Bolstering the Advancement of Mathematics Master's Students to Prepare for Doctoral Mathematics Programs

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at California State University-Fresno (CSU-Fresno), San Francisco State University, and California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. All of these universities are in the California State University (CSU) system and are Hispanic-Serving Institutions. CSU-Fresno and San Francisco State University are also Asian-American, Native-American, Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI). Over its five-year duration, this project will fund two-year scholarships to 30 students who are pursuing master's degrees in mathematics. The goal is to support the retention and graduation of students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise in master's programs at the three universities who plan to pursue a Ph.D. in the mathematical sciences, including mathematics education. The five components of the project are: 1) strengthened academic preparation; 2) robust mentorship; 3) structured trajectories with interim benchmarks; 4) support for students' applications to Ph.D. programs and graduate fellowships; and 5) travel support for student presentations of research and networking. Additionally, scholars will benefit from the collaboration among the three CSUs as they will have access to resources from all three departments. The project aims to recruit and support Master's students to matriculate and then thrive in doctoral programs in the mathematical sciences. It builds on two prior NSF projects that supported undergraduate students in mathematics through intensive summer programs. The project will incorporate those earlier findings into intensive 2-year Master's programs to provide for more extensive advanced coursework, extended research experiences and a broad range of mentorship and community building opportunities. The project will be based on two theories of action. The first is that providing scholarships will allow students to work fewer hours and allocate sufficient time to dedicate to academic preparation. The second is that structured mentorship and frequent strategic benchmarking will help students to use their time to develop the knowledge base and academic credentials to matriculate to a Ph.D. program. The project will document its impact by measuring the effects of the interventions. In order to do this, research will be conducted in two ways. First, to collecting and analyze student surveys and short reflections on their program, questions and challenges that they are encountering, and strategies they are using to address these challenges. Second, to compare program and population differences among the three project sites to study how local variation to the project may affect outcomes. A three-pronged, mixed methods approach will be used to externally evaluate project effectiveness: 1) monitor project implementation, 2) assess the efficacy of project activities in moving participants towards project goals, and 3) report on the summative effects of the project. Project members will present their findings at conferences such as the "Field of Dreams," the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and others organized by the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Society, or the Pacific Math Alliance and publish the results in mathematics/mathematics education journals, including student participants as co-authors when possible. The project will also have a website in which materials will be accessible. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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.