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一项活动，旨在为那些通过杰出的研究、出色的教育以及在其组织使命范围内整合教育和研究而体现教师学者作用的初级教师提供奖励。该项目授予北卡罗来纳农工州立大学的职业学者，目的是了解建筑、工程和建筑(AEC)领域新兴女性专业人员的职业认同发展(PID)过程，以促进教育和制度变革，增强女性成为AEC专业人员的毅力。该项目通过制定全年混合专业发展证书计划(PDCP)和建立新兴建筑环境妇女中心(EBEW)，将研究和教育结合在一起。该奖项由历史上的黑人学院和大学-本科项目支持。HBCU-UP鼓励STEM教育研究，在扩大参与的过程中产生基础知识。为了实现这个项目的目标，将构建强大的基础性理论，以提供对AEC本科生女性的多重身份、生活经历和主要关注的为什么以及如何与她们的PID过程相互作用的微妙见解。将利用多年、多地点和多方法的建构主义方法进行扎根理论研究，使用从关键事件和符号互动主义强调的密集访谈中获得的原始数据。对来自五个机构的一群本科生AEC妇女在四年时间里获得的编码和紧急数据进行比较和迭代合成，将提供关于她们的观点和行动为什么以及如何随着她们在不同教育阶段的生活经历而改变的纵向理解。数据的方法论三角方法包括对正式文件的文本分析和开放式问题调查。这项研究的新兴理论将为PDCP和EBWE中心的实际实施提供指导，随后的发现将为研究结果提供更深入的见解。构建健全的特定学科的PID过程理论将弥合身份和多样性理论方面的差距，并为更具性别包容性的AEC教育和机构环境提供信息，这将增强下一代AEC女性专业人员的早期意识、吸引力、准备和坚持性。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久的男性主导的STEM学科。改善的性别包容环境将扩大合格的AEC女性的人才库，使AEC工作队伍更加多样化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.