A Planning Grant to Support Intergenerational Mentoring Among African American Women in the Engineering Academy

支持工程学院非裔美国女性代际指导的规划拨款

• 批准号: 1832788
• 负责人: Stephanie Adams
• 金额: $ 3.85万
• 依托单位: Old Dominion University Research Foundation
• 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: 2018-08-15 至 2020-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1832788&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Planning; Grant; Support; Intergenerational; Mentoring

Engineering affects the health and vitality of a nation unlike any other profession, and the future of engineering and the global competitiveness of the U.S. is inextricably connected to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups at all highest levels of society. African American women are among the least represented among engineering faculty, and a demographic that faces unique challenges that affect their retention in the academy. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of the inhibitors and promotors of success among African American women among the engineering faculty across all ranks. Funding from this project will be used to host a series of activities for African American women, engineering faculty, some of which include: a half-day workshop held in conjunction with the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE); a research study to validate and elucidate the current literature on the challenges, obstacles and facilitators of success in light of those that African American women, engineering faculty face on a daily basis; and a proposal for a subsequent two-day workshop. The workshop will provide an opportunity for one of the most underrepresented populations of engineering faculty to come together in a safe space to: discuss common challenges they experience; reflect and brainstorm strategies to aid in their success; launch a national network among African American women faculty to encourage and support their advancement in the academy and into national engineering leadership positions; and develop a mentoring network among colleagues with similar personal experiences and interests. The formation of a national network will provide a context of mentoring, role modeling, and other forms of psychosocial support that contribute to retention of underrepresented engineering faculty?something that is necessary for building the diverse technical workforce that maintains our global competitiveness and national prosperity.Broadening participation of underrepresented groups in engineering across higher education is a national priority, and the success of African American women faculty in engineering programs is essential in making progress in this area of interest. While existing literature is replete with the unique challenges to retention that this demographic faces across academic ranks, scholarship on intergenerational mentoring provides a basis for this proposed workshop that focuses on issues of retention and success among African American women engineering faculty across academic ranks. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, this study will use qualitative and quantitative evidence to fully understand individual factors, environmental factors, institutional practices, procedures, and policies may adversely affect the persistence of African American women, engineering faculty. As a result of this project, workshop and subsequent research we will be armed with the necessary information to develop a consortium for African American women faculty in engineering, and a blueprint for creating an education research agenda focused on broadening participation and ensuring successful advancement of African American women faculty in engineering. This study will serve as the basis for a larger follow-up study. The insights from this study will advance multiple bodies of work simultaneously.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.

与任何其他职业不同，工程学影响着一个国家的健康和活力，工程学的未来和美国的全球竞争力与扩大社会最高层代表性不足的群体的参与密不可分。非裔美国女性是工程学院中代表性最少的群体之一，她们面临着影响她们留在学院的独特挑战。该项目的成果将增进我们对各级工程学院非裔美国女性成功的抑制因素和促进因素的理解。该项目的资金将用于为非裔美国女性、工程学院举办一系列活动，其中包括：与美国工程教育协会（ASEE）2019年年会同期举办的为期半天的研讨会；一项研究，根据非裔美国女性、工程教师每天面临的挑战、障碍和成功因素，验证和阐明当前的文献；以及随后举行为期两天的研讨会的提案。该研讨会将为工程学院中代表性最不足的群体之一提供一个在安全空间聚集在一起的机会：讨论他们遇到的共同挑战；反思并集体讨论有助于其成功的策略；在非裔美国女性教师中建立一个全国网络，鼓励和支持她们在学院取得进步并进入国家工程领导职位；并在具有相似个人经历和兴趣的同事之间建立指导网络。国家网络的形成将提供指导、榜样和其他形式的社会心理支持，有助于保留代表性不足的工程教师——这对于建设多样化的技术劳动力、维持我们的全球竞争力和国家繁荣是必要的。扩大代表性不足群体对高等教育工程的参与是国家优先事项，非裔美国女性教师在工程项目中的成功对于在这一感兴趣的领域取得进展至关重要。虽然现有的文献充满了这一群体在各个学术阶层中面临的独特挑战，但代际指导的学术研究为拟议的研讨会提供了基础，该研讨会重点关注跨学术阶层的非裔美国女性工程教师的保留和成功问题。本研究采用收敛并行混合方法研究设计，将使用定性和定量证据来充分了解个人因素、环境因素、制度实践、程序和政策可能对非裔美国女性、工程学院的持久性产生不利影响。 通过这个项目、研讨会和后续研究，我们将获得必要的信息，为非洲裔美国女性工程学院建立一个联盟，并制定一个蓝图，制定一个教育研究议程，重点是扩大参与和确保非洲裔美国妇女成功进步美国工程学女教师。这项研究将作为更大规模后续研究的基础。这项研究的见解将同时推进多项工作。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。