Examining How Economic, Social, and Cultural Capital Translate to Engineering Degree Attainment

本项目旨在通过确定影响大学工程专业选择和学位获得的因素，为国家利益服务。该项目的总体目标是解决工程学位获得方面的差异，并加强美国科学和技术劳动力的发展。该项目将有助于提高对参与工程的理解，这是基于对个人、家庭、高中、社区和社区层面因素的分析，这些因素有助于上大学、选择工程专业和获得工程学位。通过将基于资产的框架应用于学生经历的多个维度的考察，该项目可以有助于重新构建对话，并重振战略的发展，这些战略可能在增加工程参与和加强工程劳动力人才发展方面具有最大的潜力。该项目的成果可能为各种应用提供重要的背景和信息，例如制定政策、制定促进准入和招聘的战略和干预措施、加强K-12和高等教育机构之间的伙伴关系，以及促进具有竞争力的科技劳动力。本项目强调通过混合方法的研究设计，对与学生学业轨迹相关的模式和机制进行可信的识别。本项目利用高中纵向研究和教育纵向研究的全国代表性数据，使用计量经济学方法检查学生从高中到大学工程的途径。此外，对来自三所不同院校的学生及其家长/监护人的个别采访为揭示学生的经历和反故事提供了机会。定量和定性的研究结果将被整合成一个纵向概念模型，以说明影响工程专业选择和学位获得的重要因素。该项目侧重于K-12和高等教育之间的关键过渡点，这样的研究成果有可能推进基础知识，帮助关键利益相关者在促进K-12和大学早期水平的工程方面做出明智的决策。考虑到全面的传播策略，该项目范围具有跨学科和社区产生广泛而有意义影响的潜力，旨在接触从业者、政策制定者和教育研究界，包括工程教育、教育政策和经济学。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by identifying factors that contribute to college engineering major choice and degree attainment. The overarching goal of the project is to address disparities in engineering degree attainment and to strengthen the scientific and technological workforce development in the U.S. This project will help advance the understanding of participation in engineering based on the analysis of factors at the individual, familial, high school, neighborhood, and community levels that contribute to college going, engineering major choice, and engineering degree attainment. By applying an asset-based framework to the examination of multiple dimensions of students’ experiences over time, this project can contribute to reframing conversations and reinvigorating the development of strategies that may have the greatest potential in increasing participation in engineering and enhancing engineering workforce talent development. Outcomes of this project may provide important context and information for various applications, such as policy formation, development of strategies and interventions to promote access and recruitment, strengthening partnerships between K-12 and postsecondary educational institutions, and promoting a competitive scientific and technological workforce. This project emphasizes credible identification of the patterns and mechanisms associated with the academic trajectories of students through a mixed methods research design. This project leverages nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study and the Education Longitudinal Study to examine the pathways of students from high school through college engineering using econometric methods. Moreover, individual interviews with students and their parents/guardians across three different institutions provide opportunities to uncover students’ experiences and counter stories. The quantitative and qualitative findings will be integrated to develop a longitudinal conceptual model to illustrate the important factors that affect engineering major choice and degree attainment. This project focuses on critical transition points between K-12 and postsecondary education, such that research findings have the potential to advance foundational knowledge to help key stakeholders make informed decisions in promoting engineering at both the K-12 and early college levels. The project scope has the potential for broad and meaningful impact across disciplines and communities given the comprehensive dissemination strategy, which is intended to reach practitioners, policy makers, and the educational research community including engineering education, education policy, and economics. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.