Career Commitment and Retention in STEM: The Intersection of Professional Identity and Career Management Skills in Minority and Women STEM Students

田纳西州立大学（Tennessee State University）的研究人员将研究职业、社会和文化身份在未被充分代表的少数族裔的职业选择和承诺中的作用。他们将通过研究诸如解决问题、决策、目标设定和管理目标追求等因素来扩展社会认知职业理论（SCCT），这些因素在当前模型中没有明确表达。和自我效能感在发展过程中一样重要吗？在学生的兴趣爱好、职业选择和职业入门准备方面，尚不清楚这些技能水平较低会如何限制一个人。对所选职业的承诺、执行能力和自我效能感。该研究将为学生和职业发展从业者提供有关STEM领域成功职业生涯的战术措施的宝贵见解。通过理解职业技能水平的复杂性和职业发展的相互作用所获得的知识可以改变干预措施的设计，以在整个STEM管道中招募和留住代表性不足的人员。研究人员将采用混合方法纵向设计研究三个问题：(1)STEM职业发展措施、基本职业技能、社会阶层和发展复杂性之间的关系是什么？(2)在STEM持久化者和非持久化者中，这些变量是如何随时间变化的？(3)这些变量如何解释非裔美国人和女性STEM专业学生的坚持？样本将包括400名STEM专业学生的分层、比例代表性样本。除了感兴趣的主要变量（与职业相关的问题解决、决策、目标设定和管理目标追求）外，STEM职业发展、职业认同、社会阶层和发展复杂性也将被研究。收集有关平均成绩、专业变化、实习、就业/研究生面试以及职业目标进展的数据，将为检验之前的变量与更传统的成功和坚持的衡量标准之间的联系提供机会。他们将使用结构方程建模和层次线性建模来分析变量之间和变量之间的关系，并使用增长曲线建模和剖面分析来提供有关感兴趣变量纵向变化的额外数据。该研究将使人们更清楚地了解问题解决、目标设定和规划技能在STEM职业认同和STEM职业坚持发展中的作用；专业、种族/民族和社会阶级身份对STEM专业的承诺和保留的作用；认知复杂性在促进STEM职业发展、承诺和保留中的作用。本项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR核心研究（ECR）项目支持。ECR项目强调基础STEM教育研究，在三个主题领域产生基础知识：STEM学习和学习环境，扩大参与和STEM劳动力发展。

Researchers at Tennessee State University will study the role of professional, social, and cultural identities on career choice and commitment among underrepresented minorities. They will expand the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by examining factors such as problem solving, decision making, goal setting, and managing goal pursuit that are not articulated in the current model. As critical as self-efficacy is in the process of developing one?s interests, making career choices, and preparing for career entry, it is not clear how lower levels of these skills may limit one?s commitment to, ability to enact, and self-efficacy about engaging in the chosen career. The research will provide valuable insights for students and career development practitioners on tactical measures for successful careers in STEM fields. The knowledge gained by understanding the interplay of the sophistication of career skill level and career development could alter the design of interventions to recruit and retain underrepresented persons throughout the STEM pipeline. The researchers will use a mixed methods longitudinal design to investigate three questions: (1) What is the relationship among STEM career development measures, basic career skills, and social class and developmental complexity? (2) How do these variables change over time in both STEM persisters and non-persisters? and (3) How do these variables explain persistence among African American and women STEM majors? The sample will include a stratified, proportionally representative sample of 400 STEM majors. In addition to the primary variables of interest (career-related problem solving, decision-making, goal setting, and managing goal pursuit), STEM career development, professional identity, social class, and developmental complexity will be studied. Collecting data on grade-point average, changes in majors, internships, employment/graduate student interviewing, and progress toward career goals will provide the opportunity for examining the link between the previous variables and more traditional measures of success and persistence. They will use structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the relationship between and among the variables and growth curve modeling and profile analysis to provide additional data regarding the longitudinal change in the variables of interest. The research will result in a clearer understanding of the role of problem-solving, goal- setting, and planning skills in the development of a STEM vocational identity and persistence in STEM careers; the role of professional, racial/ethnic, and social class identities on commitment and retention in STEM majors; and the role of cognitive complexity in facilitating STEM career development, commitment, and retention. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in three thematic areas: STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation, and STEM workforce development.