A Longitudinal Study of Women in Physics and People of Color in STEM at Primarily White Institutions

该项目是一项试点研究的十年后续行动，该研究审查了21名物理学和天文学女研究生的教育经历和职业目标。 先前的研究结果揭示了一个复杂的挂毯的经验与辅导，性别歧视，并影响学生的最终结果的职业目标的发展。研究表明，许多人考虑从事非学术职业是因为他们对工作与生活平衡的看法和学术工作场所的氛围。目前的项目将扩大以前的研究，通过采访原始队列收集路径数据，将他们的职业生涯和轨迹与他们的既定目标和愿望进行比较。这项研究将增加第二个队列，为进一步的研究奠定基础，包括物理教育研究中通常忽略的多个交叉身份。目标是为可能用于招聘和留住STEM女教师的干预措施提供信息。研究者还将实施专业发展计划，通过导师建立STEM教育研究能力，导师将提供定性数据收集和分析，手稿写作和研究实践翻译的指导。该项目预计将扩大STEM教育研究人员的数量，提高对STEM劳动力发展中指导作用的认识，并减少妇女在STEM方面的差距。该研究将通过调查以下研究问题，寻求了解物理学和天文学领域妇女的纵向职业成果和性别经历：（1）过去十年来，女性在研究生院的职业期望与她们的实际职业之间有什么差异？(2)导师在他们的职业轨迹和结果中发挥了什么作用？（3）他们在完成研究生学位后有哪些性别体验？ 研究问题将测试的假设，即女性和有色人种在物理学的职业轨迹受到他们的身份和指导经验，这反过来又告知他们的职业目标和学术途径的影响。本研究以建构主义的扎根理论和立场理论为框架，采用交叉研究的方法，运用质化的方法分析来自犹他州大学的半结构化访谈的数据，回答研究问题。面试协议将是一个主题问题的清单，将在对话式面试中讨论。该方法不会将妇女与同龄人进行比较，但会产生关于她们对自己经历的个人观点的数据。该研究将产生方法方法和结果，可以转移到其他STEM学科的未来学术和非学术职业。所产生的知识也将有助于改善少数民族学生在物理学和天文学方面的学术氛围，并为STEM劳动力培养多样化的人才库。该项目得到了EHR核心研究计划的ECR：STEM教育研究能力建设竞赛的支持。 ECR资助STEM教育研究，重点关注STEM学习和学习环境，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM专业劳动力发展。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。

This project is a ten-year follow up to a pilot study that examined the educational experiences and career goals of 21 women graduate students in physics and astronomy. The previous study results revealed a complex tapestry of experiences with mentoring, gender discrimination, and the development of career goals that influenced the students’ ultimate outcomes. The study showed that many were considering non-academic careers because of their perceptions of work-life balance and the academic workplace climate. The current project will expand the previous study by interviewing the original cohort to collect pathway data that compares their careers and trajectories to their stated goals and aspirations. The study will add a second cohort to lay the groundwork for further research that includes multiple intersectional identities that typically are omitted from physics education research. The goal is to inform interventions that may be used to recruit and retain women STEM faculty. The investigator will also implement a professional development plan to build STEM education research capacity through mentors who will provide guidance on qualitative data collection and analysis, manuscript writing, and translation of research to practice. The project is expected to expand the pool of STEM education researchers, enhance the knowledge about the role of mentoring in STEM workforce development, and reduce STEM disparities among women.The study will seek to understand the longitudinal career outcomes and gendered experiences of women in physics and astronomy by investigating the following research questions: (1)What are the differences between the career expectations of women in graduate school and their actual careers over the last ten years? (2) What role did mentorship play in their career trajectory and outcomes? and (3) What gendered experiences have they had since completing their graduate degrees? The research questions will test the hypothesis that the career trajectories of women and people of color in physics are impacted by their identities and mentoring experiences which in turn inform their career goals and academic pathways. Framed by constructivist grounded theory and standpoint theory, the study will use an intersectional approach to employ qualitative methods to analyze data from semi-structured interviews at the University of Utah to answer the research questions. The interview protocol will be a list of themed questions that will be discussed during the conversational interviews. The methodology will not compare women to their peers, but it will yield data about their individual perspectives about their experiences. The study will produce methodological approaches and results that could be transferable to other STEM disciplines for prospective academic and non-academic careers. The knowledge produced will be useful also in improving the academic climate for minority students in physics and astronomy and fostering a diverse pool of talent for the STEM workforce.The project is supported by the ECR: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research Program. ECR funds STEM education research that focuses on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM professional workforce development.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.