Understanding Roles of Masters Education in Entry Into, and Upskilling and Reskilling for, the STEM Workforce

研究生院委员会研究了硕士教育在STEM教育劳动力发展中的作用。该项目将有助于为未来的硕士教育研究开发数据基础设施，同时根据不同的研究领域、性别、种族/民族和职业阶段，对STEM硕士学位的劳动力市场结果提供更细致的见解。调查人员将调查进入硕士教育的技能提升/再培训途径，以及不同的动机和其他因素如何解释学生的选择。该项目还将阐明硕士教育如何促进非STEM本科专业向STEM职业的过渡。除了为STEM技术培训投资提供证据基础外，该项目还将有助于制定更全面的方法来改善STEM硕士教育。研究设计以传统的人力资本投资视角为指导，个人追求硕士教育以获得技能，知识和专业知识，以提高他们的职业效率和成功。调查人员假设：(1)个人的动机是他们希望提高技能或重新学习技能，从而使自己在劳动力市场上更有市场；(2)个人提高技能或再技能的意图以及攻读特定硕士学位的决定将转化为他们随后的工作安置和职业轨迹。一项针对美国十所高校硕士学位获得者的毕业调查将用于回答三个研究问题：(1)STEM和非STEM学生在STEM和非STEM领域攻读硕士学位的相关因素是什么？(2)获得硕士学位如何解释STEM劳动力中的坚持或工作变化。(3)通过硕士教育提高技能和再技能的途径如何因子领域和硕士学位接受者的社会经济属性而不同？该调查将包括来自美国国家科学基金会（NSF）博士学位调查、研究生院专业科学硕士计划退出调查以及NSF理解STEM博士职业道路项目的校友和学生调查的问题。调查人员将执行逻辑回归模型来分析数据。研究结果将阐明硕士教育在培养多元化STEM劳动力方面的作用。该项目得到了EHR核心研究项目的支持，该项目资助了专注于STEM学习和学习环境、扩大STEM参与和STEM专业劳动力发展的基础研究。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。

The Council of Graduate Schools examines the role of master’s education in STEM education workforce development. The project will contribute to the development of a data infrastructure for future research on master’s education while providing more nuanced insights into labor market outcomes of master’s degrees in STEM by various fields of study, gender, race/ethnicity, and career stages. Investigators will investigate the upskilling/reskilling pathways into master’s education and how different motivations and other factors may explain student choices. The project also will shed light on how master’s education may facilitate transitions to STEM careers for non-STEM undergraduate majors. In addition to providing an evidence base for investments in STEM technical training, the project will contribute to developing a more comprehensive approach to improving STEM master’s education. The research design is guided by the traditional human capital investment perspective where individuals pursue master’s education to gain skills, knowledge, and expertise to increase their career effectiveness and success. Investigators hypothesize that (1) individuals are motivated by their desires to upskill or reskill, thus making themselves more marketable in the labor market; (2) individuals’ intentions to upskill or reskill and decisions to pursue particular master’s degrees will translate into their subsequent job placements and career trajectories. An exit survey of master’s degree recipients from ten U.S. colleges and universities will be used to answer three research questions: (1) What factors are associated with STEM and non-STEM students’ pursuit of master’s degrees in STEM and non-STEM fields? (2) How does attainment of a master’s degree explain persistence or job changes within the STEM workforce. (3) How does the upskilling and reskilling pathways through master’s education differ by subfields and socioeconomic attributes of master’s degree recipients? The survey will include questions from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates, Council of Graduate Schools Professional Science Master’s Initiative exit survey, and alumni and student surveys from the NSF Understanding PhD Career Pathways in STEM project. Investigators will perform logistic regression models to analyze the data. The research results will illuminate the role of master’s education in developing a diverse STEM workforce. This project is supported by the EHR Core Research program that funds fundamental research focused 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.