Collaborative Research: Military Service as a Gendered Pathway into STEM

合作研究：服兵役作为进入 STEM 的性别途径

• 批准号: 2310556
• 负责人: Regina Werum
• 金额: $ 27.33万
• 依托单位: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-10-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2310556&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Military; Service; Gendered

The project investigates how gender and military service shape decisions to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees and occupations. Research shows that military service is a pathway into STEM fields. The project examines how the timing of educational and occupational experiences shape STEM-related outcomes. It also focuses on how the influence of military service on STEM trajectories varies by gender ad across demographic groups. Thus, the project addresses the national need to increase the number of STEM professionals, diversify the STEM workforce, and optimize the recruitment of military personnel. Findings from this project assist decision-makers in how to finetune military recruitment and assignment strategies to optimize strategic growth and inclusion goals in the Armed Forces. Findings are also important to federal agencies committed to broadening participation in STEM, and to employers interested in recruiting and retaining a diverse STEM workforce. Identifying how military service influences subsequent STEM trajectories presents a timely and unique opportunity to strengthen both private- and public-sector institutions. The project pursues a two-pronged approach. First, large-sample analyses involve integrating multiple restricted-use data sources available via the U.S. Census Bureau’s Federal Statistical Research Data Centers/FSRDC to construct a longitudinal database spanning more than two decades: Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Department of Veterans’ Affairs U.S. Veterans File, National Survey of College Graduates; plus publicly-available data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. These analyses involve sophisticated statistical models on large samples based on millions of respondents in the FSRDC databases. Methodological contributions involve creating new population estimates sought by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies, plus conducting essential robustness checks that test several distinct STEM definitions used by federal agencies. Second, to examine the mechanisms that shape such trajectories of civilian and veteran students, the project relies on original survey data for a representative sample of current students at a major US university. This original survey compensates for limitations in the FSRDC data by homing in on the impact of specific skills and experiences, including those of student veterans. The survey data are made publicly available via a data repository, to enhance social science data infrastructure, dissemination, and transparency. This project is jointly funded by the Sociology Program, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the Science of Broadening Participation Program.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.

该项目调查性别和兵役如何影响追求科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 学位和职业的决策。研究表明，服兵役是进入 STEM 领域的途径。该项目研究了教育和职业经历的时间安排如何影响 STEM 相关的结果。它还重点关注兵役对 STEM 轨迹的影响如何因人口群体中的性别广告而异。因此，该项目满足了国家增加 STEM 专业人员数量、实现 STEM 劳动力多元化以及优化军事人员招募的需求。该项目的研究结果可帮助决策者如何调整军事招募和分配策略，以优化武装部队的战略增长和包容性目标。研究结果对于致力于扩大 STEM 参与的联邦机构以及有兴趣招聘和留住多元化 STEM 劳动力的雇主也很重要。确定兵役如何影响随后的 STEM 轨迹为加强私营和公共部门机构提供了及时而独特的机会。 该项目采取双管齐下的方法。首先，大样本分析涉及整合美国人口普查局联邦统计研究数据中心/FSRDC提供的多个限制使用数据源，构建一个跨越二十多年的纵向数据库：十年一次的人口普查、美国社区调查、退伍军人事务部美国退伍军人档案、全国大学毕业生调查；加上综合高等教育数据系统的公开数据。这些分析涉及基于 FSRDC 数据库中数百万受访者的大样本的复杂统计模型。方法论贡献包括创建美国人口普查局和其他联邦机构寻求的新人口估计，以及进行必要的稳健性检查，测试联邦机构使用的几种不同的 STEM 定义。其次，为了研究塑造平民和退伍军人学生轨迹的机制，该项目依赖于美国一所主要大学在校学生的代表性样本的原始调查数据。这项原始调查通过关注特定技能和经验（包括学生退伍军人的技能和经验）的影响，弥补了 FSRDC 数据的局限性。调查数据通过数据存储库公开提供，以增强社会科学数据基础设施、传播和透明度。该项目由社会学计划、刺激竞争研究既定计划 (EPSCoR) 和扩大参与科学计划共同资助。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。