Understanding and Diversifying Transfer Student Pathways to Engineering Degrees

这项混合方法研究正在发展对转学学生途径的更清晰的理解，以此作为增加工程学学位产量和扩大对工程职业的参与的一种手段，特别是对西班牙裔学生。这些研究地点是美国拉美裔工程师前十名中的四所：德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校、德克萨斯农工大学、德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校和德克萨斯大学泛美分校。调查人员对转到四年制院校的7个队列的5200名学生进行了调查。这四个机构的工作人员正在将调查结果与GPA和工程学位成就进行匹配，以便统计模型可以将教育经验与结果联系起来。该团队还采访了40名工程专业转学学生(50%是西班牙裔)的样本，了解他们的转学经历。在美国，拉美裔仍然是一个尚未开发的潜在STEM人才池。自2005年以来，拉美裔美国人在K-12教育系统注册的学生中已超过20%，但他们只获得了2007年授予的工程学学位的10%。得克萨斯州在过去几年中经历了独特的经济(GDP)和人口快速增长，加上少数族裔人口居高不下，使其成为研究转学学生途径并最终扩大工程学参与的重要环境。通过与德克萨斯州最大的4家拉美裔工程师生产商及其4所支线社区学院(奥斯汀社区学院、布林学院、埃尔帕索社区学院和南得克萨斯学院)合作，该项目有可能大幅增加通过转学机制获得工程学学位的拉美裔和非拉美裔学生的数量。项目咨询委员会成员拥有强大的专业网络，可以将调查结果传播给决策者和教育从业者，他们可以将调查结果付诸实施。

This mixed methods research is developing a clearer understanding of transfer student pathways as a means to increase engineering degree production and broaden participation in engineering careers, especially for Hispanic students. The study sites are 4 of the top 10 producers of U.S. Hispanic engineers: The University of Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Texas-Pan American. The investigators are surveying 5,200 students in 7 cohorts who transferred to 4-year institutions. Staff at the 4 institutions are matching survey responses to GPAs and engineering degree attainment so that statistical models can link educational experiences to outcomes. The team is also interviewing a sample of 40 engineering transfer students (50% Hispanic) about their transfer experiences. Hispanics continue to be an untapped pool of prospective STEM talent in United States. Since 2005, Hispanics have exceeded more than 20 percent of students enrolled in the K-12 education system, yet they earned only 10 percent of the engineering degrees awarded in 2007. The state of Texas has uniquely seen rapid economic (GDP) and population growth in the past few years, coupled with a high minority population, making it an important setting for studying transfer student pathways and ultimately broadening participation in engineering. By partnering with the top 4 producers of Hispanic engineers in Texas and 4 of their feeder community colleges (Austin Community College, Blinn College, El Paso Community College, and South Texas College), this project has the potential to dramatically increase the numbers of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic students earning engineering degrees through transfer mechanisms. Project advisory board members have strong professional networks for disseminating the findings to policymakers and educational practitioners who can put the findings into action.