; 3) enhanced ability both of minority-serving institutions to participate in STEM research abroad programs, as well as of majority institutions to diversify the range of students who participate in STEM research abroad; and 4) strengthened relationships among a broad range of organizations that can help implement such programs, e.g., scientific societies, educational organizations, funding agencies, and international counterpart organizations of all of these groups.
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.
