CAREER: Integrated Research and Education for Professional Identity Development in Undergraduate Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Women

教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划是国家科学基金会范围内的活动，提供奖励，以支持初级教师谁通过杰出的研究，优秀的教育，以及教育和研究的整合在其组织的使命的背景下，发挥教师学者的作用。该项目授予职业学者在北卡罗来纳州AT州立大学的目标是了解专业身份发展（PID）过程中新兴的女性专业人士在建筑，工程和建筑（AEC）领域向教育和体制转型，加强妇女的坚持成为AEC专业人士。该项目通过开发全年混合专业发展证书计划（PDCP）和建立新兴建筑环境妇女（EBEW）中心来整合研究和教育。该奖项由历史上的黑人学院和大学-本科生计划支持。 HBCU-UP鼓励STEM教育研究，在扩大参与方面产生基础知识。为了实现这个项目的目标，将构建强大的基础理论，以提供细致入微的见解，为什么以及如何多重身份，生活经验和本科AEC女性的主要关注与他们的PID过程相互作用。 一个多年，多地点，多方法的建构主义方法扎根理论研究将利用与关键事件和象征性的互动强调密集采访获得的主要数据。比较和迭代合成的编码和新兴的数据从一个队列的本科AEC妇女从五个机构在四年的时间内将提供一个纵向的理解，为什么以及如何改变他们的观点和行动与他们的生活经历在不同的教育阶段。方法学上的三角测量方法包括对正式文件的文本分析和开放式问题调查。研究中出现的理论将为PDCP和EBWE中心的实际实施提供信息，随后的研究结果将为研究结果提供更深入的见解。强大的学科特定PID过程理论的建设将弥合身份和多样性理论的差距，并为更具性别包容性的AEC教育和制度环境提供信息，这将提高下一代女性AEC专业人员的早期意识，吸引力，准备和持久性。理论基础将指导未来的身份和多样性研究，这些研究可以扩展到其他持续的男性主导的STEM学科。改善性别包容性的环境将扩大合格的AEC妇女人才库，使AEC劳动力更加多样化。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。

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. This project awarded to a CAREER scholar at North Carolina A&T State University has the goal to understand the professional identity development (PID) processes of emerging women professionals in the fields or architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) towards informing educational and institutional transformations that strengthen women's persistence in becoming AEC professionals. This project integrates research and education by developing a year-round blended Professional Development Certificate Program (PDCP) and establishing the Emerging Built Environment Women (EBEW) center. This award is supported by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program. HBCU-UP encourages STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in broadening participation. To achieve the goal of this project, robust foundational grounded theories will be constructed to provide nuanced insights into why and how the multiple identities, lived experiences and major concerns of undergraduate AEC women interact with their PID process. A multi-year, multi-site, and multi-method constructivist approach to grounded theory research will be utilized with primary data obtained from intensive interviews with critical incident and symbolic interactionist emphasis. The comparative and iterative synthesis of coded and emergent data obtained from a cohort of undergraduate AEC women from five institutions over a four-year period will provide a longitudinal understanding of why and how their views and actions change with their lived experiences across educational stages. Methodological triangulation methods of data include textual analysis of formal documents and open-ended question surveys. Emergent theories from the research will inform practical implementation of the PDCP and the EBWE center and subsequent findings will provide greater insights into research findings. The construction of robust discipline-specific PID process theories will bridge gaps in identity and diversity theories and inform transformations for more gender inclusive AEC educational and institutional environments, which will enhance the early awareness, attraction, preparation, and persistence of the next generation of women AEC professionals. Theoretical foundations will guide future identity and diversity research that can be extended to other persistent male-dominant STEM disciplines. Improved gender inclusive environments will expand the pool of qualified AEC women for a more diverse AEC workforce.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.