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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>Strategies to Advance MDT as an Employer of Choice for Talent</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2413943</link>
      <description><![CDATA[State departments of transportation face a variety of challenges with recruitment and retention of staff. The transportation workforce is older than the national average with a significant portion of staff eligible to retire. New technologies and evolving agency mandates are also changing the nature of work and the type of skillsets required by personnel, intensifying competition with private industry for in-demand workers. Recruitment and retention challenges are exacerbated by tight labor markets in rural states like Montana. The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) will want to implement evidence-based strategies to successfully compete for qualified workers.

The proposed research will assist MDT in developing strategies to make the agency an employer of choice. The focus of the research will be in assessing three primary areas related to workforce development: 1. Characterize Leadership Motivation and Goals. How does MDT leadership formulate its workforce development goals and motivations and how are they communicated and operationalized through internal and external communications, policies, and practices? Are current approaches effective in achieving goals? The research will review agency communications, strategic plans, and other documentation in conjunction with staff interviews to identify existing attitudes, accountability measures, programs, and organizational structures in place to advance human resource goals as well as to identify challenges or barriers. 2. Workplace Culture Assessment. The project will develop and distribute a survey about workplace culture to MDT employees. The researchers will work with MDT Human Resources staff to ensure that the survey includes relevant demographic classifications and follows agency protocols. The survey will be augmented by in-depth interviews with staff from a variety of occupational groupings, career stages, and departments/divisions within the agency. The purpose of the climate assessment is to assess employee engagement and to identify any issues that exist about how employees perceive their workplace environment.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 06 Aug 2024 11:04:10 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The Impact of Children's School Format on Women Professionals in STEM</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2244203</link>
      <description><![CDATA[With many school closures during the pandemic resulting in long-term changes (more than just a month) to child education format (e.g., online or hybrid), many women took on increasingly greater home and childcare responsibilities. Even prior to the pandemic, the retention of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faced many challenges. The research project described herein tried to capture the experiences of women in STEM with children, as (rather than in retrospect) they navigated various school formats during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The authors anticipate that the results of this research will highlight the challenges facing women in STEM with children when it comes to the education of their children. Three surveys were administered to women in STEM: one in October of 2020, one in March of 2021, and one in May of 2021. Forty-six, ten and three survey respondents replied to each survey. The results suggest that while overall survey respondents remained concerned about impacts that COVID-19 may have on them and their families, the level of concern seemed to dissipate over the successive surveys. Overall, women in STEM reported very limited options for additional support (e.g., a nanny). The hybrid school format was reported as requiring some of the most significant levels of support followed by online and then in-person. As a whole, women in STEM whose children were attending school in-person reported little to no impacts, often instead remarking on impacts felt during the initial lockdowns. Women in STEM with elementary school-aged children seemed to report the most significant impact. The inability to work uninterrupted was one of the most significant challenges suggested, as there are implications that the work that women in STEM are conducting requires periods of meta focus. Therefore, while the flexibility of allowing women in STEM to work at home can bring some benefits, ultimately, when her children are also at home, the benefits are significantly mitigated. Finally, while the three surveys were expected to be able to capture the oscillation between school formats, at least one survey respondent described many changes between subsequent surveys.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Sep 2023 19:02:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2244203</guid>
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