This paper and poster describes a model for research community engagement in developing a national research agenda. The model was developed for a recent NSF- funded working conference held in the fall of 2016. The goal of the one-and-a-half day meeting was to develop a research agenda for broadening participation in engineering by persons self-identifying as having disabilities, veterans, low income/first-generation college students, and persons of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) identity.
The conference attracted 70 participants from around the country who represent multiple levels in the education system—from pre-college, two-year, and four-year colleges. Participants included a diverse set of stakeholders including researchers, educators, administrators, practitioners, and other thought leaders from a variety of disciplines relevant to broadening participation.
The model described offers a detailed process by which authors engaged experts in research and practice before and during the event to identify existing research and new research possibilities regarding engineering participation by persons from these underserved communities by addressing relevant theories, research questions, methods, and practices.
Julie P. Martin, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University. Her research agenda has focused on diversity and inclusion in engineering education. In particular, her NSF-funded CAREER work has investigated how social relations—operationalized as social capital—influence student academic decisions and success, especially for underrepresented and underserved students. Her CAREER research supports the need for continued proactive outreach, educational and support systems that have the potential to form “resource-rich” networks in which students receive information and resources in routine exchanges. Dr. Martin’s current projects evolve her prior research on social and cultural capital away from a normative state that requires students to conform to the mainstream institution of engineering education in an effort to promote experiences and systems that affirm/are inclusive of people from diverse backgrounds. In addition to research, she is deeply interested in STEM education policy, and held a Science and Technology Policy Fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2012-2013. Dr. Martin has held a variety of national leadership positions during her decade-long involvement in ASEE and Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). In 2016, she won the ASEE Educational Research and Methods Division Distinguished Service award.
Shannon Stefl: is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Engineering and Science Education department at Clemson University. Her research is centered on promoting inclusive and equitable research, instruction, and practice within science and engineering by examining and challenging exclusionary norms and culture within STEM education. She received her M.S. degree in physics from Clemson University, and B.S. degree in physics from Kent State University. Contact: sstefl@g.clemson.edu
Amy E. Slaton is a Professor Emerita of History at Drexel University. She writes on issues of identity in STEM education and labor, and is the author of _Race, Rigor and Selectivity in U.S. Engineering: The History of an Occupational Color Line_.
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