Research Initiation: Analyzing inequities in undergraduate workforce opportunities between biomedical and other engineering disciplines

与其他工程专业相比，生物医学工程专业的学生转移到不同工程专业的比率较高，实习和职业就业机会的比率较低，平均起薪较低。这些不平等的本科生劳动力机会对生物医学工程师的专业形成产生了不利影响。本研究旨在通过调查中西部一所大型大学的生物医学工程师和其他三个工程专业之间的劳动力机会，对大学到行业管道中的挑战进行表征。本科生物医学工程课程通常有很高比例的女学生，因此需要识别不平等，提高保留率，并保持适当的途径进入劳动力市场。这项研究提供了背景下，扩大参与生物医学工程可以进一步，以及建立基础上，进一步的工作可以告知干预措施，旨在减轻负面影响.通过社会认知生涯理论的理论透镜的多元回归分析，对现有的数据进行比较不同的因素，本科生劳动力的机会和学生档案。 运用社会认知生涯理论，考察了影响学生对工科专业选择和毕业后计划兴趣的自我效能感、结果期望、情境支持和障碍。一个有效的，可转移的调查工具，建立适应现有的社会认知职业生涯理论的措施和适应的职业选择模型的问题域的本科工程劳动力的机会。自我效能，结果期望，支持和障碍是社会认知职业生涯理论的结构，将包括在开发的评估工具的自变量。现有的工具将适应和验证这些结构中的每一个，以提供深入了解学生的兴趣（因变量）在工程专业和毕业后plannes.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Biomedical Engineering majors have been shown to exhibit higher rates of transfer to different engineering majors, lower rates of internship and career employment offers, and lower average starting salary compared to other engineering majors. These inequities in undergraduate workforce opportunities are having adverse effects on the professional formation of Biomedical Engineers. This study seeks to initiate a characterization of the challenges in the university-to-industry pipeline through investigating workforce opportunity between biomedical engineers and three other engineering majors at a large Midwestern University. Undergraduate biomedical engineering programs commonly have a high percentage of female students, therefore identifying inequities, improving retention, and maintaining appropriate pathways into the workforce is required. This research provides context upon which broadening participation in biomedical engineering can be furthered, as well as establishes foundations upon which further work can inform interventions designed to mitigate negative impacts.Through a theoretical lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory a multivariate regression analysis is implemented on existing data to compare different factors of undergraduate workforce opportunity and student profiles. Through Social Cognitive Career Theory, student self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and contextual supports and barriers that influence students' interests in their chosen engineering majors and post-graduation plans are investigated. A validated, transferable survey tool is established by adapting existing Social Cognitive Career Theory measures and adapting the model of career choice to the problem domain of undergraduate engineering workforce opportunity. Self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and supports and barriers are the Social Cognitive Career Theory constructs that will comprise the independent variables within the developed assessment tool. Existing instruments will be adapted and validated for each of these constructs to provide insight into students' interests (dependent variable) in engineering major and post-graduation plans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.