Collaborative Research: Military Service as a Gendered Pathway into STEM

该项目调查了性别和服兵役如何影响人们攻读科学、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领域的一条途径。该项目考察了教育和职业经历的时机如何影响与STEM相关的成果。它还侧重于服兵役对STEM轨迹的影响如何因性别和人口群体的不同而不同。因此，该项目满足了增加STEM专业人员数量、使STEM劳动力多样化和优化军事人员招聘的国家需要。该项目的调查结果有助于决策者如何微调军队招募和分配战略，以优化武装部队的战略增长和纳入目标。调查结果对致力于扩大STEM参与的联邦机构以及对招聘和留住多样化STEM劳动力感兴趣的雇主也很重要。查明兵役如何影响STEM随后的发展轨迹，为加强私营和公共部门机构提供了一个及时和独特的机会。该项目采取双管齐下的方式。首先，大样本分析涉及整合通过美国人口普查局联邦统计研究数据中心/FSRDC获得的多个限制使用的数据源，以构建一个跨越20多年的纵向数据库：十年人口普查、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；以及来自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。方法方面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，以测试联邦机构使用的几个不同的STEM定义。其次，为了检验塑造普通学生和老牌学生这种轨迹的机制，该项目依赖于对美国一所主要大学具有代表性的在校学生的原始调查数据。这项最初的调查通过关注特定技能和经验的影响，包括退伍军人的影响，弥补了FSRDC数据中的局限性。调查数据通过数据储存库向公众开放，以加强社会科学数据基础设施、传播和透明度。该项目由社会学项目、激励竞争性研究的既定项目(EPSCoR)和扩大参与的科学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.