Research: Characterizing Postdoctoral Education, Mentorship, Gender, and Race in the Formation of Academic Engineers and Computer Scientists

研究：塑造学术工程师和计算机科学家的博士后教育、指导、性别和种族特征

• 批准号: 2011110
• 负责人: Catherine Berdanier
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2011110&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Characterizing; Postdoctoral; Education; Mentorship

Postdoctoral education can play a critical role in future research success of computer science (CS) or engineering faculty members, but these experiences are under-studied in engineering and CS education literature. The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering indicates that there are nearly 8600 postdoctoral scholars funded per year across engineering and CS; however, the lack of diversity in postdoctoral appointments is alarming. For example, women of color comprise well below 0.5% of postdoctoral scholars in their fields. Postdoctoral appointments are facilitated through faculty mentorship to help scholars develop deeper methodological and content competency, research management skills, and writing, publishing, and researching skills in preparation for a future academic career. Given that completing at least one postdoctoral research position is common for engineering and CS students preparing for competitive academic careers, these numbers can help explain continued underrepresentation of women and people of color in the professoriate. To this end, the purpose of this grant is to characterize the development of knowledge, skills, attributes, and competencies in engineering and computer science scholars, collecting perspectives of both stakeholders in the postdoc-mentor dyad with an explicit focus on same- and cross- gender and race dyads.This project addresses the lack of scholarly work about postdoctoral development through the lens of intersectionality and mentorship across three aims. Aim 1 seeks to characterize the knowledge, skills, competencies, and attributes that postdoctoral scholars should develop through their appointments. Aim 2 will investigate narratives of postdoctoral socialization and competency development from the points of view of postdoctoral advisors and postdoctoral scholars from same- and cross- gender and race dyads. Aim 3 will use natural language processing methods to compare findings with available resources for postdoctoral mentorship and supervision. This study is framed through two theoretical lenses. Leader-member exchange theory focuses on the transactional nature of dyads in supervisory working relationships. Intersectionality theory recognizes the inherent power and positioning associated with race while also acknowledging the amplified complexity that exists for those that are situated at the intersection of race and gender. Existing theories of academic socialization can be expanded for postdoctoral education using these two lenses. Phase 1 of research is survey- and interview-based to collect information from faculty and postdoctoral scholars in two different data collection formats to meet the first two aims of the project. The quantitative results will provide context and a participant pool for the semi-structured interview portion of the research, which will highlight potential reasons for the continued underrepresentation and marginalization of diverse groups in CS and engineering postdoctoral positions. The quantitative and qualitative research will inform the second phase of research in which with freely available postdoctoral mentoring tools, plans, and guidelines available on the internet will be evaluated using natural language processing and other machine learning tools. The data from Phase 2 will indicate how postdoctoral mentoring plans and resources can be improved and enacted to support professional and personal development of both postdocs and mentors. Expected results include that mentorship plans in general do not address diversity, equity, and inclusion, or suggestions to help faculty build diversity in their postdoctoral scholars. and that postdoctoral mentorship resources for engineering and CS departments may not emphasize the opportunities and potential difficulties that come with cross-gender and/or cross-race mentorship relationships. Deliverables for this project include workshops and resources to improve postdoctoral mentoring experiences for both postdocs and their mentors.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.

博士后教育可以在计算机科学（CS）或工程教师未来的研究成功中发挥关键作用，但这些经验在工程和CS教育文献中研究不足。国家科学与工程统计中心（NCSES）对科学与工程研究生和博士后的调查表明，每年有近8600名博士后学者在工程和CS领域获得资助;然而，博士后任命缺乏多样性令人担忧。例如，有色人种女性在其领域的博士后学者中所占比例远低于0.5%。博士后任命通过教师指导促进，以帮助学者发展更深层次的方法和内容能力，研究管理技能，写作，出版和研究技能，为未来的学术生涯做准备。鉴于完成至少一个博士后研究职位对于准备竞争激烈的学术生涯的工程和CS学生来说很常见，这些数字可以帮助解释女性和有色人种在教授职位中的持续代表性不足。为此，该补助金的目的是描述工程和计算机科学学者的知识，技能，属性和能力的发展，收集博士后导师二人组中两个利益相关者的观点，明确关注相同和交叉的问题，该项目通过跨三个学科的交叉性和导师制的透镜，解决了缺乏关于博士后发展的学术工作的问题。目标。目标1旨在描述博士后学者应该通过他们的任命发展的知识，技能，能力和属性。目标2将从博士后顾问和博士后学者的角度调查博士后社会化和能力发展的叙述，从同性别和跨性别和种族的二人组。目标3将使用自然语言处理方法将研究结果与博士后导师和监督的可用资源进行比较。这项研究是通过两个理论透镜框架。领导-成员交换理论关注的是管理工作关系中二元关系的交易性质。交叉性理论承认与种族相关的固有权力和地位，同时也承认那些处于种族和性别交叉点的人存在的放大的复杂性。现有的学术社会化理论可以从这两个视角扩展到博士后教育。研究的第一阶段是基于调查和访谈，以两种不同的数据收集格式从教师和博士后学者那里收集信息，以满足项目的前两个目标。定量结果将为研究的半结构化面试部分提供背景和参与者库，这将突出CS和工程博士后职位中不同群体持续代表性不足和边缘化的潜在原因。定量和定性研究将为研究的第二阶段提供信息，在第二阶段中，将使用自然语言处理和其他机器学习工具对互联网上免费提供的博士后指导工具、计划和指南进行评估。 第二阶段的数据将表明如何改进和制定博士后导师计划和资源，以支持博士后和导师的专业和个人发展。 预期的结果包括，导师计划一般不解决多样性，公平性和包容性，或建议，以帮助教师在他们的博士后学者建立多样性。工程和CS部门的博士后导师资源可能不会强调跨性别和/或跨种族导师关系带来的机会和潜在困难。 该项目的获奖者包括研讨会和资源，以改善博士后及其导师的博士后指导经验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Postdoctoral Supervisors’ Expectations of the Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes Required for and Developed During Postdoctoral Training

博士后导师对博士后培训所需和发展的知识、技能和素质的期望

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: International journal of engineering education
• 影响因子: 1
• 作者: Banson, M.;Berdanier, C. G.;Ross, M
• 通讯作者: Ross, M

Highlighting the Barren Landscape of Postdoctoral Resources: A Content Analysis of University Resources.

凸显博士后资源荒芜：大学资源的内容分析。

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
• 作者: Zerbe, E.;Zhu, J.;Ross, M.;Berdanier, C.G.P.
• 通讯作者: Berdanier, C.G.P.

Using Observational Learning Theory to Interpret How Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Learn to Mentor Postdoctoral Scholars

使用观察学习理论来解释工程和计算机科学教师如何学习指导博士后学者

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE annual conference exposition
• 作者: Bahnson, M.;Berdanier, C. G.;Ross, M.
• 通讯作者: Ross, M.

The Stated and Hidden Expectations: Applying Natural Language Processing Techniques to Understand Postdoctoral Job Postings

明示和隐藏的期望：应用自然语言处理技术来理解博士后职位发布

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: 2021 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exhibition
• 作者: Zhu, J.;Zerbe, E.;Ross, M. S.;Berdanier, C.G.P
• 通讯作者: Berdanier, C.G.P