Collaborative Research: Pushing Students Away: Developing a Research Agenda for Broadening Participation of African Americans in Engineering and Computer Science

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

While there have been substantial initiatives designed to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups, producing a diverse workforce is unlikely if the country continues to lose them at each of the major junctures along the education-to-workforce pathway: K-12 education, undergraduate education, graduate education, and workforce. While researchers have published numerous studies on underrepresented groups over the past four decades, trends have not significantly improved, suggesting a disconnection between research and practice and a greater need to investigate the issue of broadening participation at every major segment throughout the education-to-workforce pathway. As a result, the investigators propose to conduct a research project that critically examines the Innovation Cycle of Educational Practice and Research as it relates to broadening participation in engineering and computer science. This study will advance our understanding of the disconnect between research and practice, identify barriers to progress, and set a national agenda for broadening the participation of African Americans in engineering and computer science. The agenda will unify the current literature on this topic, frame key issues, and pose significant questions around the development of a diverse engineering workforce. Aligned with current NSF broaden participation interests and priorities, this agenda will provide: (1) researchers with a backdrop for identifying problems that can be investigated empirically; and (2) practitioners with practical strategies for addressing barriers present in their local context. The research design, guiding this study, will enable us to synthesize the plethora of existing recommendations, while obtaining feedback from researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders alike. The research design will also serve as a model for subsequent studies on broadening the participation of other underrepresented groups in STEM. Further, to readjust current practices for addressing this persistent problem and figure out what is pushing students away, this project involves systematically reviewing the theoretical and scientific literature on barriers to participating and proposing new solutions for each juncture of the education-to-workforce pathway; interviewing subject-matter experts (n=60) to discuss their professional experiences regarding broadening the participation of African Americans and what can be done to gain momentum in African Americans participation in engineering; and conducting a Delphi study (n=20) to reach consensus on the key issues and gaps in our understanding, significant questions, and breakdowns in the Innovation Cycle of Educational Practice and Research. This project will produce the following outcomes: (1) a literature review synthesizing and highlighting the current state of research and practice on broadening the participation of African Americans and an Innovation Cycle of Broadening Participation; (2) a conceptual model that depicts the current relationship between research and practice in this context; and (3) an outline of a national agenda for coordinating the efforts of stakeholders committed to broadening participation of African Americans in engineering and computer science.