CAREER: Responsive Support Structures for Marginalized Students: A Critical Interrogation of Navigational Strategies

培养教育环境，使每个学生在追求本科工程学位的过程中获得可用和必要的资源，是国家的当务之急。为了支持这一目标，学院和大学提供多种形式的学生支持，旨在提高本科工程专业学生的保留率和毕业率（例如，同伴指导方案）。由于目前工程学缺乏多样性，支持往往集中在边缘化群体，如黑人和拉丁裔学生。然而，学生的成果和以前的研究表明，需要更积极的学生支持，适合个别学生的需要。因此，这个职业生涯项目的目的是推进工程教育界了解边缘化学生1）如何浏览本科工程课程，2）如何做出寻求帮助的决定。该研究将直接向学生支持服务提供信息。通过了解黑人和拉丁裔学生的经历和决策，学院和大学可以支持更能适应学生群体潜在多样性的教育环境。这项工作的影响将是更有意识地使用大学的投资和资源，重点是扩大参与工程。这个CAREER奖是一个多案例研究，旨在：（1）比较四所大学的本科工程专业学生对挑战性情况的反应的支持系统和导航策略（例如，成绩不好，需要推荐信），（2）批判性地询问学生自己定义的不同导航策略的有效性和适当性。主要数据来源包括机构文件（例如，程序说明）从学术单位和采访边缘化的学生。数据分析是由人与环境匹配理论。该项目将介绍人与环境契合理论的学者和从业者谁专注于边缘化的学生在工程，并显着推进大学的支持结构和过程中的优势和不足的基本知识。该研究的结果将为本科工程专业学生的情景判断清单的开发提供信息，该清单将公开分享，并为教育工作者和管理人员举办研讨会和讲习班。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为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来支持。

Fostering educational environments that empower every student to access available and necessary resources in their pursuit of undergraduate engineering degrees is a national imperative. To support this goal, colleges and universities provide numerous forms of student support intended to increase the retention and graduation rates of its undergraduate engineering students (e.g., peer mentoring programs). Because of the current lack of diversity in engineering, support often focuses on marginalized groups, such as Black and Latinx students. However, student outcomes and previous research reveals the need for more responsive student support tailored to individual students’ needs. Accordingly, the aim of this CAREER project is to advance the extent to which the engineering education community understands how marginalized students 1) navigate undergraduate engineering programs, and 2) make decisions with respect to seeking help. The study will provide information directly to student support services. By understanding the experiences and decision-making of Black and Latinx students, colleges and universities can support educational environments that are more responsive to the potential diversity of the student populations. The impact of this work will be the more intentional use of university investments and resources focused on broadening participation in engineering.This CAREER award is a multi-case study which seeks to: (1) compare the support systems and navigational strategies across four universities of undergraduate engineering students’ responses to challenging situations (e.g., receiving poor grades, needing a recommendation letter), and (2) critically interrogate the effectiveness and appropriateness of different navigational strategies as defined by the students themselves. Primary data sources include institutional documents (e.g., program descriptions) from academic units and interviews with marginalized students. Data analysis is informed by person-environment fit theory. This project will introduce person-environment fit theory to scholars and practitioners who focus on marginalized students in engineering, and significantly advance fundamental knowledge of the strengths and deficiencies within university support structures and processes. The results of the study will inform the development of Situational Judgement Inventories for undergraduate engineering students, which will be openly shared, and seminars and workshops for educators and administrators.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.