Creating Pathways for STEM Higher Education Leadership

STEM高等教育领导者对教师和学生都起到了变革性的作用，但我们对如何招聘和留住有效的STEM领导者知之甚少。是什么因素促使STEM教师进入领导层？STEM领导者在寻求领导机会时面临哪些挑战？机会和挑战如何因高等教育背景、地区和地理位置或领导者的人口结构而有所不同？该项目的目标是确定培养STEM高等教育领军人物的结构性障碍以及最有效的组织战略。对STEM领导层面临的不同挑战和机遇拥有明确的信息，将使高等教育机构能够找到投资于制度变革的新方法，发展STEM领导者的职业生涯。作为这项研究的结果，项目组计划传播在培养来自不同背景的STEM领导者方面最有效的战略，同时也建议解决最普遍的障碍的战略。现有的研究侧重于小样本，通常是在大学领导层的最高层，强调领导者必须领导的“毅力”。这些样本通常由一所学院或大学的一小群领导人组成，没有按机构背景、地区、年龄队列、领域或人口统计特征进行差异。该项目以组织理论和地位期望理论为基础，旨在检验有关影响领导轨迹的因素的假设。这项研究旨在使用一个具有全国代表性的大型调查样本，使该团队能够检查不同背景下的领导轨迹，包括授予博士学位的大学、授予硕士学位的大学、四年制学院和大学以及两年制学院。在选定的160所机构中，研究小组将调查大约5000名系级和学院级的STEM领导人，以及具有STEM领域背景的大学领导人。然后，研究团队将使用多水平模型分析数据，这些模型探索领导者的经历如何根据制度因素、地区、他们获得最终学位的时间以及其他特征而变化。最后，项目团队将采访80名领导者，重点是那些领导者描述向领导力过渡特别具有挑战性和特别顺利的环境中的那些人。这一抽样战略旨在揭示STEM领导职位的结构性障碍和机会。该项目得到了NSF的EDU核心研究(ECR)计划的支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。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，认为值得支持。

STEM higher education leaders play transformational roles for both faculty and students, yet we know too little about how to recruit and retain effective STEM leaders. What factors encourage STEM faculty to move into leadership? What challenges do STEM leaders face in pursuing leadership opportunities? How do opportunities and challenges differ by higher education context, region and location, or leader demographics? The goal of this project is to identify the structural barriers to, as well as the organizational strategies that are most effective at, developing STEM higher educational leaders. Having clear cut information about the different challenges and opportunities to STEM leadership will allow higher education institutions to find new ways to invest in institutional change, developing the careers of STEM leaders. As a result of this research, the project team plans to disseminate the strategies that are most effective at developing STEM leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds, while also recommending strategies to address the barriers that are most prevalent.Existing research has focused on small samples, often at the highest echelons of university leadership, emphasizing the “grit” that leaders must have to lead. These samples typically consist of small groups of leaders at one college or university, not capturing differences by institutional context, region, age cohort, field, or demographic characteristics. Relying on organizational theory and status expectations theory, the project is designed to test hypotheses about the factors that shape leadership trajectories. The study aims to use a large nationally representative survey sample that will enable the team to examine leadership trajectories in different contexts including doctoral granting universities, masters granting universities, four-year colleges and universities, and two-year colleges. Within the 160 institutions selected, the research team will survey approximately 5,000 STEM leaders at the department and college levels, as well as university leaders with backgrounds in STEM fields. The team of researchers will then analyze the data using multilevel models that explore how leaders’ experiences vary depending on institutional factors, region, when they earned their terminal degrees, and other characteristics. Finally, the project team will interview eighty leaders, focusing on those in settings where leaders describe particularly challenging, as well as particularly smooth, transitions to leadership. This sampling strategy is intended to reveal insights into structural barriers to and opportunities for STEM leadership positions.This project is supported by NSF’s EDU Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad, and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM 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.