The APLU Project: Status Reports on Broadening Participation in Engineering

Association Of Public And Land-Grant Universities, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Increasing the number of underrepresented groups earning engineering degrees is critical to the United States' economic competitiveness and national security. Because of its importance, greater attention has been placed on the country's need for a strong engineering workforce and how to meet the growing demand for engineers, especially among underrepresented groups. On behalf of the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the investigators outlined a comprehensive research project with four specific objectives: (1) assessing the number of degrees awarded over time in engineering by all colleges and universities and by race and ethnicity, gender, and engineering discipline utilizing the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems Completion Survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics; (2) comparing projections in engineering degrees and projections in the engineering academic and nonacademic workforce from datasets, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, to more accurately assess where engineering workforce shortages persist across specific engineering disciplines; (3) convening and engaging esteemed scholars, industry leaders, and university administrators and thought leaders to review collective data to better understand key shortage areas in engineering disciplines to establish a baseline that broadening participation leaders can use to better frame their projects; and (4) organizing current data sources and metrics into a publicly accessible resource available to engineering educators, social and behavioral scientists, and education researchers and policymakers to easily compare and analyze engineering degree awards' employment data. By highlighting recent trends at the national and institutional level and determining mismatches in supply and demand, this research project will assist engineering education leaders, stakeholders, and policymakers in developing targeted efforts to broaden participation in specific engineering disciplines among projected shortages will exist. By convening university leaders from institutions seeking to broaden participation in engineering, it is likely that partnerships and collaborations will be established across various institutions, experts, and engineering societies to address the dearth of underrepresented groups throughout the engineering enterprise. As another major outcome from this research project, the investigators proposed to develop a robust online tool, combining several national datasets, to build institutional metrics as way to assist various stakeholders and researchers with making peer and aspirational institutional comparisons. Other project deliverables include the production of two major reports, such as The Status Report on Engineering Education Volume I: A 5-year Trend Analysis of Engineering degrees awarded at the national and institutional level to determine which colleges and universities are successful at graduating Traditionally Underrepresented Groups in Specific Engineering Disciplines and The Status Report on Engineering Education Volume II: A Detailed Analysis of Projections for Engineering Degrees and the Engineering Academic and Nonacademic Workforce. Both reports will provide useful information, not commonly produced by U.S. governmental agencies and non-governmental entities. Further, the two reports will be widely disseminated among APLU's member and non-member institutions of higher learning.