The College Internship Study: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Impacts of College Internships on Student Outcomes at HBCUs

实习和其他形式的体验式学习和以工作为基础的学习越来越成为美国STEM教育的一个共同特征，它们都是为21世纪培养STEM劳动力的目标的核心。在关注与实习参与相关的机会和公平方面，本研究将是第一个对这些问题进行实证探索的研究之一，这些问题越来越受到高等教育学者的关注。威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的大学-劳动力转型中心于2018年在威斯康星州和南卡罗来纳州的三种不同类型的机构开展了一项转化混合方法的纵向大学实习研究，以提供有关学生实习成果的经验证据。将实习视为情境学习问题的综合理论框架，以及学生自我效能感信念和职业认同发展的场所，被用于指导研究设计。该项目在该研究中增加了六所传统黑人学院和大学（HBCUs），在三年的时间里跟踪了一批学生、雇主、教师和就业中心，并测量了心理社会和劳动力市场的结果。此外，拟议的研究项目将利用大规模、可概括的调查数据和更细粒度的定性数据视角的优势。此外，该研究的纵向方面有望揭示实习经历对一群大学生随着时间推移的影响。本研究是少数几项研究实习与心理社会结果之间关系的实证研究之一，这对职业心理学和STEM教育的持久性和公平性领域至关重要。最后，将大学实习研究扩大到包括hbcu，将有助于将这些校园作为一个独特的机构背景进行研究，并有助于研究非裔美国学生在大学氛围、持久性和职业规划方面的经历。大学实习研究建立在两个文献基础上——作为一种情境和体验式学习形式的学习经验和职业认同的发展过程。调查人员将调查学生在何种形式的指导下做了什么。他们将运用情境认知理论来解释这些结果，并结合职业心理学的社会认知职业和职业建构理论来概念化实习生自身的发展过程。实习经历的特点将包括三个要素——参与和接触、项目设计特点、学生成果和经验。研究的问题是：(1)如果有的话，学生的实习参与是如何变化的？人口统计，学术课程和表现，生活/就业情况？(2)如果有的话，学生进入并坚持实习的主要障碍是什么？(3)如果有的话，实习项目的特点是如何与学生联系起来的？满意度、职业相关自我效能感信念、适应性与就业结果？(4)各院校在提供实习项目和后续学生支持方面的优势和劣势是什么？调查人员将在三年内通过在线学生调查、学生焦点小组、雇主访谈和六所院校的教师/职业顾问访谈进行三波数据收集。他们将利用统计和定性技术，为机构合作伙伴编写报告、互动数据和可视化。他们还将使用比较案例研究的方法，包括将案例置于特定的文化、政治和历史背景中。该项目的转化方面将确保其影响超越新科学知识对参与校园实习项目的政策和实践的贡献。这些影响可能会给学生带来有意义的改变？经验和学习，关于实习计划的机构实践，以及持续改进的努力。该项目得到了ECR核心研究计划的支持，该计划支持以STEM学习和学习环境为重点的基础STEM教育研究，扩大STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Internships and other forms of experiential and work-based learning are increasingly a common feature of STEM education in the United States and are all central to the goal of preparing a STEM workforce for the 21st century. In focusing on access and equity related to internship participation, this study will be one of the first to empirically explore these issues, which are of increasing concern to higher education scholars.The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for College-Workforce Transitions launched a translational mixed-methods longitudinal College Internship Study in 2018 at three different types of institutions in Wisconsin and South Carolina to produce empirical evidence on student outcomes of internships. An integrative theoretical framework that views internships as a problem of situated learning as well as a venue for students' development of self-efficacy beliefs and vocational identities was used to inform the study design. The project adds six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to this study to track a cohort of students and employers, faculty, and career centers over three years and measure psychosocial and labor market outcomes. Additionally, the proposed research project will leverage the strengths of large-scale, generalizable survey data and the more fine-grained perspectives of qualitative data. In addition, the longitudinal aspect of the study promises to shed important light on the impacts of internship experiences on a cohort of college students over time. This study represents one of the few empirical studies examining the relationship between internships and psychosocial outcomes that are of central importance to the fields of vocational psychology and persistence and equity in STEM education. Finally, expansion of the College Internship Study to encompass HBCUs will contribute to the research on these campuses as a unique institutional context in general and to the research base on the experiences of African-American students with college climate, persistence, and career planning. The College Internship Study builds upon two bodies of literature - the learning experience as a form of situated and experiential learning and developmental processes of vocational identity. The investigators will examine what students do and under what forms of mentorship. They will use situated cognition theory to interpret these results along with Social Cognitive Career and career Construction theories from vocational psychology to conceptualize the developmental processes of interns themselves. The internship experience will be characterized as comprising three elements - participation and access, program design features, and student outcomes and experiences. The research questions are: (1) How, if at all, does internship participation vary by students? demographics, academic programs and performance, and life/employment situations?; (2) What, if any, are the major barriers for students to access and then persist in an internship?; (3) How, if at all, are internship program features associated with students? satisfaction, career-related self-efficacy beliefs, sense of adaptability, and employment outcomes? and (4) What are the strengths and weaknesses of institutions regarding provision of internship programs and subsequent student supports? Investigators will conduct three waves of data over three years via online student survey, student focus groups, employer interviews, and faculty/career advisor interviews across the six institutions. Using statistical and qualitative techniques, they will compile reports and interactive data and visualizations for institutional partners. They also will use a comparative case study approach that involves situating cases within specific cultural, political, and historical contexts. The translational aspect of the project will ensure its impacts extend beyond the contribution of new scientific knowledge to policy and practice related to internship programs on participating campuses. These impacts could involve meaningful changes to students? experiences and learning, to institutional practice regarding internship programming, and to continuous improvement efforts.The project is supported by the ECR Core Research program that supports fundamental STEM education research focused on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.