Collaborative Research: Windows of Opportunity-Understanding Black Male Engineers in the Pursuit of Advanced Degrees

培养具有科学、技术、工程和数学能力的毕业生仍然是国家关注和优先事项。研究表明，美国劳动力在未来十年可能会出现100万STEM毕业生的赤字。每年，进入美国大学打算主修STEM领域的300万学生中，只有不到一半的人坚持到毕业。各群体之间的情况更糟（即，非洲裔美国人，西班牙裔和美洲原住民）传统上在STEM中代表性不足。例如，在工程专业，代表性不足的群体仅占所有本科生的16%;那些决定主修工程的学生在毕业前转向非STEM领域的人数是白色学生的两倍。黑人男性的代表性尤其仍然是一个挑战。每年，大约64%的白色男性获得工程学士学位，而非洲裔美国男性的比例约为5%。在研究生阶段，黑人男性分别只占STEM硕士和博士学位的3%和1.7%。此外，黑人男性占工程劳动力的3.6%，占工程教师的2.5%。这项合作研究的重点是了解影响黑人男性追求高级工程学位的决定的因素，揭示黑人男性拥有的资产/优势，他们坚持或计划在学士学位之后继续从事工程，并确定学术自我概念和工程身份的作用，以追求高级工程学位。这项研究包括黑人男性工程专业学生，高级学位持有者和教师从占主导地位的白色机构（康涅狄格大学），西班牙裔服务机构（休斯顿大学），历史上的黑人大学（草原视图农业机械大学）和全国黑人工程师协会的成员。本项目追求三个研究问题：1）什么因素影响黑人男性攻读工程研究生学位？2)黑人男性拥有哪些资产/优势，他们坚持或计划在本科学习之后继续从事工程学？3)学术自我概念和工程身份在黑人男性追求高级学位的意图中扮演什么角色？为了回答这些问题，该项目采用了混合方法。数据来源包括正式的半结构化访谈和调查。该项目独特地有助于文化资本，反赤字成就和工程身份工作的研究文献。评估采用注重价值观的教育方法。这项工作将影响工程研究生的招聘和保留，并为黑人男性工程学院创建一个管道提供见解。这项工作将被用来创建一个全国黑人男性工程座谈会，致力于分享相关的研究沿着与职业发展和研究生院的机会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Producing graduates with science, technology, engineering and mathematics competencies continues to be a national concern and priority. Research has suggested the United States workforce may suffer a deficit of one million STEM graduates over the next decade. Annually, less than half of the three million students who enter U.S. colleges intending to major in a STEM field persist in STEM until graduation. The situation is worse among groups (i.e., African American, Hispanic, and Native American) traditionally underrepresented in STEM. For example, in engineering, underrepresented groups account for just 16% of all undergraduate students; those who decided to major in engineering switch to non-STEM fields before graduation twice as often as White students. The representation of Black males particularly continues to be a challenge. Each year, about 64% of White males earn a bachelor's degree in engineering, compared to about 5% of African American males. At the graduate level, Black males only account for 3% and 1.7% of STEM master's and doctoral degrees, respectively. Moreover, Black males account for 3.6% of the engineering workforce and a dismal 2.5% of engineering faculty. This collaborative research focuses on understanding the factors that influence the decisions of Black males to pursue advanced engineering degrees, uncovering the assets/strengths that Black males possess who persist or plan to continue in engineering beyond the baccalaureate degree, and determining the role of academic self-concept and engineering identity in the intent to pursue advanced engineering degrees. This study includes Black male engineering students, advanced degree holders and faculty from a Predominantly White Institution (University of Connecticut), a Hispanic-serving institution (University of Houston), a Historically Black University (Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University) and from members of the National Society of Black Engineers. This project pursues three research questions: 1) What factors influenced Black males to pursue graduate degrees in engineering? 2) What assets/strengths do Black males possess who persist or plan to continue in engineering beyond undergraduate studies? 3) What role does academic self-concept and engineering identity play in the intent to pursue advanced degrees among Black males? To answer these questions, the project employs a mixed-method approach. Data sources include formal semi-structured interviews and surveys. This project uniquely contributes to research literature on cultural capital, anti-deficit achievement, and engineering identity work. The evaluation uses a values-engaged, educative approach. This work stands to influence the recruitment and retention of engineering graduate students and give insight into creating a pipeline for Black male engineering faculty. This work will be leveraged to create a national Black male engineering colloquium devoted to sharing relevant research along with career development and graduate school opportunities.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.