Work In Progress: Life after National Science Foundation Fellowships: The Implications for a Graduate Students´ Professional Endeavors

Each year hundreds of fellows participate in National Science Foundations (NSF) GK-12 grants throughout the country. These fellowship opportunities provide professional training for university students in order to improve their communication skills, teaching proficiency, team building skills, and expand their interest in community outreach efforts within K-16 education. Project STEP (Science and Technology Enhancement Program) has funded 18 graduate and undergraduate fellows. This study examines the long term impact of participation in an NSF Fellowship and impact that it has on their educational and professional choices once fellows leave the program. The theoretical framework surrounding this study is framed around preparing future faculty literature, sociocultural cognition, and other GK-12 projects. Interviews, historical tracking documents, and attitude surveys are being used in order to ascertain themes that will be further studied as the work in progress develops. The expected date of completion is December of 2006