Collaborative Research: Developing Engineer of 2020 Traits: How do Non-curricular Activities Impact African American Students?

这个工程教育研究项目将专注于正规工程项目之外的三个组织，这些组织为非裔美国工程学学生提供指导支持，以确定参与此类组织对学术和职业生涯的影响。该项目以一个成功的试点为基础，将研究这些组织如何提供积极的支持来帮助非裔美国工程学学生，这种支持的最有效方面，以及这种支持如何帮助培养职业认同感，从而导致长期的成功。该项目的更广泛的意义和重要性源于更好地理解了有效支持一群代表性不足的工程学学生的机制。这样的理解可能会导致教育实践，从而改善工程学位课程如何吸引、留住和支持代表不足的学生群体，从而改善STEM人才和STEM劳动力的国家管道。该项目与NSF的战略目标重叠，即通过培养一支具有新能力和专业知识的工程队伍来改造边境。此外，NSF为社会创新的目标是通过创造对社会有用的结果和研究来实现的，这些成果和研究通过为教育政策和实践提供信息来实现。

This engineering education research project will focus on three organizations outside of the formal engineering program that provide mentoring support for African American engineering students to determine how participation in such organizations impacts academic and career pathways. The project, building from a successful pilot, will examine how such organizations provide positive support to assist African American engineering students, the most effective aspects of this support, and how this support aids in developing professional identities that lead to long term success.The broader significance and importance of this project arise from better understanding the mechanisms which effectively support one group of under-represented engineering students. Such understanding can potentially lead to educational practices which can improve how engineering degree programs attract, retain, and support groups of under-represented students, thus improving the national pipeline for STEM talent and the STEM workforce. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by creating results and research that are useful for society by informing educational policy and practices.