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This article presents preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of a measure of self-authorship derived from 18 items in the Career Decision Making Survey. The research conceptualizes a quantitative measure of self-authorship as a three-part score that reflects level of agreement with statements at each of the first three phases of development toward self-authorship. The instrument could be used to assess the outcomes of initiatives designed to promote growth in the development of self-authorship.

Background Groups within and outside of educational institutions are interested in factors that influence satisfaction among students enrolled in the engineering major as well as elements within the college environment that shape students' intentions to work in engineering in the future and whether these elements differ by gender. Purpose (Hypothesis) This study identified gender differences on indicators of the undergraduate experience including faculty‐related and student‐related variables as well as measures of satisfaction with the institutional environment that are related to satisfaction with the engineering major and intent to pursue a career in engineering ten years from now. Design/Method The mixed methods approach used for this investigation involved nine institutions with engineering undergraduate degree programs. An online questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students enrolled in engineering. Qualitative data was collected through focus group interviews with students at each of the nine participating institutions. Results Findings reveal that satisfaction with the engineering major does not translate directly to pursuing a career in engineering, particularly among women. In terms of elements of the undergraduate experience, some types of interactions with faculty and peers have both short‐ and long‐term impacts on interest in engineering as a major and as a career. Conclusions Creating learning environments that emphasize care and respect for students as well as overseeing student interaction during group work can make a difference in students' satisfaction in the engineering major and in interest in engineering as a career, particularly for women.

Current career literature provides little insight into how women interpret career-relevant experiences, advice, or information, particularly when it is contradictory. This paper uses findings from interviews with 40 college women to provide empirical confirmation for the link between self-authorship and career decision making. Findings underscore the role of inter-connectivity in women's decision making, particularly involving parents, and distinguish ways that this can reflect self-authorship. Self-authorship provides the theoretical framework to understand how students respond to career advice and suggests that students may reject career advice when it requires the cognitive complexity to engage diverse viewpoints. Findings endorse educational activities that require students to juggle competing knowledge claims to make complex decisions.

In this paper, central elements of the Solar Shield project, launched to design and establish an experimental system capable of forecasting the space weather effects on high-voltage power transmission system, are described. It will be shown how Sun-Earth system data and models hosted at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) are used to generate two-level magnetohydrodynamics-based forecasts providing 1-2 day and 30-60 min lead-times. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) represents the end-user, the power transmission industry, in the project. EPRI integrates the forecast products to an online display tool providing information about space weather conditions to the member power utilities. EPRI also evaluates the economic impacts of severe storms on power transmission systems. The economic analysis will quantify the economic value of the generated forecasting system. The first version of the two-level forecasting system is currently running in real-time at CCMC. An initial analysis of the system's capabilities has been completed, and further analysis is being carried out to optimize the performance of the system. Although the initial results are encouraging, definite conclusions about system's performance can be given only after more extensive analysis, and implementation of an automatic evaluation process using forecasted and observed geomagnetically induced currents from different nodes of the North American power transmission system. The final output of the Solar Shield will be a recommendation for an optimal forecasting system that may be transitioned into space weather operations.A. Pulkkinen (

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A mixed method design was used to conduct a content analysis of the mission statements of colleges of engineering to map inductively derived codes with the EC 2000 outcomes and to test if any of the codes were significantly associated with institutions with reasonably strong representation of women. Most institution's (25 of 48) mission statement had two or fewer of the outcomes endorsed by the accrediting agency. The diversity code was significantly related to the representation of women, but is not one of the outcomes identified by the accrediting agency. The research demonstrates how mixed methods can be applied to content analysis.

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