Developing the Next Generation of Career and Technical Education Researchers Through Mentoring Partnerships

• In Event: 25.047 - Pipeline to the Global Workforce: Investing in Career and Technical Education for the Next Generation

Abstract

[INSTITUTION] is a research-extensive land-grant university dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge and engagement with public and private partners. [INSTITUTION] is proposing a Fellows in Postsecondary CTE Research program to support the creation of the next generation of researchers. The proposed program will (1) create a community to engage and support postsecondary CTE researchers, (2) engage postsecondary CTE scholars and leaders to create a support network including professional development, (3) implement a mentor program for postsecondary CTE researchers, (4) provide support to disseminate research on postsecondary CTE, and (5) create structures to help support Fellows obtaining employment in the field as postsecondary CTE researchers. This paper will focus on the mentor program. The program will create an advisory board of those leaders in postsecondary CTE including researchers, faculty, executive leaders, and business. The program will seek to recruit 15 postdoctoral and doctoral researchers from a variety of academic disciplines (education, economics, sociology, business, etc.) that are proposing to conduct research in postsecondary CTE. Literature in CTE appears in many of these academic areas examples include labor policy (Backes, Holzer, & Velez, 2015), educational policy (Dadgar & Trimble, 2015; Cappelli, 2015), higher education (D’Amico, 2016), human resources (Hanushek, Schwerdt, Woessmann, & Zhang, 2017), and economics (Holzer, 2015). Fellows will be provided research training, support to disseminate research, policy (Shulock, Chisholm, Moore, & Harris, 2018), mentoring, and socialization into professional organizations.

After the creation of an advisory board, selection of participants, and an orientation, participants will be provided with details on a mentorship and data coach. Each fellow will be assigned a CTE research mentor. Gordon (2016) stated that mentorship is needed to sustain the profession and national CTE research organization ACTER. Mentors will receive online training and material to support their work with the fellow. The fellows will be provided a stipend annually to meet face-to-face with their mentor once at their locations and once at a professional conference. Mentors and fellows will be asked to meet monthly. A tool will be created to match the mentor and mentees based on previous work done in partnership with the Aspen Institute. Mentors will also be asked to review the research project, conference proposals, and serve as a resource. This part of the project will be evaluated not only on how it has impacted the mentee but also the mentor.

Author

• James E. Bartlett, North Carolina State University