Career Commitment and Retention in STEM: The Intersection of Professional Identity and Career Management Skills in Minority and Women STEM Students

田纳西州立大学的研究人员将研究职业、社会和文化身份在少数族裔中的职业选择和承诺方面的作用。他们将通过检查诸如解决问题、决策、目标设定和管理目标追求等当前模型中没有阐明的因素来扩展社会认知职业理论(SCCT)。尽管自我效能感在培养S的兴趣、做出职业选择和为职业生涯做准备的过程中至关重要，但尚不清楚这些技能水平较低会如何限制一个人从事所选职业的承诺、行动能力和自我效能感。这项研究将为学生和职业发展从业者在STEM领域成功职业生涯的战术措施提供有价值的见解。通过了解职业技能水平和职业发展的复杂程度之间的相互作用而获得的知识，可以改变在整个STEM渠道招聘和留住任职人数不足的人员的干预措施的设计。研究人员将使用混合的纵向设计来研究三个问题：(1)STEM职业发展措施、基本职业技能、社会阶层和发展复杂性之间的关系？(2)在STEM持续者和非持续者中，这些变量是如何随着时间的推移而变化的？(3)这些变量如何解释非裔美国人和女性STEM专业学生的坚持性？该样本将包括400名STEM专业的分层、按比例代表的样本。除了兴趣的主要变量(与职业相关的问题解决、决策、目标设定和管理目标追求)外，STEM职业发展、职业认同、社会阶层和发展复杂性也将被研究。收集关于平均绩点、专业变化、实习、就业/研究生面试以及实现职业目标的进展的数据，将提供机会来检验之前的变量与更传统的成功和坚持不懈衡量标准之间的联系。他们将使用结构方程建模和分层线性建模来分析变量之间的关系，并使用增长曲线建模和轮廓分析来提供有关感兴趣变量的纵向变化的额外数据。本研究将有助于更清楚地理解问题解决、目标设定和规划技能在STEM职业认同发展和STEM职业持久度中的作用；职业、种族/民族和社会阶层认同在STEM专业的承诺和保持中的作用；以及认知复杂性在促进STEM职业发展、承诺和保持中的作用。该项目得到了NSF的EHR核心研究(ECR)计划的支持。ECR计划强调STEM基础教育研究，在三个主题领域产生基础知识：STEM学习和学习环境，扩大参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。

Researchers at Tennessee State University will study the role of professional, social, and cultural identities on career choice and commitment among underrepresented minorities. They will expand the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by examining factors such as problem solving, decision making, goal setting, and managing goal pursuit that are not articulated in the current model. As critical as self-efficacy is in the process of developing one?s interests, making career choices, and preparing for career entry, it is not clear how lower levels of these skills may limit one?s commitment to, ability to enact, and self-efficacy about engaging in the chosen career. The research will provide valuable insights for students and career development practitioners on tactical measures for successful careers in STEM fields. The knowledge gained by understanding the interplay of the sophistication of career skill level and career development could alter the design of interventions to recruit and retain underrepresented persons throughout the STEM pipeline. The researchers will use a mixed methods longitudinal design to investigate three questions: (1) What is the relationship among STEM career development measures, basic career skills, and social class and developmental complexity? (2) How do these variables change over time in both STEM persisters and non-persisters? and (3) How do these variables explain persistence among African American and women STEM majors? The sample will include a stratified, proportionally representative sample of 400 STEM majors. In addition to the primary variables of interest (career-related problem solving, decision-making, goal setting, and managing goal pursuit), STEM career development, professional identity, social class, and developmental complexity will be studied. Collecting data on grade-point average, changes in majors, internships, employment/graduate student interviewing, and progress toward career goals will provide the opportunity for examining the link between the previous variables and more traditional measures of success and persistence. They will use structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the relationship between and among the variables and growth curve modeling and profile analysis to provide additional data regarding the longitudinal change in the variables of interest. The research will result in a clearer understanding of the role of problem-solving, goal- setting, and planning skills in the development of a STEM vocational identity and persistence in STEM careers; the role of professional, racial/ethnic, and social class identities on commitment and retention in STEM majors; and the role of cognitive complexity in facilitating STEM career development, commitment, and retention. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in three thematic areas: STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation, and STEM workforce development.