The Impact of Social Capital and Mentoring in Earth System Science Workforce Development

密歇根州立大学的研究人员将调查地球系统科学（ESS）的指导和职业发展之间的关系，特别关注不同的人群。 研究人员认为，ESS中日益增加的多样性可以通过以下方式来解决：1）探索指导期间的关系发展如何影响职业满意度和归属感，2）分析不同群体对指导的反应，以及3）将研究结果综合成可以广泛传播的实用建议。这项研究的理由是，ESS在招聘、留住和提升技术工人方面落后于其他STEM学科，导致劳动力持续短缺。研究人员将通过分析社会资本在职业发展中的作用，重新考虑ESS劳动力短缺的问题，并在ESS的归属感。他们将专注于指导关系作为培训和教育的一个基本方面，学生需要成为专业人士，特别是关系的力量和信任建立在指导及其对职业发展和文化适应的影响代表性不足的群体。该项目将有助于关于社会资本对职业发展和成功的重要性的对话。 以社会资本作为研究的理论框架，研究者将采用混合解释设计的方法来考察两个问题：（1）社会资本变量如何影响企业绩效？力量和信任？影响职业满意度和归属感的学生正在经历职业发展和专业人员在ESS，以及如何不同的群体之间的影响不同？以及（2）ESS导师的收益和成本是什么，不同导师群体的影响是否不同？ 这项研究预计将产生有关的社会资本发展的性质在指导，如何不同的群体通过指导或被辅导不同的影响，以及如何研究可以提炼成实际的经验教训，以增加不同群体的保留在ESS的见解。 这些数据将提供具体的证据，说明导师在指导过程中可以采取哪些步骤，以促进不同的学生取得成功，以及导师和学生可以采取哪些步骤，以确保自己对指导经验感到满意。这些见解将被合成为ESS学生和教师导师的两个研讨会。 该项目由ECR计划支持，该计划强调基础STEM教育研究，产生该领域的基础知识。 投资是在关键领域是必不可少的，广泛的和持久的：干学习和干学习环境，扩大参与干，干劳动力发展。 ECR支持积累强有力的证据，为理解、建立理论解释和提出干预和创新建议的努力提供信息，以解决STEM兴趣、教育、学习和参与方面的持续挑战。

Researchers at Michigan State University will investigate the relationship between mentoring and career development in Earth System Science (ESS) with a particular focus on diverse populations. The researchers argue that increasing diversity in ESS can be addressed through 1) an exploration of how relationship development during mentoring impacts career satisfaction and sense of belonging, 2) an analysis of how different groups respond to mentoring, and 3) a synthesis of research findings into practical suggestions that can be disseminated broadly. The rationale for the study is that ESS lags other STEM disciplines in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of skilled workers, resulting in a persistent workforce shortage. The researchers will reconsider the ESS workforce shortage problem by analyzing the role of social capital in career development and sense of belonging in ESS. They will focus on mentoring relationships as a fundamental aspect of the training and education that students need to become professionals, particularly relationship strength and trust built during mentoring and their impact on career development and acculturation on underrepresented groups. The project will contribute to the dialog about the importance of social capital to career development and success. Using social capital as the theoretical framework for the study, the researchers will use a mixed methods explanatory design to investigate two questions: (1) How do social capital variables ? strength and trust ? impact career satisfaction and sense of belonging for students undergoing career development and professionals in ESS, and how do the impacts differ across diverse groups? and (2) What are the benefits and costs to ESS mentors, and do the impacts differ across diverse groups of mentors? The research is expected to yield insights concerning the nature of social capital development during mentoring, how diverse groups are impacted differently through mentoring or being mentored, and how research can be distilled into practical lessons to increase the retention of diverse groups in ESS. The data will provide concrete evidence for steps mentors can take during mentoring to facilitate the success of diverse protégés and steps mentors and students can take to ensure their own satisfaction with the mentoring experience. These insights will be synthesized into two workshops for ESS students and faculty mentors. The project is supported by the ECR program that emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. ECR supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning and participation.