Research Initiation: Recruiting More U.S. Women into Engineering Based on Stories from Morocco

经济预测显示，未来十年，美国将缺少大约100万名STEM专业人员。 劳动力短缺可以通过招聘和留住更多样化的劳动力来解决。由于在其他国家寻求STEM职业的女性比例很高，该项目旨在了解文化对工程领域女性职业选择的影响。这项研究的目的是检查在摩洛哥和美国文化中收到的信息的差异，以确定因素，有助于妇女的决定，追求工程学位在较高的利率在摩洛哥。文化层面，期望，价值观和学生#1523;选择追求工程学位之间的关系将进行调查。由于美国无法改变某些工程领域女性入学率较低的状况，这是一个机会，可以根据国际学生和美国学生的职业选择来确定招聘和留住工程领域女性的新方法。这项工作的研究部分将产生知识，可用于增加在工程领域追求职业生涯的美国妇女的数量，以满足美国的劳动力需求。该项目建立在最先进的妇女在工程，同时检查美国和国际，男性和女性学生的文化差异，这种探索性的定性研究利用访谈了解学生的意图和文化影响的摩洛哥和美国的妇女和男子工程学生的状态。本研究旨在回答以下研究问题：如何做工程专业的学生从摩洛哥和美国描述的文化原因，考虑到他们的选择追求工程学位？该研究计划利用民族文化的理论模型结合期望值理论，以确定存在的关系，六个文化层面和期望值和学生的作用？选择攻读工程学位。研究的重点是两组学生的叙述。我们正在对抵达美国的摩洛哥学生进行两轮采访，同时采访参加同一工程项目的美国学生。这个项目以理论为基础，重点是从一个局外人那里揭示美国性别信息的关键因素。的观点。该项目建立在国家努力的基础上，继续改变有关工程的对话，使工程更具包容性。这项研究的结果将用于设计可用于扩大妇女׳该奖项反映了NSF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。

Economic forecasts predict that the U.S. will have a shortfall of approximately million STEM professionals over the next decade. The workforce shortfall can be addressed by recruiting and retaining a more diverse workforce. Due to the high percentage of women seeking STEM careers in other countries, this project aims to understand the impact of culture on career choice for women in engineering. The objective of this research is to examine differences in messaging received in Moroccan and American cultures to determine factors that contribute to women's decisions to pursue engineering degrees at higher rates in Morocco. The relationship between cultural dimensions, expectancies, values, and students׳ choice to pursue an engineering degree will be investigated. With the U.S. unable to shift the low female enrollment in some engineering fields, this is an opportunity to identify new ways to recruit and retain women in engineering based on stories from international students and American students with regards to their career choice. The research component of this effort will generate knowledge that can be used to increase the number of American women pursuing careers in engineering fields to meet U.S. workforce needs. The project builds on the state of the art for women in engineering by examining cultural differences for American and international, male and female students simultaneously.This exploratory, qualitative research utilizes interviews to understand students' intentions and cultural influences of Moroccan and American women and men engineering students. This study is designed to answer the following research question: How do engineering students from Morocco and the United States describe the cultural reasons that factored into their choice to pursue an engineering degree? The research plan utilizes a theoretical model of national culture combined with expectancy-value theory to determine relationships that exist between six cultural dimensions and the role of expectancy and value and students? choice to pursue an engineering degree. The study focuses on narratives for two cohorts of students. We are conducting two rounds of interviews with Moroccan students as they arrive in the U.S. while simultaneously interviewing U.S. students enrolled in the same engineering program. This project is grounded in theory and focused on revealing key factors regarding gender messaging in the U.S. from an outsider?s perspective. This project builds on the national effort to continue changing the conversation about engineering to make engineering more inclusive. Results from this study will be used to design messaging that can be used to broaden women׳s participation in engineering and other STEM disciplines.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.