Postsecondary Career and Technical Education Research Fellows Program at NC State University Now Accepting Applications for Class of 2020

The Bridging the Gaps in Postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Fellows Program at North Carolina State University, sponsored by the ECMC Foundation, is seeking research fellows from around the country for the 2020 program.

The 2020 program will run from April 2020-April 2021 and will support postdoctoral, dissertation and graduate level fellows who conduct research on current issues related to the field of postsecondary career and technical education (CTE).

Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1, 2019. Virtual information sessions will be held Monday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT and Friday, Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. EDT. Register to attend the information session at https://cte-fellows.ced.ncsu.edu/news-new/apply/.

The program is open to applicants from universities and educational organizations across the U.S. who may be postdoctoral researchers, entering the dissertation or master’s thesis stage of research, or in a graduate program. Applicants are welcome from a variety of postsecondary institutions and academic disciplines, such as education, economics, sociology and business.

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“This fellowship has been a fantastic opportunity to connect with a community of emerging scholars in postsecondary CTE.” — Walt Ecton, a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University

“This program provides me the opportunity to meaningfully connect field experience and research.” — Sam Mabini, who earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and is currently working with Professor Frankie Laanan at the University of Alabama

“The mentoring program . . . has been a crucial component to my progress in this fellowship. I can’t stress the point enough that having one-on-one, sound, practical advice from a skilled researcher in my area of interest has sharpened my focus, skills, and ambitions as a future scholar in the area of postsecondary CTE.” — Adam Atwell, a dissertation fellow from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte studying CTE credential transferability

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Current fellows are located at various sponsor host institutions and at NC State and have a variety of backgrounds.

“The goal of the project is to develop the next generation of postsecondary CTE researchers and create a community of postsecondary CTE scholars,” said James Bartlett, the program principal investigator.

Preference for the 2020 program will be given to research proposals that address postsecondary CTE in terms of improving student success or using CTE to address larger problems such as economic mobility. The program uses the pillars of learning, transfer, completion, equity and labor market outcomes to define student success. Projects can address one or more of these areas, and other areas of postsecondary CTE are encouraged.

Fellows will receive research stipends, research training, support to disseminate research, education on policy, mentoring and socialization into professional organizations. The program is designed to equip fellows with the network, tools, experience and skill set to improve student learning, equity and labor market outcomes related to CTE.

Fellows will meet face-to-face at two national conferences and attend regular virtual meetings and webinars. Fellows will each be matched with a national postsecondary CTE research mentor who will support the fellows’ research and research methods development and will receive travel budgets to attend at least two national conferences during the year-long program.

“This is an amazing opportunity to re-energize the research pipeline for postsecondary CTE research,” said Michelle Bartlett, the journal editor for Career and Technical Education Research.

For more information on the application process, download the 2020 Application Guide or attend a virtual information session.