GSE/RES: Persistence in Engineering Academic Majors and Entry-Level Engineering Jobs: An Investigation of the Interaction of Gender and Race/Ethnicity

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Intellectual Merit: The University of Missouri Columbia proposes to better understand the underrepresentation of women and Latino/as in engineering, by identifying psychological variables that contribute to their persistence and satisfaction in engineering programs and entry-level engineering careers. The research is grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory, which explains the interaction among personal, environmental, and behavioral variables in the development of career interests, choices, and persistence. Using a sample of engineering students at New Mexico State University (NMSU), a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), the PIs hypothesize that the SCCT model will explain significant variance in students? academic satisfaction and persistence in engineering. In addition, the researchers will test for group invariance of the SCCT model to assess the generalizability in the model based on gender and race/ethnicity. Structural equation modeling (SEM) will be used to examine the hypothesized SCCT model (both cross-sectionally and longitudinally), and a series of multi-group analyses using SEM will be used to test for group invariance. Finally, the PIs will conduct interviews with Latino/a non-persisters in engineering to examine the salient factors in their decision to leave engineering. The proposed study is a collaboration between the University of Missouri (MU) and NMSU.Broader Impacts: Findings from this study will contribute knowledge regarding the cultural validity of SCCT, a theory used to inform educational and career interventions across a variety of majors and professional fields. The findings may lead to theoretical refinements of SCCT with Latino/as as well as new theory development in explaining educational persistence and job satisfaction of Latino/as and White women in engineering. The findings from this project will be disseminated broadly so that educators and practitioners can design and develop effective programs that will enhance social cognitions related to the selection of, persistence in, and satisfaction in engineering among White women and Latino/as. The results will offer information regarding the generalizability of the SCCT model across gender and racial/ethnic groups by illustrating how the relations within this model are distinct or similar across Latinas, White women, Latinos, and White men. Interventions and activities may be tailored for each group to bolster the social cognitions that are the strongest predictors for each group. The findings may also be used to provide supports that can be implemented during strategic points in these students? educational training when they may be at higher risk for dropping out of engineering. Early identification of students at risk of dropping out enables the development of retention strategies to minimize attrition in engineering. Finally, the project will provide training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, including women students and students of color, in developing expertise in theoretically-driven research and in understanding the career development of women and Latino/as in engineering.