IGE: Accelerate to Industry (A2i)

研究生教育的优势在于培养具有先进技术知识和研究能力的毕业生。然而，这些毕业生在如何将这些技能转化为公司高度重视的方法（如市场评估、项目管理、产品开发和财务）方面的知识有限。鉴于越来越多的研究生在工业领域就业，北卡罗来纳州立大学研究生院最近试行了一种基于模块的培训方法（加速到工业），提供专业发展机会，专门解决从学术界到工业界的过渡。培养目标包括培养研究生的职业意识和探索能力、创业技能、完成实际工作经验的能力，以及最终在行业中取得职业成功。这项授予北卡罗来纳州立大学的国家科学基金会研究生教育创新（IGE）奖将允许在不同的机构对加速产业化方法进行更广泛的测试。为了扩展到其他大学，该项目创建了可扩展的模块化活动，旨在允许大学实现最适合其需求和资源的组件。此外，该项目将每年为10个新的机构合作伙伴建立为期两天的培训师培训活动，重点是为研究生提供身临其境的行业密集型学习体验。通过在不同的机构中实施加速到工业，该项目将测试整体方法、模块化平台和专业发展内容的稳健性和有效性。虽然混合方法评估工具将解决这些更广泛的问题，但最密集的跨机构评估工作将集中在培训师研讨会的模块交付上，该研讨会为学生提供为期一周的行业密集型沉浸式学习体验。如果成功，这种方法可以为机构提供一条道路，以促进研究生从学术界成功过渡到工业界，研究结果将增加我们对最佳实践的理解，以支持全国毕业生群体的多样化职业道路。这个研究生教育研究项目将在30所大学中测试和验证加速到产业（A2i）的方法，这些大学代表了研究1、研究2和硕士密集型机构。机构类型的范围将产生评估更广泛的实施和定制所需的数据。该研究旨在促进三个领域的学术知识：(1)通过大学-产业联盟在各种学术机构中培训STEM研究生（包括来自代表性不足群体的研究生）所获得的就业成功；(2)通过增加与行业相关的体验式学习，包括基于成人学习理论框架的跨学科项目体验，对就业能力的影响；(3)通过中央行政单位（如研究生院）促进行业劳动力培训的影响，而不是更分散的方法（即部门或学术学院水平）。因此，该项目将测试四个中心假设：(1)与没有受过培训的人相比，与A2i提供的技能发展和跨学科互动相关的行业中，A2i参与者将增加就业和职业成功；(2)由于其灵活性和模块化结构，A2i可以在一系列不同的学术环境中有效地发展；(3)学生参与者重视A2i提供的编程，对自己在行业中取得成功的能力更有信心；(4)技能、兴趣和价值观的自我意识提高了A2i参与者的学习和就业成果。研究生教育创新（IGE）项目专注于研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试点、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Graduate education excels in producing graduates with advanced technical knowledge and research skills. However, these graduates have limited knowledge as to how to translate those skills into approaches highly valued by companies, such as market evaluation, project management, product development, and finance. Given that an ever-increasing number of graduate students are pursuing employment in industry, the NC State Graduate School recently piloted a module-based training approach (Accelerate to Industry) with professional development opportunities that specifically address the transition from academia to industry. Training goals include developing graduate students' career awareness and exploration, entrepreneurial skills, ability to complete real-world work experiences, and, ultimately, career success in industry. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to North Carolina State University will allow broader testing of the Accelerate to Industry approach at diverse institutions. To expand to other universities, the project created scalable, modular activities intended to allow universities to implement the components that best fit their needs and resources. In addition, this project will establish a two-day train-the-trainer event for 10 new institutional partners annually that will focus specifically on providing graduate students with an immersive, industry-intensive learning experience. By implementing Accelerate to Industry within diverse institutions, the project will test the robustness and efficacy of the overall approach, the modular platform, and the professional development content. While mixed method assessment tools will address these broader questions, the most intensive cross-institutional assessment efforts will focus on delivery of the module from the train-the-trainers workshop that provides students with a week-long, industry-intensive immersive learning experience. If successful, this approach could provide a path forward for institutions to facilitate the successful transition of graduate students from academia to industry, and the study results will add to our understanding of best practices to support diverse career pathways for the nation's graduate population.This graduate education research project will test and validate the Accelerate to Industry (A2i) approach at 30 universities representing Research 1, Research 2, and Masters-Intensive institutions. The range of institutional types will generate the data necessary to evaluate broader implementation and customization. The research is intended to advance academic knowledge in three areas: (1) the employment success derived from training STEM graduate students, including those from underrepresented groups, across a variety of academic institutions through university-industry consortia; (2) the impact on employability through increased industry-relevant experiential learning, including interdisciplinary project-based experiences framed by Adult Learning Theory; and (3) the impact of facilitating industry workforce training through central administrative units (e.g., graduate schools), in contrast to more decentralized approaches (i.e., department or academic college level). Accordingly, this project will test four central hypotheses: (1) A2i participants will have increased employment and career success in industry tied to the skill development and interdisciplinary interactions offered by A2i as compared to those with no training; (2) given its flexibility and modular structure, A2i can be effectively developed in a range of different academic settings; (3) student participants value the programming afforded by A2i and feel more confident about their ability to succeed in industry; and (4) self-awareness of skills, interests, and values enhances A2i participants' learning and employment outcomes.The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.