CAREER: Centering the Engineering Identity of Black Men to Enhance Representation and Degree Completion

职业：以黑人的工程身份为中心，以提高代表性和学位完成度

• 批准号: 2237867
• 负责人: Jerrod Henderson
• 金额: $ 56.34万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2028-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2237867&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Centering; Engineering; Identity; Black

This project seeks to strengthen the future U.S. engineering workforce by enabling and encouraging the participation of all citizens in the engineering enterprise, particularly Black men. According to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering & Engineering Technology by the Numbers 2020 Report, Black men represented 2.8% of those who earned engineering bachelor's degrees. The lack of representation of Black men in engineering exemplifies the broader absence of voices from underserved populations whose knowledge, lived experiences, and perspectives hold the potential to address society's most complex issues. Through this project, the persistence and participation of Black men in engineering will be impacted. The goal of the education and research plan will be to uncover the engineering identity trajectories of Black men at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) over time. This will include developing a national virtual and face-to-face mentoring network that introduces Black male engineering majors to mentors in industry, government, and academia to form a cohort-styled community for emotional support, which will enhance their persistence and build their sense of belonging. Nearly 200 Black men enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Houston will be impacted over the duration of the project.Based on the dearth of literature that has sought to elucidate the nuanced experiences of Black men in engineering, especially at HBCUs and HSIs, this work will employ a longitudinal, multi-method study design which will include Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis and photovoice to determine their engineering identities and to elucidate how those identities can be supported. Research questions include 1) How do Black male engineering undergraduate students come to identify themselves as engineers over time? 2) In what ways do Black male engineering undergraduate students in HSIs and HBCUs describe their engineering identities? 3) In what ways does a Black Male Engineering Mentoring Network support resiliency, engagement in communities of practice, building social capital, and engineering identity?; and 4) How can project-inspired engineering identity conversations facilitate practices that support positive and inclusive engineering identities? By centering the voices of Black men, through the integrated research and education plan, this work will inform the engineering education community about avenues for enhancing representation and degree completion for Black men. Dissemination of the project results through publications in open-access formats, posting on the project's Instagram page, and annual novel photovoice photo exhibit/symposium will impact thousands of stakeholders and offer tangible ways that institutions can support and retain Black men in engineering. In addition, the findings from this project will inform conversations around diversity and student support in engineering for a broader audience, including faculty, staff, students, industry partners, and the public.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.

该项目旨在通过支持和鼓励所有公民参与工程企业，特别是黑人男性，来加强未来的美国工程劳动力。根据美国工程教育协会(ASEE)的《2020年工程与工程技术数字报告》，黑人男性占获得工程学学士学位的人数的2.8%。在工程学领域，黑人男性的代表性不足，这体现了服务不足的人群普遍缺乏声音，他们的知识、生活经验和观点有可能解决社会最复杂的问题。通过这个项目，黑人在工程方面的坚持性和参与度将受到影响。教育和研究计划的目标将是揭示黑人男性在西班牙裔服务机构(HSI)和历史上一直是黑人的学院和大学(HBCU)的工程身份轨迹。这将包括开发一个全国性的虚拟面对面辅导网络，将工科专业的黑人男性介绍给行业、政府和学术界的导师，形成一个队列式的情感支持社区，这将增强他们的毅力，建立他们的归属感。近200名被休斯顿大学工程学院录取的黑人男性将在该项目的持续时间内受到影响。基于缺乏试图阐明黑人男性在工程领域，特别是在HBCU和HSI的微妙经历的文献，这项工作将采用纵向、多方法研究设计，其中将包括解释现象学分析和光语音，以确定他们的工程身份，并阐明如何支持这些身份。研究问题包括1)随着时间的推移，黑人男性工程学本科生如何将自己定位为工程师？2)HSI和HBCU的黑人男性工程学本科生如何描述他们的工程身份？3)黑人男性工程指导网络以什么方式支持弹性、参与实践社区、建立社会资本和工程身份？以及4)受项目启发的工程身份对话如何促进支持积极和包容的工程身份的实践？通过综合研究和教育计划，这项工作将以黑人男性的声音为中心，向工程教育界介绍提高黑人男性代表性和学位完成率的途径。通过开放获取格式的出版物、在项目的Instagram页面上张贴以及年度新颖的PhotoVoice图片展/专题讨论会来传播项目成果，将影响数以千计的利益攸关方，并为各机构支持和留住工程学领域的黑人男子提供切实的方式。此外，该项目的发现将为更广泛的受众提供关于工程领域多样性和学生支持的对话，包括教职员工、学生、行业合作伙伴和公众。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。