Institution/Organization
Northeastern University
Principal Investigator
Karl Reid
Co-Principal Investigators
Michael Silevitch
Claire Duggan
Karen Horting
Richard Harris
Goal: to achieve a national target of 100,000/30,000 (BS/MS-PhD) degrees for underrepresented minorities and women by 2026 and establish a future growth rate that can substantially close the gap.
The Engineering PLUS Alliance will have a broad reach, expanding to 150 higher education institutions in five major regions of the country. The work of the Alliance is designed to learn what is most effective at broadening participation in engineering education, particularly at the critical transition points for students. Its work will enable wider adoption of best practices through the training of change agents that can work effectively both regionally and nationally.
The intellectual merit of the Alliance mission is tied to the research which is aimed at answering the question: How does regional scaling occur across the Alliance? Three levels of investigation will be pursued; Q1) What role does evidence play in scaling the most promising engagement activities across a given region and the Alliance overall? Q2) How do the social interactions and the resultant networks affect scaling? and Q3) What are the historic and operative frameworks of how gender, race and ethnicity, pathway opportunities and goal attainment are addressed? The research results will create new knowledge and help others work toward achieving inclusive participation in engineering.