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考虑的问题。研究表明，未来十年，美国劳动力可能会出现100万STEM毕业生的缺口。每年，进入美国大学学习STEM专业的300万名学生中，只有不到一半的人会在STEM专业坚持到毕业。在传统上在STEM中代表性不足的群体(即非洲裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人和印第安人)中，情况更糟。例如，在工程学方面，人数不足的群体仅占所有本科生的16%；那些决定在毕业前转到非STEM领域的学生，其比例是白人学生的两倍。黑人男性的代表性尤其仍然是一个挑战。每年，约有%的白人男性获得工程学学士学位，相比之下，非洲裔美国男性的这一比例约为5%。在研究生层面，黑人男性仅占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%，占工程教职员工的2.5%，令人沮丧。这项合作研究的重点是了解影响黑人男性攻读高级工程学学位的决定的因素，揭示坚持或计划在获得学士学位后继续从事工程学专业的黑人男性拥有的资产/优势，并确定学术自我概念和工程认同感在攻读高级工程学学位的意图中所起的作用。这项研究包括黑人男性工程学学生、高级学位持有者和教师，他们来自以白人为主的机构(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(Prairie View农业与机械大学)和全国黑人工程师协会的成员。本项目研究三个问题：1)什么因素影响黑人男性攻读工程学研究生学位？2)黑人男性在本科毕业后坚持或计划继续攻读工程学学位的人拥有哪些资产/优势？3)学术自我概念和工程身份认同在黑人男性攻读更高学位的意图中起到了什么作用？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。这个项目对文化资本、反赤字成就和工程识别工作的研究文献做出了独特的贡献。评估采用了一种价值观参与、具有教育意义的方法。这项工作将影响工程学研究生的招聘和留住，并为创建黑人男性工程学教师的渠道提供洞察力。这项工作将被用来创建一个全国性的黑人男性工程学术讨论会，致力于分享相关研究以及职业发展和研究生机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.