RDE-BPR1: An Investigation of GI Bill Recipients with Disabilities Pursuit of STEM as a Viable Career Option

该奖项是一个广泛的参与研究项目，旨在调查在公共准会员和学士学位授予机构的STEM中，残疾GI Bill接受者在多大程度上代表不足，退伍军人和残疾状况对STEM学习的影响，以及导致GI Bill接受者为残疾GI Bill接受者创造更公平和更有吸引力的中学后STEM教育环境的组织因素。这项研究的参与者包括退伍军人和有残疾或无残疾的家属，他们使用GI Bill福利就读于弗吉尼亚州联邦的公立两年制和四年制学院和大学。调查包括五个具体的研究问题。1)与非残疾的GI法案接受者相比，有残疾的GI Bill接受者参与STEM计划的程度如何？2)退伍军人的地位如何影响GI Bill接受者在STEM领域登记的兴趣、表现、毅力和看法？3)在GI Bill接受者中，残疾类型是否与STEM登记有关？4)STEM教职员工、校园服务专业人员(即就业中心工作人员、残疾支持服务提供者)、以及认证官员认为在支持残疾退伍军人及其残疾家属方面最有效？5)残疾GI法案接受者如何优先考虑影响STEM计划招募、注册和坚持的组织因素？弗吉尼亚州有1.9万名退伍军人及其家属符合退伍军人法案的资格，该研究正在为他们的主题池收集7600份在线网络调查数据。这些科目是通过弗吉尼亚州所有公立两年制和四年制高等教育机构招收的。这些调查是根据STEM教职员工、证明学生是否符合GI法案的大学官员、残疾退伍军人、残疾支持专业人员以及大学和社区学院就业中心工作人员的结构化访谈中获得的数据构建的。为了解决具体的研究问题，正在从760名退伍军人及其残疾家属那里收集数据，他们有资格获得弗吉尼亚州的退伍军人法案。来自残疾学生受试者的定量调查答复正在与20名在STEM注册的残疾退伍军人学生的定性访谈进行三角测量。研究小组正在使用描述性和推断性统计分析相结合的方法，包括适当的参数和非参数测量。该项目的独立评估将由Suna Associates，LLC的Donna Jovanovich博士进行，将包括形成性评估和终结性评估。

This award is a Broadening Participation Research project designed to investigate to what extent GI Bill recipients with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM in public associate and baccalaureate granting institutions, the impact of veteran and disability status on STEM learning, and the organizational factors that lead to more equitable and inviting postsecondary STEM educational environments for GI Bill recipients with disabilities. Participants in this study include veterans and dependents with and without disabilities who use GI Bill benefits to attend public two and four year colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The investigation includes five specific research questions.1) To what extent are GI Bill recipients with disabilities participating in STEM programs when compared to GI Bill recipients without disabilities? 2) How does veteran's status affect the interest, performance, persistence, and perceptions of GI Bill recipients with disabilities enrolled in STEM fields? 3) Among GI Bill recipients with disabilities, is type of disability associated with STEM enrollment? 4) What specific supports do key informants of STEM faculty members, campus service professionals (i.e. career center staff, disability support service providers), and certifying officials believe to be the most effective in supporting veterans with disabilities as well as their dependents with disabilities? 5) How do GI Bill recipients with disabilities prioritize the organizational factors which affect recruitment, enrollment and persistence in STEM programs? There are 19,000 veterans and their dependents eligible for the GI Bill in Virginia, and the research is collecting on-line web survey data from 7,600 for their subject pool. The subjects are being recruited through all public two and four year institutions of higher education in Virginia. The surveys are constructed with input from data obtained during structured interviews with STEM faculty members, university officials who certify student eligibility for the GI Bill, veterans with disabilities, disability support professionals, and career center staff at universities and community colleges. To address the specific research questions, data is being collected from 760 veterans, and their dependents with disabilities, who are eligible for the GI Bill in Virginia. Quantitative survey responses from the disabled student subjects are being triangulated with qualitative interviews from 20 of the student veterans with disabilities enrolled in STEM. The research team is using a combination of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, including appropriate parametric and non-parametric measures.An independent evaluation of the project, which will be conducted by Dr. Donna Jovanovich of Suna Associates, LLC, will include both formative and summative assessments.