Pathways to Doctoral Studies in Education-Related Fields

The training program will include faculty, students, and recent alumni from the University of Arizona's main campus and its partner, the University of Arizona-South. The training program will also accept recent graduates from other universities that now live in southern Arizona. Over the course of the five-year grant, AWARDSS will offer up to 48 students one-year fellowships.

AWARDSS is one of the University of Arizona's year-round Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium (UROC) programs, collectively referred to as UROC-PREP, designed to increase participation of underrepresented students in doctoral study. Unlike other UROC-PREP programs, AWARDSS focusses exclusively on education research training and admits recent graduates and masters students. As part of the year-long AWARDSS training program, fellows will receive training in education research (with a focus on examining individual and societal contributions to student success), conduct research with faculty mentors, develop their writing skills, and receive assistance in applying to doctoral programs.

AWARDSS fellows will begin their year-long training in the spring with a semester-long writing course and an online course on education research methods. Fellows will then participate in the UROC-PREP summer research institute that includes a research apprenticeship with faculty mentors, continued research and writing training, and GRE preparation. During the fall semester, AWARDSS fellows will continue their research apprenticeships with their faculty mentors.

For participation in the training program, each fellow will receive a stipend, housing and a meal plan for the summer research institute, and a small travel allowance.

Increasing Diversity in the Education Sciences

A primary purpose of all Pathways training programs is to help increase diversity in the Education Sciences. AWARDSS represents a partnership between two institutions within the University of Arizona System, one of which is a Hispanic serving institution (HSI) that also has a large Native American undergraduate student population. In addition, as a UROC-PREP program, AWARDSS receives dedicated support for recruitment of students who are underrepresented in doctoral study. Participating faculty represent a variety of disciplines within psychology, education and special education.