Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Career Education Program to Increase Engineering Identity for Students from Low-Income High Schools

STEM职业预计将在未来十年增长，预计建筑，工程和建筑（AEC）职业的大部分就业增长预计。按照目前工程专业大学入学率，工程工作的增加沿着老龄化工程劳动力的退休，预计将导致短缺，除非能招募更多的年轻人来填补空缺。女性，黑人，拉丁裔和土著学生在STEM中的代表性不足为多样化和不断增长的工程提供了机会。此外，这些途径为学习者提供经济和社会资本。出于这些原因，年轻学生，特别是中学学生，必须意识到并对工程职业感兴趣。这项研究有两个主要目标：（1）通过研究创新的中学外展计划的影响来进行与工程身份发展相关的研究，以支持低收入学生在工程和建筑方面的身份发展和职业道路，种族多样化的学校（2）通过指导PI在工程身份发展领域的发展，增加工程教育研究人员的社区。这项工作将把基于身份的动机框架带到K-12教育推广工作中。因此，它将提供新的、基于证据的方法来支持学生进入STEM的途径。该研究使用多方法来回答研究问题：如何结合基于问题的学习，接触行业榜样和职业规划，专注于构建行业应用程序，增加低收入家庭学生和边缘化学生追求STEM职业的基于身份的动机？提出这个问题将告知未来的工作，制定针对类似目标的干预措施，并将验证和扩展基于身份的动机框架到大学预科教育。通过利用宾夕法尼亚州立大学（宾州州立大学）人才搜索计划，干预的试点年将提供给40多个7年级和8年级的学生在试点计划，然后扩大到500多名学生在第二年的项目。本项目的重点是通过向学生介绍不同的AEC角色模型并让学生参与工程师所做的各种工作来扩大中学生对工程师的概念。预计这笔赠款将产生若干短期和长期的广泛影响。通过扩大对各种工程职业和构成AEC行业的人的理解，中学生可以开始看到工程身份与他们的其他身份一致。身份一致性是激励和一致的更高的学术成就。这一努力在低收入、种族和民族多样化的人才搜寻方案中尤为重要。因为中学是一个独立发展的时期，所以让学生对自己未来作为一名工程师的看法的活动可能是富有成效的。拟议的活动可能会激发长期的战略变化，使工程职业生涯可能为几个学生谁否则可能有自我选择了这种可能性。这一努力的结果可以在短期内影响500多名学生，并通过人才搜索手册，将分发给该计划和更大的工程教育社区辅导员的发展，在长期数千名学生。此外，这一努力发展了PI在工程教育研究方面的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是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。

STEM occupations are expected to grow in the next decade with much of the projected job growth predicted in architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) occupations. With current rates of college matriculation in engineering, the increase in engineering jobs along with the retirement of the aging engineering workforce is expected to result in a shortfall unless more young people can be recruited to fill the void. The underrepresentation of women, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students in STEM provides an opportunity for diversifying and growing engineering. Additionally, these pathways provide economic and social capital for learners. For these reasons, it is imperative that young students, particularly in middle school, become aware of and interested in careers in engineering. This research has two primary goals (1) to conduct research related to engineering identity development by studying the impact of an innovative middle school outreach program to support identity development and career pathways in engineering and architecture for students in low-income, racially diverse schools and (2) to increase the community of engineering education researchers through the mentored development of the PI in the area of engineering identity development. This work will bring the Identity-Based Motivation framework to K-12 education outreach efforts. As such, it will provide new, evidence-based ways to support students’ pathways into STEM. The study uses a multimethod approach to answer the research question: How do the combination of problem-based learning, exposure to industry role models, and career planning, focused on building industry applications, increase identity-based motivation of students from low-income households and marginalized students in pursuing STEM careers? Answering this question will inform future work developing interventions that target similar goals and will validate and expand the Identity-Based Motivation framework into pre-college education. By leveraging The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Talent Search Program, the pilot year of the intervention will be delivered to over 40 7th and 8th grade students in a pilot program and then be expanded to over 500 students in the second year of the project. This project focuses on broadening middle school students’ conceptions of what it means to be an engineer by introducing students to diverse AEC role models and engaging students in the kinds of work done by engineers. There are several short- and long-term broader impacts expected to result from this grant. By expanding the understanding of the varied engineering careers and people that make up the AEC industry, middle school students can begin to see engineering identities congruent with their other identities. Identity congruence is motivating and consistent with higher academic achievement. This effort is particularly important in the low-income, racially and ethnically diverse Talent Search Program. Because middle school is a time of blossoming independence, activities to engage the student’s perception of their future self as an engineer can be fruitful. The proposed activities may inspire longer-term strategic change that makes an engineering career possible for several students who may otherwise have self-selected out of this possibility. The results of this effort can affect over 500 students in the short term and thousands in the long term through the development of the Talent Search Handbook that will be distributed to counselors in the program and the larger engineering education community. Additionally, this effort develops the capacity of the PI in engineering education research.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.