Collaborative Research: Military Service as a Gendered Pathway into STEM

该项目调查了性别和兵役如何塑造追求科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学位和职业的决定。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塑造STEM相关成果。它还关注兵役对STEM轨迹的影响如何因性别和人口群体而异。因此，该项目满足了国家增加STEM专业人员数量、使STEM劳动力多样化以及优化军事人员招募的需求。该项目的调查结果有助于决策者如何调整军事招募和分配战略，以优化武装部队的战略增长和包容性目标。调查结果对于致力于扩大STEM参与的联邦机构以及有兴趣招募和保留多元化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一个及时而独特的机会。 该项目采取双管齐下的办法。首先，大样本分析涉及通过美国人口普查局的联邦统计研究数据中心/FSRDC整合多个限制使用的数据源，以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;再加上综合中学后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。方法上的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个不同的STEM定义。其次，为了研究塑造平民和退伍军人学生这种轨迹的机制，该项目依赖于美国一所主要大学在校学生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的影响来弥补FSRDC数据的局限性，包括学生退伍军人。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、激励竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）和扩大参与计划的科学共同资助。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 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.