BCSER Building Capacity for A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Explanation of Women’s Achievement and Attrition in Undergraduate Engineering Education

在这个能力建设项目中，研究人员建议开发一个在工程教育研究中进行探究的模式，该模式包括一系列互补的数据类型、数据源、时间点和概念透镜，同时获得解释性顺序混合方法STEM教育研究的技能。该研究项目旨在模拟本科女性在毕业前进入和退出工程专业的主要行为数据模式，阐明本科工程教育的文化生态系统及其与女性成就动机的关系，并考察该学科内权力、特权和社会化的结构模式。同时，调查员建议实施一项专业发展计划，以扩大调查员在大规模机构数据集的混合方法、纵向设计和分析、高级统计建模技术以及本科工程教育课程开发方面的技能。该项目将在很大程度上增加对妇女在工程方面的经验和决策的了解，并产生信息，以改进社会科学研究、工程教育研究和高等教育管理方面的实践。这项研究将以投入-环境模型、生态和生态系统研究以及基于身份的动机理论为指导。研究人员将利用这三种方法来调查两个研究问题：(1)从2006年到2016年，本科女性在工程专业的转换和选课行为与留校和毕业有什么关系？(2a)坚持该专业的女性和不坚持该专业的女性对本科工程教育生态系统的认知如何？以及(2b)在这一背景下，哪些经历对她们在该领域的成就动机最有意义？一项混合方法的研究设计将被用来检查女性的多样性以及构成学术生活的特权和权力的等级制度。这项研究不仅关注人，而且还关注个人与周围环境的互动。这项研究还将探讨嵌入式教育背景随时间的变化，并分析校友的回顾描述和当前学生最近的反思之间的动态。这些发现将为如何为本科生女性提供变革性的工程教育体验提供有价值的见解。该项目得到了EHR核心研究计划(ECR)的STEM教育研究竞赛能力建设的支持。ECR资助专注于STEM学习和学习环境、扩大STEM领域的参与以及STEM专业劳动力发展的基础研究。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。

In this capacity building project, the investigator proposes to develop a model for inquiry in engineering education research that accommodates a range of complementary data types, data sources, points of time, and conceptual lenses while concurrently acquiring skills in explanatory sequential mixed-methods STEM education research. The research project aims to model patterns of major behavior data among undergraduate women entering and exiting an engineering program prior to graduation, elucidate the cultural ecosystem of undergraduate engineering education and its relationship to women’s achievement motivation, and examine the structural modes of power, privilege, and socialization within the discipline. Concurrently, the investigator proposes to implement a professional development plan that will expand the investigator’s skills in mixed-methods, longitudinal design, and analysis of large-scale institutional datasets, advanced statistical modeling techniques, and expertise in undergraduate engineering education curriculum development. The project will add significantly to the understanding of women’s experiences and decisions about engineering on a broad scale and generate information to improve practice in social science research, engineering education research, and higher education administration. The study will be guided by input-environment models, ecological and ecosystems studies, and theories of identity-based motivation. The investigator will leverage the three approaches to investigate two research questions: (1) What patterns of engineering major-switching and course-taking behavior are related to retention and graduation among undergraduate women from 2006 to 2016?, (2a) How do perceptions of the undergraduate engineering education ecosystem compare among women who persist in the major and those who do not?, and (2b) Which experiences in this context are most meaningful to their achievement motivation in the field? A mixed-methods research design will be used to examine diversity among women as well as hierarchies of privilege and power that structure academic life. The research focuses not only on the person but also on the interactions of individuals with their surroundings. The study also will address changes in embedded educational contexts over time and analyze the dynamic between retrospective accounts of alumni and recent reflections of current students. The findings will provide valuable insights about how to provide transformative experiences in engineering education for undergraduate women. The project is supported by the Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research Program (ECR). ECR funds fundamental research that focuses on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM professional 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.