Research: Next Generation Engineers: Examining the Pathways of Adolescent Females in SWENext

研究：下一代工程师：检查 SWENext 中青少年女性的发展道路

基本信息

批准号：
1825328
负责人：
Catherine Riegle-Crumb
金额：
$ 34.99万
依托单位：
University of Texas at Austin
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-09-15 至 2023-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1825328&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Research Next Generation Engineers Examining

项目摘要

Despite the increase in women's representation over the past few decades in many occupations that are both high-status and high-income, such as medicine and law, relatively few women enter engineering majors and occupations. At best, engineering remains approximately 80% male, which is particularly concerning given the national need for more engineers. Prior studies have found that one of the major roadblocks to increasing women's representation in engineering is the fact that compared to boys, girls express very low levels of interest in engineering from early ages, and ultimately are unlikely to choose to pursue engineering majors in college despite having strong educational backgrounds in math and science. Therefore, the factors that likely discourage girls' interest in engineering appear social and psychological in nature, rather than academic. To examine these factors in detail, this unique study will follow a large group of high school girls who have already expressed an interest in engineering, with the goal of understanding how the support of adults and peers in their lives, as well as girls' own views about gender roles, influence whether or not they remain interested in the field and ultimately choose an engineering major in college. By shedding light on the factors that support girls' pursuit of engineering, as well as those that function as deterrents, valuable insight can be gathered that can then be leveraged to better support a larger population of girls and young women to enter into engineering. Specifically, this project is a research collaboration between the University of Texas and the Society for Women Engineers that follows a purposive sample of high school girls participating in SWENext, an organization dedicated to identifying and supporting young women interested in engineering. This study will employ a mixed-methods approach; the quantitative component will follow a sample of approximately 700-900 girls over a period of three years (as they transition from high school into college) via online surveys, while a qualitative component will similarly follow a longitudinal sample of 30 girls over time with in-depth interviews. This project will address several aims that will extend the research on inequality in engineering and STEM fields in important ways. First, the study will examine the gender identity of SWENext members, to shed light on how these young women view their own gender and make sense of prevailing gender norms and roles. Second, it will examine whether and how peers and adults provide support and encouragement for SWENext members' interest in engineering, recognizing the array of peers (e.g. friends, classmates, extra-curricular participants, and online peers) and adults (e.g. parents and teachers) that girls interact with, and considering the potential for conflicting messages, as some are likely supportive of girls' non-normative interests at the same time that others negatively sanction such interests. Further, the research team will examine whether support is more available or impactful when it comes from same-gender sources. The final aim of the study is to examine how these factors help shape girls' decision to declare an engineering major in college, as well as their engineering-related self-efficacy and identity. In addressing these three broad aims, the research team employs an intersectional lens to examine how girls' views, experiences, and outcomes differ by racial/ethnic background. Results of the project will be widely disseminated to academic research audiences, as well as educational practitioners and stakeholders in engineering and industry who share the goal of increasing the representation of females in engineering.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.

尽管在过去的几十年中，在许多职业中，妇女代表性增加，这些职业既高地位又是高收入，例如医学和法律，但相对较少的妇女进入了工程专业和职业。充其量，工程学仍然约为80％的男性，鉴于国家对更多工程师的需求，这尤其令人担忧。先前的研究发现，增加女性在工程领域的代表性的主要障碍之一是，与男孩相比，尽管在数学和科学方面拥有强大的教育背景，但女孩对工程学的兴趣非常低，最终不太可能选择从事工程专业。因此，可能阻碍女孩对工程兴趣的因素似乎是社会和心理的，而不是学术的。为了详细检查这些因素，这项独特的研究将跟随一大批已经对工程学兴趣的高中女生，目的是了解成年人和同伴在生活中的支持以及女孩对性别角色的看法，影响她们是否对该领域感兴趣并最终在大学中选择工程专业。通过阐明支持女孩追求工程学的因素，以及那些起作用的因素，可以收集宝贵的见解，然后可以利用这些见解，以更好地支持更多的女孩和年轻女性进入工程学。具体来说，该项目是德克萨斯大学与女工程师协会之间的研究合作，遵循参与Swenext的高中女生的有目的样本，该组织致力于识别和支持对工程感兴趣的年轻女性。这项研究将采用混合方法。定量组成部分将在三年内通过在线调查进行大约700-900名女孩的样本（由于他们从高中过渡到大学），而定性组成部分则同样会遵循30个女孩的纵向样本，并在深入的访谈中进行。该项目将解决几个目标，这些目标将以重要的方式扩展有关工程和STEM领域不平等的研究。首先，该研究将研究Swenext成员的性别认同，以阐明这些年轻女性如何看待自己的性别并理解盛行的性别规范和角色。其次，它将检查同龄人是否以及如何为Swenext成员对工程的兴趣提供支持和鼓励，认识到一系列的同龄人（例如朋友，朋友，课外参与者和在线同伴）以及成人（例如父母和老师）（例如，女孩和老师）与某些人相互矛盾的兴趣，并可能会为某些人提供互动的兴趣，而这些兴趣是不合时宜的。此外，研究团队将研究来自同性资料的支持是更可用还是有影响力。该研究的最终目的是研究这些因素如何有助于塑造女孩宣布大学专业的决定以及与工程相关的自我效能和身份。在解决这三个广泛的目标时，研究小组采用了一个交叉镜头来研究女孩的观点，经验和成果如何因种族/种族背景而异。该项目的结果将被广泛地分解为学术研究受众，以及工程和行业领域的教育从业人员和利益相关者，他们共享了增加女性在工程方面的代表性的目标。这项奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为通过基金会的知识分子功能和广泛的影响来评估CRETERIA CREITERIA。