EDC Partners with Peter Kiewit Foundation on Engineering Academy Evaluation

EDC has been selected by the Peter Kiewit Foundation to conduct a six-year evaluation of the Foundation’s Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy (PKFEA) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (Lincoln and Omaha campuses). The PKFEA seeks to ensure all students achieve long-term economic success through rewarding careers in engineering, computing, and construction. The evaluation is designed to better understand what supports are critical for advancing students with financial need through an engineering degree and into careers in engineering, construction, and computing in Nebraska.

PKFEA aims to support students who show financial need and demonstrate interest and commitment to advancing women in engineering, computing, or construction, by providing them with the necessary resources to pursue careers in these fields. By doing so, PKFEA is addressing in Nebraska an urgent workforce challenge that many other states share. Engineering fields are facing a talent shortage.

>EDC and PKFEA and Foundation leaders will co-design the evaluation, administer annual student surveys, and conduct a longitudinal analysis to track outcomes and career paths for students who participate in the program. A key feature of the evaluation will involve the EDC team interviewing PKFEA students, PKFEA program staff, Peter Kiewit Foundation staff, University of Nebraska College of Engineering leaders and faculty, and industry partners to gain their perspectives on the program’s challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.

We are so proud to partner with the Peter Kiewit Foundation and the PKFEA on this evaluation,” says Dr. Leslie Goodyear, EDC distinguished scholar/advisor, who will serve as principal investigator. “The findings from our study will be of interest and relevance to universities in Nebraska and nationwide.”

Learn more about EDC’s research and evaluation work and STEM education and workforce development work.