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Title: Work in Progress: Framing Engineering as Community Activism for Values-Driven Engineering
This work in progress paper describes results from a NSF Research in the Formation of Engineers grant. The overarching objective of this research is to understand how framing engineering as an altruistic profession affects the engineering identity development of low socioeconomic status (SES) African American 8th - 10th grade students from an urban area within a predominantly rural Southern state. While there has been significant focus on increasing STEM knowledge and career interests for underrepresented minority (predominantly African American) low SES students from rural regions of these states, less focus has been paid to engineering specifically and to urban areas in this region. Little is known about how the intersections of race, poverty, local environment, and regional culture affect this group’s perceptions of potential engineering career pathways. This research seeks to understand the effects of different interventions on students’ self-efficacy and interest in engineering. In the first part, the effects of an existing Saturday STEM program were investigated. In the second part, the effects of a camp and mentoring program which highlights the positive societal impacts of engineering are being investigated. This paper highlights the structure of these programs and findings to date  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1826181
NSF-PAR ID:
10182630
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
ASEE Southeast Regional Conference
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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