Collaborative Research: Military Veteran Students' Pathways in Engineering Education

退伍军人对扩大和多样化工程劳动力有着巨大的希望。鉴于退伍军人的不同背景，他们的数量不断增加，以及国家对工程师的需求不断增长，现在是研究退伍军人在工程教育中追求和成功的条件的理想时机。学生老兵为他们的工程教育带来了宝贵的财富，但需要更多的研究来了解他们对校园生活的学术和社会文化适应。因此，本项目旨在(1)确定退伍军人攻读工程学士学位的原因，(2)说明退伍军人在工程教育方面的经验，以及(3)提高学术机构如何进一步支持退伍军人从事工程的知识。这项对四所学术机构工程专业退伍学生的比较案例研究将包括对退伍学生和主要利益相关者的访谈，以及对与退伍学生问题和关注点相关的材料和网站的内容分析。来自工程、社会学和教育的跨学科研究团队带来了退伍军人、性别、种族/民族、社会资本和高等教育持久性方面的专业知识，为推进工程教育的知识提供了坚实的基础。支持更多的退伍军人过渡到成功的工程事业是对国家的重要服务。扩大退伍军人在工程领域的参与，有可能在多个维度上增强工程领域的多样性，因为与普通学生相比，退伍军人更有可能是年龄较大、第一代大学生、残疾人、非裔美国人或拉丁裔美国人。研究结果将为各种应用提供背景和信息，例如：制定新策略以支持学生退伍军人的成功，识别被忽视的领域以促进学生退伍军人参与工程，以及为开发更大规模的研究提供关键信息以调查工程退伍军人。一个全面的传播计划确保研究结果，特别是支持工程退伍军人的最佳做法，达到对退伍军人学生和工程教育感兴趣的不同受众。顾问委员会包括各种利益相关者，他们对研究的政策影响感兴趣，有专业知识，并承诺采取行动。

Military veterans hold tremendous promise for expanding and diversifying the engineering workforce. Given the diverse backgrounds of veterans, their increasing numbers, and the growing national demand for engineers, the timing is ideal to study the conditions under which veterans pursue and succeed in engineering education. Student veterans bring valuable assets to their engineering education, but more research is needed to understand their academic and social acculturation into campus life. Therefore, this project aims to (1) identify why veterans pursue bachelor's degrees in engineering, (2) illustrate veteran experiences in engineering education, and (3) advance knowledge on how academic institutions can further support veterans in engineering. This comparative case study of student veterans in engineering across four academic institutions will include interviews of student veterans and key stakeholders, as well as a content analysis of materials and websites related to student veteran issues and concerns. The interdisciplinary research team from engineering, sociology, and education brings expertise on veterans, gender, race/ethnicity, social capital, and persistence in higher education that provides a strong foundation for advancing knowledge in engineering education.Supporting more veterans to transition to successful careers in engineering is a vital service to the nation. Broadening the participation of veterans in engineering offers the potential to enhance diversity in engineering across multiple dimensions since, compared to civilian students, veterans are more likely to be older, first-generation college, disabled, African-American, or Latino. The study results will provide context and information for various applications, such as: development of new strategies to support student veterans' success, identification of overlooked areas to promote student veterans' participation in engineering, and generation of critical information for development of larger-scale studies for investigating student veterans in engineering. A comprehensive dissemination plan ensures that the study results, particularly the best practices for supporting veterans in engineering, reach diverse audiences interested in student veterans and engineering education. The advisory board includes a variety of stakeholders who have the interest, expertise, and commitment to act on the policy implications of the study.