While post-secondary enrollment rates have increased for all groups over the last 40 years, higher education enrollment, and specifically enrollment in engineering programs, continues to vary based on demographic characteristics. As a result, efforts to spark interest in engineering among PreK-12 underrepresented students have increased substantially in recent years. However, as past work has demonstrated, interest is not always sufficient to help students pursue engineering majors, particularly for rural students. In many rural communities, strong family networks, community values, and local economic drivers often play a significant role in shaping students’ career choices. To account for these contextual factors, thismore »
Communities Support Engineering as a College Major Choice
Broadening participation in engineering is critical given the gap between the nation’s need for
engineering graduates and its production of them. Efforts to spark interest in engineering among
PreK-12 students have increased substantially in recent years as a result. However, past research
has demonstrated that interest is not always sufficient to help students pursue engineering
majors, particularly for rural students. In many rural communities, influential adults (family,
friends, teachers) are often the primary influence on career choice, while factors such as
community values, lack of social and cultural capital, limited course availability, and inadequate
financial resources act as potential barriers. To account for these contextual factors, this project
shifts the focus from individual students to the communities to understand how key stakeholders
and organizations support engineering as a major choice and addresses the following questions:
RQ1. What do current undergraduate engineering students who graduated from rural high
schools describe as influences on their choice to attend college and pursue engineering as
a post-secondary major?
RQ2. How does the college choice process differ for rural students who enrolled in a 4-year
university immediately after graduating from high school and those who transferred from
a 2-year institution?
RQ3. How do community members describe the resources that serve as key supports as well as
the barriers that hinder support in more »
- Award ID(s):
- 1734834
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10166544
- Journal Name:
- Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education
- ISSN:
- 2332-368X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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