A Planning Grant to Support Intergenerational Mentoring Among African American Women in the Engineering Academy

工程学影响着一个国家的健康和活力，与其他任何职业不同，工程学的未来和美国的全球竞争力与扩大社会最高阶层代表性不足的群体的参与密不可分。非裔美国妇女是工程学院中代表性最低的，并且面临着影响其留在学院的独特挑战。该项目的成果将促进我们对非裔美国妇女在各级工程学院中成功的抑制剂和促进剂的理解。该项目的资金将用于为非裔美国妇女和工程学院举办一系列活动，其中包括：与美国工程教育学会（ASEE）2019年年会一起举办的为期半天的研讨会;一项研究，以验证和阐明有关挑战的现有文献，根据非裔美国妇女和工程学院每天面临的障碍和成功的促进因素;以及随后为期两天的讲习班的建议。该讲习班将提供一个机会，让工程学院代表性最低的人群之一聚集在一个安全的空间：讨论他们遇到的共同挑战;反思和集思广益战略，以帮助他们取得成功;在非洲裔美国妇女教师中建立一个全国网络，鼓励和支持她们在学院中的进步，并进入国家工程领导职位;并在具有相似个人经历和兴趣的同事之间建立一个指导网络。一个全国性网络的形成将提供一个指导，榜样作用，和其他形式的心理社会支持，有助于保留代表性不足的工程学院？这是建设多样化的技术劳动力，保持我们的全球竞争力和国家繁荣所必需的东西。扩大在整个高等教育工程中代表性不足的群体的参与是国家的优先事项，非裔美国妇女教师在工程项目中的成功是在这一领域取得进展的关键。虽然现有的文献是充满了独特的挑战，以保留，这一人口面临的学术队伍，奖学金代际辅导提供了一个基础，这个拟议的研讨会，重点是保留和成功的问题，在非洲裔美国妇女工程教师在学术队伍。使用收敛并行混合方法的研究设计，本研究将使用定性和定量的证据，以充分了解个人因素，环境因素，机构的做法，程序和政策可能会对非洲裔美国妇女，工程教师的持久性产生不利影响。 由于这个项目，研讨会和随后的研究，我们将配备必要的信息，以开发一个非裔美国人的女教师在工程财团，并为创建一个教育研究议程的蓝图，重点是扩大参与，并确保成功地提高非裔美国人的女教师在工程。这项研究将作为一项更大的后续研究的基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Engineering affects the health and vitality of a nation unlike any other profession, and the future of engineering and the global competitiveness of the U.S. is inextricably connected to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups at all highest levels of society. African American women are among the least represented among engineering faculty, and a demographic that faces unique challenges that affect their retention in the academy. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of the inhibitors and promotors of success among African American women among the engineering faculty across all ranks. Funding from this project will be used to host a series of activities for African American women, engineering faculty, some of which include: a half-day workshop held in conjunction with the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE); a research study to validate and elucidate the current literature on the challenges, obstacles and facilitators of success in light of those that African American women, engineering faculty face on a daily basis; and a proposal for a subsequent two-day workshop. The workshop will provide an opportunity for one of the most underrepresented populations of engineering faculty to come together in a safe space to: discuss common challenges they experience; reflect and brainstorm strategies to aid in their success; launch a national network among African American women faculty to encourage and support their advancement in the academy and into national engineering leadership positions; and develop a mentoring network among colleagues with similar personal experiences and interests. The formation of a national network will provide a context of mentoring, role modeling, and other forms of psychosocial support that contribute to retention of underrepresented engineering faculty?something that is necessary for building the diverse technical workforce that maintains our global competitiveness and national prosperity.Broadening participation of underrepresented groups in engineering across higher education is a national priority, and the success of African American women faculty in engineering programs is essential in making progress in this area of interest. While existing literature is replete with the unique challenges to retention that this demographic faces across academic ranks, scholarship on intergenerational mentoring provides a basis for this proposed workshop that focuses on issues of retention and success among African American women engineering faculty across academic ranks. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, this study will use qualitative and quantitative evidence to fully understand individual factors, environmental factors, institutional practices, procedures, and policies may adversely affect the persistence of African American women, engineering faculty. As a result of this project, workshop and subsequent research we will be armed with the necessary information to develop a consortium for African American women faculty in engineering, and a blueprint for creating an education research agenda focused on broadening participation and ensuring successful advancement of African American women faculty in engineering. This study will serve as the basis for a larger follow-up study. The insights from this study will advance multiple bodies of work simultaneously.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.