RACE-GENDER TRAJECTORIES IN ENGINEERING: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CONTROL ACROSS NEIGHBORHOOD AND SCHOOL CONTEXTS

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Meeting the nation's need for a larger, more diverse scientific and technological workforce requires new knowledge about how school and neighborhood contexts shape individuals' career trajectories. Research has yet to explore whether a heightened emphasis on social control in these environments provides a climate antithetical to the cultivation of adolescents' innovative thinking and creativity, attributes that are considered essential to their success in the engineering sciences. Research of this kind will be useful in identifying: 1) the school and neighborhood dimensions most strongly related to the dispositions and trajectories of underrepresented populations at key junctures of engineering pathways, and 2) the kind of educational reforms and neighborhood programs that will aid students' secondary school preparation, post-secondary persistence in the fields, and eventual entry into the engineering professions. In support of these important aims, this research applies advanced statistical methods to the ELS dataset to answer the following questions: 1. What contextual structures, processes and effects in existing research are most related to race-gender groups' occupational attainment in engineering? 2. Are school and neighborhood social control strategies related to race-gender trajectories in secondary school preparation, post-secondary persistence, and entry into the engineering workforce? 3. Is more variation in race-gender groups' engineering career trajectories accounted for by their neighborhood or school context? 4. What causal inferences can be made about the engineering career trajectories of nearly identical race-gender groups that differ in their exposure to more or less restrictive methods of social control within neighborhoods and schools? The transformative potential of this study extends from its capacity to fill multiple voids in our engineering workforce development and broadening participation knowledge base. Identifying neighborhood and school qualities associated with race-gender groups' likelihood of entering engineering science professions contributes specific knowledge about school and non-school contexts as sites of engineering career development. This project considers whether society's pursuit of social control and order establishes a climate within both contexts that is antithetical to the cultivation of adolescents' interest in engineering. Youth of color, African American and Latino males in particular, are most likely to be exposed to punitive social control strategies, and may become less likely to enter the engineering field as a consequence. To explore these possibilities, this project uses systematic literature review procedures and innovative quantitative methods to investigate the longitudinal career trajectories of participants in the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002. The research uses social control, intersectionality, and status attainment theories to frame the estimation of race-gender trajectories at critical stages of career development. This study aligns with NSF priorities and national calls to broaden the participation of historically underrepresented groups at all stages of their career development. Study results about the engineering experiences of race-gender groups within neighborhood and school contexts will reveal areas where investment and reforms can expand access and interest in engineering careers. The policy relevance of this research is significant and will inform decision-makers and practitioners about the human capital cost to engineering fields previously hidden in the uninvestigated effects of social control strategies. This study will offer potentially transformative recommendations for schools that, if adopted, would enable the replication of inclusive learning environments that align with expansive engineering opportunities.