The project, Carver Teaching Initiative - Inspiring the Next Generation of STEM Teaching Professionals through Internships, Recruitment, and Engagement (CTI – INSPIRE), supports internships and scholarships for undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees and preparing for careers as classroom teachers. It provides summer internships for freshmen and sophomores, two-year scholarships for juniors and seniors, and professional development incentives for first-year teachers.

The project builds on a recent study of high school students’ career interests. The study found that, “The strongest career influence that high-achieving, underrepresented minority, high school students have is first-hand experience doing work in a given career area. The second strongest career influence is to have a vicarious experience, wherein students learn about the career from someone in that area. These influences can be either positive or negative. Positive experiences will influence students towards a career and negative experiences will influence them away from a career.”

Drawing on this and findings from similar research, the project nurtures college students’ interest in STEM teaching by providing positive first-hand experiences through internships in addition to aggressive recruitment, and early professional development.

NSF Award(s): 1758481