Collaborative Research: An Evidence-Based Approach Towards Technology Workforce Expansion by Increasing Female Participation in STEM Entrepreneurship

这是一个合作项目，威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校为牵头机构，马里兰大学为合作机构，旨在探索STEM领域本科女性的创业倾向。研究人员提出了一个由跨学科团队领导的多方法方法，以(1)确定影响创业倾向的因素，(2)开发和测试与缩小STEM创业中的性别差异有关的干预措施。这项研究包括分析一个全面的行政数据库，以确定潜在干预措施的机制，并进行实地试验，以实现STEM学生在创业职业选择中实现更大的性别平等。实地试验的结果将与数据库结合起来，以产生结果衡量标准。该项目将提供经验证据，以增加对学生创业的理解，并为提高STEM女性创业参与度的干预措施提供信息。研究人员将使用个人-机会关联理论来构建研究设计和方法，即知识是创业的先驱。本研究提出四个假设：(1)在STEM领域，课程多样性较高、至少选修过一门商科课程、选修过STEM课程且课程多样性较高、选修过一门或多门商科课程的女性具有更强的创业倾向。(2)STEM女大学生在接触相关创业榜样时表现出更高的创业倾向。(3)女性STEM学生在创业被呈现为性别中立领域时表现出更高的创业倾向。(4)STEM女大学生在接触创业成功故事时表现出更高的创业倾向。研究人员将通过测量自我报告的活动、分析管理数据和记录学生初创企业，对影响STEM女性创业倾向的因素做出因果推断。该项目的核心是基于从数据基础设施中提取的数据，该数据基础设施将行政数据与年度调查结果相结合。研究人员将使用这些数据来评估影响女性在创业中代表性不足的机制。他们将通过实地实验来增强数据基础设施，以测试根据现有文献和数据分析结果得出的假设。该项目由EHR核心研究计划共同支持，该计划资助关于STEM学习和学习环境、扩大STEM领域的参与、STEM劳动力发展和科学科学BPINNOVATE计划的基础研究。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。

This is a collaborative project, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the lead institution and the University of Maryland as the partnering institution, to explore the entrepreneurial proclivity of undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields. The researchers propose a multi-method approach led by an interdisciplinary team to (1) identify factors that influence entrepreneurial proclivity and (2) develop and test interventions related to closing gender disparities in STEM entrepreneurship. The research includes the analysis of a comprehensive administrative database to identify mechanisms for potential interventions and field experiments to achieve greater gender parity in entrepreneurial career choices for STEM students. Results of the field experiments will be integrated with the database to produce outcome measures. The project will produce empirical evidence to increase the understanding of student entrepreneurship and inform interventions that improve entrepreneurship participation for women in STEM.The researchers will frame the research design and methods using the Individual-Opportunity Nexus theory that knowledge is a precursor to entrepreneurship. There are four hypotheses: (1) Greater entrepreneurial proclivity will be found in women in STEM fields with higher curriculum diversity, who have taken at least one business class, who are enrolled in STEM courses with students with higher diversity in their courses, and who are enrolled in STEM courses with students who have taken one or more business classes. (2) Women STEM students demonstrate higher entrepreneurial proclivity when they are exposed to relatable role models in entrepreneurship. (3) Women STEM students demonstrate higher entrepreneurial proclivity when entrepreneurship is presented as a gender-neutral field. (4) Women STEM students demonstrate higher entrepreneurial proclivity when they are exposed to entrepreneurial success stories. The researchers will make causal inferences about factors that influence entrepreneurial proclivity of women in STEM by measuring self-reported activities, analyzing administrative data, and documenting student start-ups. The core of the project is based on data drawn from a data infrastructure that combines administrative data with results of an annual survey. The researchers will use those data to evaluate the mechanisms that influence the underrepresentation of women in entrepreneurship. They will augment the data infrastructure with a field experiment to test hypotheses informed by existing literature and findings from their data analysis. This project is co-supported by the EHR Core Research program that funds fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development and by the Science of Science BPINNOVATE program.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.