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一种合作关系，旨在通过全职工作和课程学习的轮岗，让学生获得实际的工程经验。带薪实习为学生提供了与学科相关的专业经验，并为他们提供了早期进入工程劳动力市场的机会，同时也是带薪实习公司的招聘工具。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/民族的参与率不同，以及招聘和预筛选做法如何影响参加合作教育项目的学生的多样性，人们知之甚少。本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综合纵向学术学生记录，以及来自大型研究密集型机构的学生调查和访谈。研究结果将有助于制定策略，进一步加强合作实习的招聘，吸引背景、兴趣和经验更广泛的工程专业学生，从而增加专业工程劳动力的整体多样性。本研究由工程教育与中心部的工程教育研究计划提供支持。

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.