Scaling Capacity-Building of Minority Engineering Programs and Women Engineering Programs

尽管最近有所增加，但黑人、土著和其他有色人种(BIPOC)在美国工程学学位获得者中的比例仍然偏低。此外，占总人口略高于50%的女性在所有授予的本科工程学学位中所占比例略低于22%，这一比例在过去几年中没有明显变化(Roy，2018)。代表性不足意味着，学术界和工业界未能从他们的技术专业人员之间更大的多样性带来的好处中获益。5万人联盟是由全国黑人工程师协会(NSBE)、美国印第安人科学与工程协会(AISES)、西班牙裔专业工程师协会(SHPE)和女性工程师协会(SWE)的领导人于2016年成立的，目的是招募利益相关者组织，这些组织将合作扩大对工程的参与。目前共有60个机构成员(33所大学、22个工程专业协会和5家公司)，50k联盟将利用扩大工程参与计划的规划拨款制定一项战略计划，重点是通过建设现有的多元文化工程计划(MEP)和妇女参与工程计划(WEP)的能力，提高BIPOC本科生和女学生的留校率和毕业成就。我们还将制定计划，帮助在目前没有MEP/WEP结构和计划的校园中发展这些结构和计划。自20世纪70年代S以来，工科学校的MEP和WEP功能激增并取得了成功，但无论是MEP/WEP功能的提供还是实施都不是所有获得ABET认证的机构的普遍做法。虽然有关于环保局/环保局的积极影响的研究，但还没有研究确定高效的环保局/环保局的模式，或以确保其质量和寿命的方式支持实施。从这笔规划拨款中产生的知识将填补这一空白。这些职能的存在对于扩大对工程的参与至关重要，从而实现联盟的目标以及国家科学基金会工程总监的目标。在规划过程中，我们将：1)进行民族志研究，以构建各种机构类型的成功的MEP/WEP办公室的原型(将成为蓝图)：大型、小型、公共、私人、少数群体服务；2)制定实施、扩展和制度化MEP/WEP计划的指导方针，并计划建立一个透明的共同证据系统；3)确定NSBE、SWE、SHPE和AISES大学分会在MEP/WEP能力建设中可以发挥的作用，因为分会通常由MEP和WEP办公室赞助。对50,000所目前毕业人数高于平均水平的美国印第安人、非裔美国人、西班牙裔或女性学生(积极离群点)的联盟工程学校进行的扩展案例研究，将提供对成功的MEP/WEP计划的关键特征以及如何最好地实施和制度化这些计划的洞察。这项研究还将包括两个HBCU(历史上的黑人学院和大学)、两个HSI(西班牙裔服务机构)和一个TCU(部落学院/大学)，所有这些都得到了教唆。此外，WEP的结构通常是为了支持女性学生(即白人、亚裔、BIPOC、女性识别)，但不一定是专门的，而MEP则聘请BIPOC学生(那些被识别为男性、女性和性别不符的学生)。尽管这些群体并不是故意排外的，但最近的文献强调了黑人女性如何没有得到工程专业的充分服务(Gibson&Amp；Espino，2016)。考虑到这一点，我们将重点研究在MEP/WEP计划中如何考虑各种身份的交叉点。这一奖项反映了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。

Despite recent increases, Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOCs) remain underrepresented among engineering degree recipients in the U.S. Moreover, women, who make up just over 50 percent of the general population, comprise just under 22 percent of all undergraduate engineering degrees awarded, a ratio that has not markedly changed over the past several years (Roy, 2018). The underrepresentation means that academia and industry are shortchanged from the benefits associated with greater diversity among their technical professionals. The 50k Coalition was founded in 2016 by the leaders of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to recruit stakeholder organizations that would work collaboratively to broaden participation in engineering. Now totaling 60 institutional members (33 universities, 22 engineering professional societies, and five corporations), the 50k Coalition will use this planning grant from the Broadening Participation in Engineering program to develop a strategic plan that will focus on increasing the retention and graduation attainment of undergraduate BIPOC and women students by building the capacity of existing Multicultural Engineering Programs (MEPs) and Women in Engineering Programs (WEPs). We will also develop plans to assist in the development of MEP/WEP structures and programs on campuses that do not currently have them. Since the 1970’s, the MEP and WEP functions in engineering schools have proliferated and been successful, but neither the availability nor the implementation of MEP/WEP functions is universal across ABET-accredited institutions. While there is research available on the positive impact of MEP/WEPs, there is not yet research to define models of highly effective MEP/WEP offices, or to support implementation in ways that ensure their quality and longevity. The knowledge generated from this planning grant will fill this gap. The presence of these functions is critical to broadening participation in engineering and thus achieving the Coalition’s goals as well as the goals of the NSF Engineering Directorate.During the planning process, we will: 1) conduct ethnographic research to construct archetypes (that will become blueprints) of successful MEP/WEP offices for various institutional types: large, small, public, private, minority-serving; 2) develop guidelines for implementing, scaling, and institutionalizing MEP/WEP programs and plan for a transparent common-evidence system; 3.) determine the role that the NSBE, SWE, SHPE and AISES collegiate chapters can play in MEP/WEP capacity building, given that chapters are typically sponsored by MEP and WEP offices. Extended Case Study analysis of 50k Coalition engineering schools that are currently graduating higher than-average numbers of American Indian, African American, Hispanic or women students (positive outliers), will provide insight into key characteristics of successful MEP/WEP programs and how to best implement and institutionalize them. The study will also include two HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), two HSIs (Hispanic-serving Institutions), and a TCU (tribal college/university), all ABET accredited. Moreover, WEPs are typically structured to support women students (i.e., white, Asian, BIPOC, female identified) though not necessarily exclusively, while MEPs engage BIPOC students (those identified as male, female and gender non-conforming). Although these groups are not intentionally exclusive, recent literature has highlighted how Black women are not adequately served by engineering programs (Gibson & Espino, 2016). With this in mind, we will focus part of our study on how various intersections of identity are considered in MEP/WEP programs.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.