RAISE - Research Academic-Work Integration in STEM Education, Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas
Regents - $775,897
Project Focus and Goal
The main goal is to start a research agenda into the question how working affects students in STEM, and how studies affect the work students do. We know students a UTEP work besides their studies, and they often work a lot. Research into student success takes work into account, yet we know little about the relationship between work and studies beyond how many hours of work affect success. We want to shed light on how work and studying affect one another and what institutions can do to better support working students and use their work experience as assets.Significance of the Grant
This grant brings together researchers from the College of Education, the College of Engineering, and the Career Center. The combination of viewpoints and experiences has allowed us to ask research questions that are strongly rooted in both theory and practice. This project marks the start of a larger research agenda, it is not just another project! Through the grant the team will be able to hire an assistant research professor and two post-docs who will help me and the team to create a sustainable research group on this topic.Project Collaborators
This project is a joint effort from the College of Education (involved researchers are Dr. Hsu, Dr. Strobel, Dr. Cisneros, Dr. Golding, and Dr. Van Den Bogaard), from the College of Engineering (Dr. Golding, and Mr. Gabby Gandara), and Ms. Betsy Castro from the Career Center.Excitement Surrounding the Grant
“I have done a lot of research into student success, and I have always been interested in the question why we do not treat students’ work experience as an asset, especially in STEM, where many students bring diverse experience that if often related to their studies. Early last year I had a conversation with Ms. Castro and Mr. Gandara about this topic, and we discussed what we were each curious about when it comes to working students. The seed for this grant was planted in that meeting and from there onwards I learned that many colleagues shared my curiosity. I’m excited to work with excellent colleagues who all bring valuable viewpoints and experiences to the table, and to complement this team with three excellent new colleagues!” – Dr. Maartje Van Den Bogaard.