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，预计大部分就业增长将出现在建筑、工程和建筑(AEC)职业。以目前工程学的大学预科录取率来看，工程工作岗位的增加，加上老龄化的工程劳动力的退休，预计将导致短缺，除非能够招募更多的年轻人来填补空缺。STEM中女性、黑人、拉丁裔和土著学生的比例偏低，这为工程学的多样化和发展提供了机会。此外，这些途径还为学习者提供经济和社会资本。出于这些原因，必须让年轻的学生，特别是中学生，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认同发展相关的研究，该计划旨在支持低收入、种族多元化学校的学生在工程和建筑领域的认同发展和职业道路，以及(2)通过在工程认同发展领域指导PI的发展来增加工程教育研究人员的社区。这项工作将把基于身份的激励框架带到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。这项研究使用多方法来回答这个研究问题：基于问题的学习、接触行业榜样和职业规划的结合，专注于构建行业应用程序，如何增加来自低收入家庭的学生和被边缘化的学生追求STEM职业的基于身份的动机？回答这个问题将为未来开发以类似目标为目标的干预措施提供信息，并将验证基于身份的动机框架并将其扩展到大学前教育中。通过利用宾夕法尼亚州立大学(宾夕法尼亚州立大学)人才搜索计划，干预的试点年将在试点计划中提供给40多名7年级和8年级的学生，然后在项目的第二年扩大到500多名学生。该项目通过向学生介绍不同的AEC榜样，并让学生参与到工程师所做的工作中来，拓宽中学生对工程师意味着什么的概念。这笔赠款预计将产生几个短期和长期的更广泛的影响。通过扩大对组成AEC行业的不同工程职业和人员的理解，中学生可以开始看到工程身份与他们的其他身份一致。认同一致性具有激励作用，并与较高的学业成就保持一致。这一努力在低收入、种族和族裔多元化的人才搜索计划中尤为重要。因为中学是一个独立发展的时期，让学生了解自己作为一名工程师对未来自我的看法可能是卓有成效的。拟议的活动可能会激发更长期的战略变化，使几名可能自行选择离开这种可能性的学生的工程学职业成为可能。通过编写人才搜索手册，这项工作的结果将在短期内影响500多名学生，长期影响数千名学生，这本手册将分发给项目中的辅导员和更大的工程教育社区。此外，这项工作还发展了国际工程学院在工程教育研究方面的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.