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指导和地球系统科学(ESS)职业发展之间的关系，特别关注不同的人群。研究人员认为，可以通过1)探讨辅导过程中的关系发展如何影响职业满意度和归属感，2)分析不同群体对辅导的反应，以及3)将研究结果综合为可广泛传播的实用建议，来解决ESS中日益多样化的问题。这项研究的理由是，ESS在招聘、留住和提升熟练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ESS职业发展和归属感中的作用来重新思考ESS劳动力短缺问题。他们将把指导关系作为学生成为专业人员所需的培训和教育的一个基本方面，特别是在指导过程中建立的关系实力和信任，以及它们对职业发展和对代表性不足群体的文化适应的影响。该项目将有助于就社会资本对职业发展和成功的重要性进行对话。以社会资本作为研究的理论框架，研究者将使用混合方法的解释性设计来考察两个问题：(1)社会资本变量是如何产生的？力量和信任？对正在进行职业发展的学生和ESS专业人员的职业满意度和归属感的影响，以及不同群体之间的影响有何不同？以及(2)ESS导师的收益和成本是什么，不同的导师群体的影响是否有所不同？预计这项研究将对指导过程中社会资本发展的性质、通过指导或被指导对不同群体产生的不同影响以及如何将研究提炼成实际经验教训以增加不同群体在ESS中的留存率产生深刻的见解。这些数据将提供具体的证据，说明导师在辅导期间可以采取的步骤，以促进不同门徒S的成功，以及导师和学生可以采取的步骤，以确保他们对辅导体验的满意度。这些见解将被综合成两个工作坊，供ESS学生和教师导师使用。该项目得到了ECR计划的支持，该计划强调STEM教育的基础研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。在基本、广泛和持久的关键领域进行投资：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。ECR支持积累强有力的证据，为理解、建立解释理论和提出干预和创新建议提供信息，以应对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.