Research Initiation Grant: Investigating the role of interaction, attitudes, and intentions for enrollment and persistence in engineering among Underrepresented Minority Students

这项工程教育研究启动基金汇集了一个由工程和教育研究人员组成的跨学科小组，进行混合方法研究，研究与工程学教师和专业人员的正式和非正式互动如何影响代表不足的学生的态度和意图。这项研究将利用社会资本理论框架来探索学生在获得工程学学位的过程中的决策点。该项目的更广泛的意义和重要性源于对传统上在工程学学位课程中代表性不足的学生的关注，以及该项目能够告知如何构建指导和建议以提高工程学学位课程的留存率或其他结果。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 initiation grant brings together an interdisciplinary group of engineering and education researchers to conduct mixed-method study of how formal and informal interactions with engineering faculty and professionals influence the attitudes and intentions of under-represented students. The study will utilize a social capital theoretical framework to explore decision points in students' progression through an engineering degree.The broader significance and importance of this project arises from the focus on students traditionally under-represented in engineering as well as the ability of the project to inform how mentoring and advising can be structured to improve retention or other outcomes in engineering degree programs. 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.