| NSF Org: |
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 24, 2003 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 12, 2005 |
| Award Number: | 0241337 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jolene Jesse
jjesse@nsf.gov (703)292-7303 SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2003 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2006 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $826,593.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $755,481.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2004 = $140,117.00 FY 2005 = $0.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 BERNARD BARUCH WAY NEW YORK NY US 10010-5585 (646)312-2211 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1 BERNARD BARUCH WAY NEW YORK NY US 10010-5585 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Cross-Directorate Activities, INNOVATION & ORG SCIENCES(IOS), CCLI - ASA, EngEd-Engineering Education, Studies of Policy Sci Eng Tech |
| Primary Program Source: |
app-0104 app-0105 app-0106 app-0107 app-0403 app-0404 app-0405 app-0407 |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
From a variety of sources and commentators, a persistent set of issues has posed a challenge to the profession of engineering. From concerns about rapid advances in technology to environmental protection to questions of gender and racial fairness and representation, the profession of engineering faces important challenges. Two new educational models are responsive to these professional concerns, Smith College's woman-only program with a strong commitment to nurturing a commitment to social responsibility and the new Olin College of Engineering with a focus on blending entrepreneurship with engineering.
The development of an engineering program at Smith College and the establishment of an entirely new college of engineering at Olin create an extraordinary opportunity to take advantage, by systematically observing, what can be viewed as a natural experiment. To "control" for the role of innovation in professional engineering education, two steps are proposed: (1) the development of a systematic review, using secondary sources, of innovations in engineering education and (2) parallel studies of students and other key stakeholders at two other engineering programs, MIT and the University of Massachusetts.
To test empirically the relationship between neo-institutional theories of change and students' development, a six-year panel study will be employed at four sites: Smith College, Olin College of Engineering, MIT and the University of Massachusetts. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the investigators plan to follow a panel of students at each school through their classroom and college relationships, summer internships, and occupation immediately following graduate to develop a model of how the several programs embed or overcome gendered and racial stratification in the next generation of American engineers, among other issues. Also, they propose to conduct interviews with key stakeholders at the respective institutions at two points in time, year one and four of the study.
The Smith and Olin initiatives constitute an unprecedented opportunity to examine the status, rationale, and norms that surround separatist and coeducational models to insure equity and balance in the professions and, as such, a unique opportunity to develop effective policy for engineering education. For example, they offer an opportunity to explore the norms and practices of engineering education that inhibit or promote creative leadership for responsible change, including transformations in the gender and racial composition of the profession. Equally, these initiatives provide an unprecedented opportunity to test important propositions in neo-institutional theories of social change and in theories of professional development. Together, the coincident opening of two new programs in engineering education creates an opportunity to contribute to the development of effective policies for engineering education to enhance equity and to contribute to the development of social science theory.
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