Update on CPST Programs and How to Use NSF’s WebCASPAR Database

System

Eleanor L. Babco

AGEP Evaluation Capacity Workshop

San Juan, Puerto Rico

January 28, 2006

CPST: Current Programs/Activities

Publications– Professional Women & Minorities,

http://www.cpst.org/pwm15TOC.cfm – Salaries of Scientists, Engineers & Technicians,

http://www.cpst.org/TOCSal21F.cfm – CPST Comments,

http://www.cpst.org/HRDATA/Pages/ComResult.cfm?xDocSource=S

– Numerous online publications including Preparing Women and Minorities for the IT Workforce: The Role of

Nontraditional Educational Pathways  The Status of Native Americans in Science and Engineering  The Changing Nature of Work and Workers in Science and

Engineering 

CPST: Current Programs/Activities

STEM Workforce Project (Supported by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)

– The Foreign Born in Science and Technology, http://www.cpst.org/STEM/STEM4_Report.pdf

– Sisyphus Revisited: Participation by Minorities in STEM Occupations, 1994-2004 http://www.cpst.org/STEM/STEM3_Report.pdf

– Women in Science and Technology: the Sisyphean Challenge of Change, http://www.cpst.org/STEM/STEM2_Report.pdf

– Twenty Years of Scientific and Technical Employment http://www.cpst.org/STEM/STEM1_Report.pdf

– Data Archives for 4 reports – total of 46 tables

CPST: Current Programs/Activities

Professional Science Master’s Project (Supported by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)

– Website: www.sciencemasters.org – Contains: Database of 603 science master's programs offered by

241 colleges/universities in 44 states plus Puerto Rico and DC. Searchable by discipline, state and university

Database of over 180 data tables covering science master’s education and the master's workforce in all fields of science, math and engineering. Tables searchable by category and keyword. Graphs display selected data.

Articles and other information on the PSM

CPST: Current Programs/Activities

Minorities and Non-Minorities in Academia: A Science & Engineering Career Path Comparison (Supported by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation) The research will study:

– Whether the representation of minorities from traditionally underrepresented groups is lower, higher, or about the same as their representation in the relevant pools at various career junctures and

– Whether minority postdoctorates and minority faculty members are distributed similarly to majority groups across institutions/departments of varying types (i.e. research intensive/extensive, master’s institutions, etc.) or whether they tend to be concentrated in specific types of institutions/ departments.

CPST: Current Programs/Activities

Minorities and Non-Minorities in Academia: A Science & Engineering Career Path Comparison (continued). Primary Data Sources to be utilized include:

– From NSF: The Survey of Graduate Students & Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering; and Survey of Doctorate Recipients

– The Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA databases for The American College Teacher series

– The National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty, USOE – 2003-2005 Sigma Xi Survey of Postdoctoral

Researchers – National Analysis of Diversity in Science & Engineering

Faculties at Research Universities (Donna Nelson)

NSF/SRS’s WebCASPAR Database, http://webcaspar.nsf.gov

Contains information about academic science and engineering resources.

Contains information from several of SRS's academic surveys plus information from a other sources such as NCES.

Designed to provide multi-year information about individual fields of S&E at individual academic institutions

NSF/SRS’s WebCASPAR Database

Users can select variables of interest and specify whether and how information should be aggregated.

Information can be output in hard copy form or in Lotus, Excel or SAS formats for additional manipulation

While data on S&E is emphasized, data resources also provide information on non-S&E fields and higher education in general.

NSF/SRS’s WebCASPAR Database

How to Use?– 1) Register and create a password.– 2) Two tutorials are available: a) Creating a table

from one data source; and b) Creating a table from multiple data sources.

– 3) Frequently requested tables are available as well as those that you have saved previously.

– 4) Build a table of your own

NSF/SRS’s WebCASPAR Database

How to Build Your Own Table– 1) Choose your data source(s)– 2) More than one kind of data may be available from your

chosen data source(s). If so, choose what kind of data you want.

– 3) Chose your classification variables. Year is always there, but user selects other variables.

– 4) Can choose as many variables as you want, but the more chosen, the longer it takes to build the table.

NSF/SRS’s WebCASPAR Database

5) After choosing all your analysis variables, edit them – otherwise you will have too large a table.

6) Format your table 7) View your table 8) Choose your output – SAS, Excel, etc. 9) If format not what you want, reformat the table; if

variables not what you want, modify analysis variables. DO NOT, DO NOT USE YOUR BACK KEY TO RETURN. YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR CHOICES.