Investigating the Barriers to Retention and Tenure for Black and Hispanic Engineering Faculty at R1 Institutions

本项目的目的是确定促进或阻碍黑人和西班牙裔工程学院（BHEF）在四年制研究型高等教育机构（IHE）获得终身教职的因素，以及这些因素如何影响教师的保留和/或流动。本项目旨在揭示在留住BHEF方面做得好的部门与那些做得不好的部门在运作上的不同之处。目标是：(a)实证探索教师社会化与BHEF任期和保留之间的联系，(b)更好地理解影响这种关系的“推/拉”（即促进/阻碍）因素，以及(c)与那些没有保留BHEF的学院/工程系相比，这些因素在保留BHEF的学院/工程系中的表现如何。这项研究将为如何在关键的工程领域保留代表性不足的BHEF提供更深入的见解。当有才能的BHEF获得终身教职时，院校就能更好地培养出多样化的、具有全球竞争力的下一代工程师。这反过来又有助于提高美国的经济竞争力。学者们认为，社会化（即传播的规范和价值观）在很大程度上要对非包容性的部门环境负责，这种环境刺激了代表性不足的少数族裔教师的高流失率。然而，这一理论还没有得到有力的检验。顺序混合方法设计将被用来解决三个研究问题。第一阶段探讨了“在四年制R1院校中，哪些因素促进和/或阻碍了终身教职前的BHEF向终身教职的进展？”并包括对全国R1高等教育机构的所有工程教授进行的一项全国性调查，以确定多样性气候与教师离职意愿之间的关系。多样性气候将通过多样性气候感知量表（more Barak et al., 1998）和多样性承诺量表（Chrobot-Mason, 2003）来测量，而更替意图将通过TI-6仪器来测量（Shore & Martin, 1989）。初步结果将按子学科（例如，土木，电气）分类，以确定工程子领域的任何潜在差异。第二阶段解决了两个研究问题：“促进和/或阻碍终身教职进程的因素如何影响教职员工的保留或流失？”以及“保留BHEF的高等教育学院/工程学院与不保留BHEF的学院在教师社会化方面有何不同？”第一阶段调查的结果将用于确定即将获得终身教职的教授（自我认定为黑人或西班牙裔）的样本，并从中招募参与者进行为期两年的后续访谈。调查人员将审查影响该教授留任或离职决定的理由和因素；如果他们离开了，他们去了哪里，他们打算做什么。除了确定BHEF终身任职的支持和障碍外，本研究还有望揭示减轻障碍的排他性影响的方法，以更好地维持工程学院的多样化，并为创建包容性的IHE/部门提供见解。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。

The purpose of this project is to identify factors that facilitate or impede progress toward tenure for Black and Hispanic engineering faculty (BHEF) on the tenure track at four-year Research1 (R1) Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) and how those factors contribute to faculty retention and/or turnover. This project seeks to uncover how departments that do well in retaining BHEF might operate differently from those that do not. The objectives are to (a) empirically explore the link between faculty socialization and BHEF tenure and retention, (b) better understand the “push/pull” (i.e., promote/impede) factors that affect that relationship, and (c) how those factors look in IHEs/engineering departments that retain their BHEF when compared to those that do not. This research will provide greater insight into how to retain underrepresented BHEF in the critical field of engineering. When talented BHEF are tenured, institutions are better positioned to develop a diverse, globally competitive, next generation of engineers. This in turn, contributes to increased economic competitiveness in the United States. Scholars maintain that socialization (i.e., the norms and values transmitted) is largely responsible for the non-inclusive departmental environments that spur higher rates of attrition for underrepresented minority faculty. However, this theory has not been robustly examined. A sequential mixed methods design will be employed to address three research questions. Phase One explores, “What are the factors that facilitate and/or impede progress towards tenure among pre-tenured BHEF at four-year R1 institutions?” and includes a national survey to all professors of engineering at R1 higher education institutions nationally to determine the relationship between diversity climate and faculty turnover intentions. Diversity climate will be measured by the Diversity Climate Perceptions scale (Mor Barak et al., 1998) and the Diversity Promise scale (Chrobot-Mason, 2003), while turnover intentions will be measured by the TI-6 instrument (Shore & Martin, 1989). The initial results will be disaggregated by sub-disciplines, (e.g., civil, electrical) to determine any potential differences in engineering subfields. Phase Two addresses two research questions: “How do the factors that facilitate and/or impede progress towards tenure operate in contributing to faculty retention or turnover?” and “How do IHEs/engineering departments that retain BHEF socialize their faculty differently from those that do not?” The results of the phase one survey will be used to identify the sample of late pre-tenure professors (self-identified as Black or Hispanic) from which to recruit participants for follow-up interviews over a two-year period. The investigators will examine the rationale and factors influencing decisions to remain in or depart from the professoriate; and if they depart, where they have gone and what they plan to do. In addition to identifying supports and barriers to tenure for BHEF, this research is expected to reveal ways to mitigate the exclusionary effect of barriers to better sustain the diversification of engineering faculty, as well as provide insights to create inclusive IHE/departments.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.