BCSER Building Capacity for A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Explanation of Women’s Achievement and Attrition in Undergraduate Engineering Education

在这个能力建设项目中，研究者建议开发一个工程教育研究的调查模型，该模型可以容纳一系列互补的数据类型，数据源，时间点和概念镜头，同时获得解释性顺序混合方法STEM教育研究的技能。该研究项目的目的是建模模式的主要行为数据之间的本科女性进入和退出工程专业毕业前，阐明本科工程教育的文化生态系统及其与女性的成就动机的关系，并检查权力，特权和社会化的结构模式内的纪律。 同时，研究者建议实施一项专业发展计划，该计划将扩大研究者在混合方法，纵向设计和大型机构数据集分析，高级统计建模技术以及本科工程教育课程开发方面的专业知识方面的技能。该项目将大大增加对妇女的经验和工程决策的理解，并产生信息，以改善社会科学研究，工程教育研究和高等教育管理的实践。这项研究将由输入环境模型，生态和生态系统研究，以及基于身份的动机理论指导。研究者将利用这三种方法来调查两个研究问题：（1）2006年至2016年，在本科女生中，什么样的工程专业转换和课程选择行为模式与保留和毕业有关？(2a)如何看待本科工程教育生态系统的比较之间的妇女谁坚持的主要和那些谁不？，和（2b）在这种情况下，哪些经验对他们在该领域的成就动机最有意义？ 一个混合方法的研究设计将被用来检查妇女之间的多样性，以及特权和权力的结构学术生活的等级制度。研究不仅关注人，而且关注个人与周围环境的互动。该研究还将解决嵌入式教育环境随着时间的推移而发生的变化，并分析校友的回顾性帐户和当前学生的最新反思之间的动态。研究结果将为如何为本科女性提供工程教育的变革性经验提供宝贵的见解。该项目得到了EHR核心研究计划（ECR）的STEM教育研究竞争能力建设的支持。ECR资助的基础研究重点是STEM学习和学习环境，扩大STEM领域的参与，以及STEM专业劳动力的发展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已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的支持。

In this capacity building project, the investigator proposes to develop a model for inquiry in engineering education research that accommodates a range of complementary data types, data sources, points of time, and conceptual lenses while concurrently acquiring skills in explanatory sequential mixed-methods STEM education research. The research project aims to model patterns of major behavior data among undergraduate women entering and exiting an engineering program prior to graduation, elucidate the cultural ecosystem of undergraduate engineering education and its relationship to women’s achievement motivation, and examine the structural modes of power, privilege, and socialization within the discipline. Concurrently, the investigator proposes to implement a professional development plan that will expand the investigator’s skills in mixed-methods, longitudinal design, and analysis of large-scale institutional datasets, advanced statistical modeling techniques, and expertise in undergraduate engineering education curriculum development. The project will add significantly to the understanding of women’s experiences and decisions about engineering on a broad scale and generate information to improve practice in social science research, engineering education research, and higher education administration. The study will be guided by input-environment models, ecological and ecosystems studies, and theories of identity-based motivation. The investigator will leverage the three approaches to investigate two research questions: (1) What patterns of engineering major-switching and course-taking behavior are related to retention and graduation among undergraduate women from 2006 to 2016?, (2a) How do perceptions of the undergraduate engineering education ecosystem compare among women who persist in the major and those who do not?, and (2b) Which experiences in this context are most meaningful to their achievement motivation in the field? A mixed-methods research design will be used to examine diversity among women as well as hierarchies of privilege and power that structure academic life. The research focuses not only on the person but also on the interactions of individuals with their surroundings. The study also will address changes in embedded educational contexts over time and analyze the dynamic between retrospective accounts of alumni and recent reflections of current students. The findings will provide valuable insights about how to provide transformative experiences in engineering education for undergraduate women. The project is supported by the Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research Program (ECR). ECR funds fundamental research that focuses on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, 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.