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

田纳西州州立大学的研究人员将研究职业，社会和文化身份对职业选择的作用和代表性不足的少数民族的承诺。他们将通过研究当前模型中没有阐明的问题解决，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）。就像自我效能感在发展过程中一样重要？虽然人们的兴趣、职业选择和职业入门准备都不太清楚，但这些技能的低水平会如何限制一个人？的承诺，制定能力，以及对从事所选职业的自我效能。 这项研究将为学生和职业发展从业者提供宝贵的见解，为STEM领域的成功职业生涯提供战术措施。通过了解职业技能水平的复杂性和职业发展的相互作用而获得的知识可以改变干预措施的设计，以在整个STEM管道中招聘和留住代表性不足的人。研究人员将采用混合方法纵向设计来研究三个问题：（1）STEM职业发展测量，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)这些变量在STEM坚持者和非坚持者中如何随时间变化？以及（3）这些变量如何解释非裔美国人和女性STEM专业的持续性？样本将包括400个STEM专业的分层，按比例代表性样本。除了兴趣的主要变量（职业相关的问题解决，决策，目标设定和管理目标追求），STEM职业发展，专业身份，社会阶层和发展的复杂性将被研究。收集关于平均成绩、专业变化、实习、就业/研究生面试以及职业目标进展的数据，将为研究上述变量与更传统的成功和持久性指标之间的联系提供机会。他们将使用结构方程模型和分层线性模型来分析变量之间的关系，并使用增长曲线模型和轮廓分析来提供有关感兴趣变量纵向变化的额外数据。该研究将导致解决问题，目标设定和规划技能在STEM职业身份发展和STEM职业持续性中的作用有更清晰的认识;专业，种族/民族和社会阶层身份对STEM专业承诺和保留的作用;以及认知复杂性在促进STEM职业发展，承诺和保留中的作用。该项目由NSF的EHR核心研究（ECR）计划支持。ECR计划强调基础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.