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

工程合作教育计划（co-op）是学术机构和雇主之间的合作伙伴关系，旨在通过全日制就业和课程学习的轮换让学生参与实际工程经验。 合作社就业为学生提供与学科相关的专业经验，并尽早进入工程劳动力市场，同时作为合作社公司的招聘工具。 虽然对合作教育计划的价值了解很多，但对为什么种族/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计划的学生的多样性知之甚少。 本研究项目的目标是确定影响学生获得合作教育计划的因素，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纵向学术学生记录，以及来自大型研究密集型机构的学生的调查和访谈。 研究结果将导致战略的发展，以进一步加强合作社招聘和工程专业学生的参与，从更广泛的背景，兴趣和经验，作为一种途径，以增加专业工程劳动力的整体多样性。本研究得到了工程教育和中心部工程教育研究计划的支持。

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.