Career Outcomes of Engineering Bachelor's Degree Recipients

智力优势：在同等学士学位的群体中，女性被留在工程领域的可能性低于男性（Frehill 2007）。本研究将分析现有的、具有全国代表性的数据，以回答有关工科学士后留用的性别差异的几个问题。女性是否因为工作/家庭问题而不太可能留在工程领域？对工程工作场所日益增加的不确定性的性别反应？性别歧视?还是说，在工程领域，女性比男性更容易从技术岗位晋升到管理岗位？研究人员将分析来自美国国家科学基金会的数据。1993年、1997年、1999年、2003年和2006年的美国科学与工程统计分析系统（SESTAT），这是三个组成调查的汇编，提供了有关美国STEM劳动力的最全面数据。第二个数据集包括国家教育统计中心对1992/93年和1999/2000年学位队列（基准年加上1992/93年学位队列涵盖1993-2003年期间的三个后续调查）的学士及以上小组研究，这将更深入地研究整个20世纪90年代和21世纪初的个人工程职业发展情况。最后，这些具有全国代表性的数据将由女性工程师协会赞助的两项美国工程师研究的信息来补充。后两项研究，一项完成于1993年，另一项完成于2005年，提供了明确关注工程师职业问题的数据。本研究的兴趣在于了解工程员工的留任情况，这是很少有系统研究的主题。更广泛的影响：拟议中的研究将调查女性和未被充分代表的少数族裔——尤其是这些群体中经常被忽视的交叉点（有色人种女性）——在获得学士学位后留在工程领域的程度。这项研究将使工程教育工作者、雇主和政策制定者能够制定策略，使毕业后留在工程领域。留住员工很重要，因为最好的工作大使往往是在职者（Hira 2007）：这样的榜样对于向年轻人传达他们可以在特定领域拥有长期、有意义的职业至关重要。研究结果的推广策略包括在会议上发表报告和在传统学术期刊上发表论文。此外，研究人员将通过相关工程学科杂志上的文章接触到更广泛的受众，数以百万计的工程师和其他实践者将从了解如何使工程工作场所成为一个更欢迎不同人群的地方中受益。

Intellectual Merit: Women are less likely than men in similar bachelor's degree cohorts to be retained in engineering (Frehill 2007a). This study will analyze existing, nationally-representative data to answer several questions about this gender difference in post-bachelor's retention in engineering. Are women less likely to stay in engineering because of work/family issues? Gendered reactions to the increasing uncertainty of engineering workplaces? Gender-based discrimination? Or do women have better success than men in moving from technical to managerial work in engineering? Researchers will analyze data from the NSF?s Science and Engineering Statistical Analysis System (SESTAT) for 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2006, a compilation of three constituent surveys that provide the most comprehensive data about the U.S. STEM workforce. A second dataset includes the National Center for Education Statistics' Bachelors and Beyond panel study for the 1992/93 and 1999/2000 degree cohorts (base year plus three follow-ups for the 1992/93 degree cohort covering the 1993-2003 period), which will provide a closer examination of how individual engineering careers progress throughout the 1990s and early part of the 21st century. Finally, these nationally-representative data will be supplemented by information from two studies of U.S. engineers sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers. These latter two studies, one completed in 1993 and the other in 2005, provide data focused explicitly on career issues for engineers. This study is interested in understanding retention within the engineering workforce, which has been the subject of little systematic research. Broader Impacts: The proposed research will examine the extent to which women and under-represented minorities--especially the often-overlooked intersection of these groups (women of color)--are retained in engineering after earning bachelor's degrees. The research will enable engineering educators, employers, and policy makers to develop strategies for enabling retention in engineering after graduation. Retention is important because the best ambassadors of jobs are often incumbents (Hira 2007): such role models are essential to conveying to young people that they can have long-term, meaningful careers within a particular discipline.The outreach strategy for the findings includes presentations at conferences and papers in traditional academic journals. In addition, the researchers will reach a wider audience through articles in relevant engineering disciplinary magazines, read by millions of engineers and other practitioners that will benefit from an understanding of how to make the engineering workplace a more welcoming place for diverse people.