Access to Cooperative Education Programs and the Academic and Employment Returns by Race, Gender, and Discipline

工程领域的合作教育项目(co-op)是学术机构和雇主之间的合作伙伴关系，旨在通过全职就业和课程学习的轮换，让学生参与实际的工程体验。合作社就业为学生提供与学科相关的专业经验和及早进入工程劳动力大军，同时也是合作社公司的招聘工具。虽然人们对合作教育项目的价值了解很多，但对于为什么不同种族/民族的学生参与率会有不同，以及招生和预审做法如何影响参加合作项目的学生的多样性，人们知之甚少。这项研究项目的目标是确定影响学生获得合作教育项目的因素，并确定与参与相关的教育和就业回报。数据包括来自多个机构的全面的纵向学术学生记录，以及对一家大型研究密集型机构的学生的调查和访谈。研究结果将导致制定战略，进一步加强对具有更广泛背景、兴趣和经验的工程专业学生的合作招聘和参与，以此作为增加专业工程劳动力整体多样性的途径。本研究得到了工程教育与中心分部工程教育研究项目的支持。

A cooperative education program (co-op) in engineering is a partnership between an academic institution and an employer designed to engage students in practical engineering experience through rotations of full-time employment and course study. Co-op employment provides students with discipline-relevant professional experience and early entry into the engineering labor force while serving as a recruitment tool for co-op companies. While much is known about the value of cooperative education programs, relatively little is known about why there are different rates of participation by race/ethnicity and how recruitment and pre-screening practices influence the diversity of students who participate in co-op programs. The objectives of this research project are to identify factors that influence student access to cooperative education programs and to determine the educational and employment returns associated with participation. Data include comprehensive longitudinal academic student records from multiple institutions, as well as surveys and interviews of students from a large research-intensive institution. Research findings will lead to the development of strategies to further enhance co-op recruitment and engagement of engineering students from a broader range of backgrounds, interests, and experiences as a pathway to increase the overall diversity of the professional engineering labor force. This research is supported by the Research in Engineering Education Program of the Engineering Education and Centers Division.