Project Goals and Objectives

The goal of the project was identify research areas on broadening participation of LGBTQ, LIFG, veterans and persons with disabilities. Ultimately, as a result of this project, future research will be

  • popularized (as in: gaining more research practitioners from more communities),
  • legitimized (as in: made reasonable and welcome among other engineering education research topics), and
  • enriched (as in:, made more rigorous and extensive in its critical aims).

To achieve the project goal, the conference leaders—Drs Julie Martin, Clemson University; Amy Slaton, Drexel University; and Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington—along with planning committee members completed the following objectives:

  1. developed an understanding of how to best increase research capacity in the area of study proposed
  2. conducted a conference of 70-80 individuals representing a wide range of stakeholder groups who will contribute to the project goal
  3. developed summary proceedings for the conference that include a synthesis of input presented at the meeting as a contribution toward creating a research agenda around the project goal
  4. disseminated findings through the project website, online forums, and conferences that project leaders and participants routinely attend