Collaborative Research: Military Veteran Students' Pathways in Engineering Education

退伍军人在扩大和多样化工程劳动力方面有着巨大的希望。考虑到退伍军人的不同背景，他们的人数不断增加，以及国家对工程师日益增长的需求，现在是研究退伍军人在工程教育中追求并取得成功的条件的理想时机。退伍军人为他们的工程教育带来了宝贵的资产，但需要更多的研究来了解他们对校园生活的学术和社会适应。因此，这个项目的目的是(1)确定退伍军人为什么要攻读工程学学士学位，(2)说明退伍军人在工程教育方面的经验，以及(3)增进关于学术机构如何进一步支持工程学退伍军人的知识。这项对四所学术机构工程专业学生退伍军人的比较案例研究将包括对学生退伍军人和关键利益相关者的采访，以及对与学生退伍军人问题和关切相关的材料和网站的内容分析。来自工程学、社会学和教育学的跨学科研究团队带来了关于退伍军人、性别、种族/民族、社会资本和对高等教育的坚持的专业知识，这为提高工程教育知识提供了坚实的基础。支持更多退伍军人过渡到成功的工程职业生涯是对国家的一项重要服务。扩大退伍军人对工程学的参与提供了在多个维度上增强工程学多样性的潜力，因为与平民学生相比，退伍军人更有可能是年龄较大的、第一代大学毕业生、残疾人、非裔美国人或拉丁裔。研究结果将为各种应用提供背景和信息，例如：制定支持退伍军人成功的新战略，确定被忽视的领域以促进退伍军人参与工程学，以及为开发调查退伍军人工程学的更大规模的研究生成关键信息。一个全面的传播计划确保研究结果，特别是支持工程学退伍军人的最佳做法，接触到对退伍军人学生和工程教育感兴趣的不同受众。咨询委员会包括各种利益相关者，他们有兴趣、有专业知识并致力于就研究的政策影响采取行动。

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.