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1. Familial Influences Affecting Student Pathways to Engineering at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions

   Brisbane, Julia; Gallagher, Eliza; Dunwoody, L. Armoni; Hines, Abigail; Murphy, Joseph C.; Patel, Khushikumari; Pfirman, Aubrie L.; Roberson, Shannon L.; and Gramopadhye, Anand (April 2019, 2019 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity)

   Improving retention rates of engineering students in higher education has been a nationwide goal aimed at expanding and diversifying the engineering workforce. Initial mathematics placement in institutions is a major predictor for attrition, with 52% of students from two-year institutions starting below calculus as opposed to 14.4% of students from four-year institutions starting below calculus. Consequently, national data shows that the attrition rate for engineering students at two-year institutions is 69% while the attrition rate for engineering students at four-year institutions is 37%. As the prevalence of students taking an indirect path towards completing an engineering degree increases, the examination of those students’ pathways towards an engineering degree is necessary. In the SC:SUPPORTED project, we conducted focus groups with students from two-year and four-year institutions across the state of South Carolina. Themes related to academic influence, social influence and family influence emerged from analysis of the focus group data. Within family influences, which are the ways family members affect a student’s persistence in education, choice of major, and choice of institution, there were differences between students attending two-year institutions and those attending four-year institutions. Family members include parents, siblings, other relatives, and also “fictive” family. The goal of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence why students choose engineering and choose to attend a two-year or four-year institution. 

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2. Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED) Results from Year One

   Gallagher, E.; Brown, C.J.; Brown, D.A.; Frady, K.; Marcanikova, M.; Atamturktur, S.; Ihekweazu, S.; Matthews, M.; Rabb, R.; Roberts, R.; et al (June 2018, ASEE annual conference & exposition proceedings)

   National data indicate that initial mathematics course placement in college is a strong predictor of persistence to degree in engineering, with students placed in calculus persisting at nearly twice the rate of those placed below calculus. Within the state of South Carolina, approximately 95% of engineering-intending students who initially place below calculus are from in-state. The “Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED),” a Design and Development Launch Pilot funded under the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program, is a coalition of secondary districts and post-secondary institutions throughout South Carolina, joining together to address the systemic issue of mathematical preparation for engineering-intending students. First year results include an analysis of system-wide data to identify prevalent educational pathways within the state, and the mathematical milestones along those pathways taken by engineering-intending students. Using individual data for all 21,656 first-year students in engineering-related fields enrolled in a public post-secondary institution in the state, we identified specific pathways with high rates of placement in or above calculus, pathways with balanced rates of placement in/below calculus, pathways with high rates of placement below calculus, and ‘missing’ pathways, defined as those which produce disproportionately few engineering-intending students [5]. For example, rates of placement in or above calculus among engineering majors ranged from below 17% in eight counties of origin to nearly 100% in four counties of origin. First-year results also included analysis of qualitative data from focus groups conducted at key points along each pathway category to identify factors that do not readily appear in institutional data (e.g., impact of guidance counselor recommendations in selection of last high school math course taken). Broad themes emerging from the focus groups provided additional insight into potential interventions at multiple points along educational pathways. Focus group data are contributing to the development of a survey to be administered in Year 2 to all post-secondary engineering majors statewide, with the goal of creating structural equation models of the factors leading to placement at or below the calculus level upon entry into an engineering major. These models will then allow us to design targeted interventions at points of maximal potential impact. 

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3. Toward Understanding Engineering Transfer Students' Transitions from Community Colleges to 4-year Institutions

   Morris, K; Duerr, J; Baghdadchi, S; Lin, B (June 2024, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Community college students who transfer to 4-year institutions for engineering degrees are known to face significant adversity. Some common challenges they face include having minimal financial resources, a lack of engineering-oriented mentorship, and prolonged time to degree. Engineering transfer students are naturally diverse, ranging in age, experience, and motivation. Some have carved paths that include, for example, military service, starting a family of their own, or switching their career aims. The nuanced nature of the transfer student experience challenges higher education professionals to identify innovative ways for transfer students to meet their individualized goals. The engineering transfer students aim to transition from a previous institution to a 4-year baccalaureate institution, obtain an engineering undergraduate or graduate degree, and, finally, transition into an engineering-oriented career. These are major transitions. Schlossberg has identified factors that influence an individual’s ability to cope with their experienced transitions, namely, situation, self, support, and strategies. Through this lens, the transfer experiences and transfer shocks undergone by these ambitious students may be better understood and improved. A partnership between a 4-year institution, the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and two community colleges, Imperial Valley College (IVC) and Southwestern College (SWC), has been formed to better understand and support transfer engineering students as they make major transitions in, through, and out of their respective institutions. Through this partnership, a supportive program called EMPOWER has been devised to assemble cohorts of Pell-grant-eligible engineering transfer students so that their diverse and timely needs can be addressed. Scholarships and high-impact practices have been offered to these students. Program activities include cross-campus visits, faculty, and alumni mentorship, financially supported research opportunities, and cohort-supporting social opportunities. Through focus groups and survey questionnaires, the transition experience for these students is further investigated. In this paper, an outline is provided detailing the common challenges faced by engineering transfer students as they transition toward their careers, along with high-impact practices to support them. 

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4. Developing and Sustaining Faculty-Driven, Curriculum-Centered Partnerships Between Two-Year Colleges and Four-Year Institutions

   De Leone, Charles J; Price, Edward; Sabella, Mel S.; Van Duzor, Andrea G. (July 2019, Journal of college science teaching)

   Recent reports have highlighted the varied and complicated paths STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students often take to graduation, which may include attending multiple institutions and increased time to degree. These issues can be addressed, in part, by better coherence between institutions of higher education, such as two-year colleges (TYCs) and four-year colleges and universities. This article presents a cross-case comparison of two faculty-driven partnerships between TYCs and four-year institutions. Outcomes include impacts on individual faculty and increased coherence across the partnering institutions, resulting in course and program transformation, evolution of faculty identity and roles, better coherence and alignment across institutions, and faculty participation in national dialogue surrounding educational transformation. These two partnerships developed and operated independently, but common features include a concrete programmatic focus; regular, equitable discussions between faculty from different institutions; participation of faculty from institutions with similar missions and values; and initial external funding. These cases illustrate how faculty-driven, non-hierarchical, and discipline-based partnerships can facilitate faculty growth, while increasing coherence between two- and four year institutions in an effort to better serve STEM students. 

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5. Developing and Sustaining Faculty- Driven, Curriculum-Centered Partnerships Between Two-Year Colleges and Four-Year Institutions

   De Leone, Charles; Price, Edward; Sabella, Mel; Van Duzor, Andrea (July 2019, Journal of college science teaching)

   Recent reports have highlighted the varied and complicated paths STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students often take to graduation, which may include attending multiple institutions and increased time to degree. These issues can be addressed, in part, by better coherence between institutions of higher education, such as two-year colleges (TYCs) and four-year colleges and universities. This article presents a cross-case comparison of two faculty-driven partnerships between TYCs and four-year institutions. Outcomes include impacts on individual faculty and increased coherence across the partnering institutions, resulting in course and program transformation, evolution of faculty identity and roles, better coherence and alignment across institutions, and faculty participation in national dialogue surrounding educational transformation. These two partnerships developed and operated independently, but common features include a concrete programmatic focus; regular, equitable discussions between faculty from different institutions; participation of faculty from institutions with similar missions and values; and initial external funding. These cases illustrate how faculty-driven, nonhierarchical, and discipline-based partnerships can facilitate faculty growth, while increasing coherence between two- and four-year institutions in an effort to better serve STEM students. 

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