An official website of the United States government
Student innovation competitions and programs, hereafter called ICPs, such as hackathons, start-up incubator competitions, design challenges, boot camps, and customer discovery labs, have emerged as pipeline-builders and transformative for higher education entrepreneurial ecosystems. Moreover, ICPs foster students' STEM-based experiences and serve as a gateway for career readiness. There is a disparity in ICP participation of students underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) compared to student groups dominating STEM fields. While research supports the importance and benefits of STEM students' participation in these programs, literature discussing the students' perceptions of these programs remains limited. In order to increase diverse students' motivations for participating in ICPs and make ICPs more inclusive learning experiences for all students, this paper will answer two research questions: (i) what are the barriers that discourage student participation in ICPs, and (ii) what are the costs that associate with participation in ICPs? The primary research methodology in this paper is semi-structured interviews. Thirty-eight students (25 females vs. 13 males and 21 participants vs. 17 non-participants) were interviewed after a recruitment survey. The interview questions were crafted and analyzed based on the known scales and theories in the literature, namely the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Through student interviews, student perceptions of fitting in these co-curricular activities, i.e., ICPs, were explored, with a particular interest being students who are underrepresented in STEM. The complete recordings of the interviewee responses to interview questions were transcribed into text and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The research findings will contribute to making the innovation ecosystem more inclusive and diverse by uncovering factors that discourage students from engaging in ICPs. Two levels of barriers were identified, institutional and individual. Institutional-level barriers include “low program awareness“ and ”lack of diversity and inclusiveness,” whereas individual barriers include “not matching self-identity” and “low expectancy of success.” As for costs, apart from “opportunity cost,” “teamwork cost” has emerged to be another important cost dimension that associates with ICP participation. The ongoing research direction is to share the findings with the STEM educators and ICP organizers so that they are aware of these barriers and costs of participating in ICPs, which might be a basis for designing and testing interventions
more »
« less
Building Inclusive Student Innovation Competitions, Exhibitions, and Training Programs
There has been an emerging trend of expanding entrepreneurship educational programs/events to broader student populations. Similarly, the focus of this paper is broadening participation in student innovation competitions, exhibitions, and training programs. Therefore, through student surveys, factors and barriers affecting student participation in these co-curricular programs were explored, with a particular interest being students who are underrepresented in entrepreneurship. The survey items were crafted based on the known scales and theories in the literature, such as the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale and Self-Determination Theory. The findings revealed that the time commitment and lack of awareness were significant barriers to participation in these activities. To make student innovation competitions, exhibitions, and training programs more accessible and relatable to all students, higher education institutions should consider reframing these events and developing them, requiring less time commitment. The Expectancy-Value-Cost-based framework used in this study is also promising to study students’ engagement with entrepreneurship and innovation-focused co-curricular activities. Keywords: innovation competitions, exhibitions and training programs, participation, factors, expectancy-value-cost.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2120936
- PAR ID:
- 10357294
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1-10
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Student innovation competitions and programs (ICPs), including hackathons, start-up competitions, and customer discovery labs, have had a transformative impact on the higher education entrepreneurial ecosystem. They have also facilitated students’ experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). However, there is a disparity in the number of underrepresented students and dominant student groups participating in STEM fields. While research supports the benefits of ICP participation, literature discussing students’ perceptions of these programs remains limited. This study addresses three research questions about participation motivation (perceived values and associated costs), participation barriers, and differing perceptions among groups. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 38 students (25 females/13 males, 17 participants/21 non-participants). The analysis focused on the Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The research findings contribute to fostering diversity and inclusion within educational or professional environments by uncovering values (e.g., acquiring professional skills) and costs (e.g., opportunity costs) that students associate with motivation to engage in ICPs. Institutional and individual barriers were identified, including limited program awareness, lack of diversity, and identity mismatch. Therefore, the study intends to inform STEM educators and ICP organizers, foster inclusivity and diversity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and offer guidance for interventions.more » « less
-
Many students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields seek to expand their technical knowledge, develop an innovative mindset, and build teamwork and communication skills. To respond to this need, many higher education institutions and foundations have broadened their co-curricular program offerings to include design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, customer discovery labs, and pitch competitions that are designed to support and benefit student innovators. Faculty mentors are responsible for being available to students to answer questions, guide student thinking, and advise student teams to facilitate learning. For these students to gain crucial knowledge and at least be educationally successful in these programs, a mentor possessing key traits and using certain strategies is proven to be highly influential. While much research supports the importance and benefit of STEM students’ participation in these programs, literature discussing the effective strategies for mentoring students participating in these programs remains limited. Exploring the best mentoring practices will provide insight into how to support and prepare students for innovation competitions and their upcoming careers as well as catalyze their entrepreneurial minds for future success. Based on a series of interviews with experienced mentors of innovation competitions and programs, this paper presents a set of best practices for mentoring student innovation teams.more » « less
-
Educational programs like innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) play a pivotal role in entrepreneurial development among student participants. Students with a focus on fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) tend to benefit from participation in ICPs. Higher education institutions and foundations have broadened their co-curricular offerings to attract and support student innovators. These include design challenges, hackathons, start-up incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs. Hence, student ICPs are increasingly instrumental in shaping the education of the next generation of innovators and critical thinkers. Furthermore, organizers have a crucial role in ensuring the success and feasibility of innovation and pitch competitions. The successful implementation of such programs often entails myriad challenges and setbacks that organizers must overcome to benefit their participants. This paper aims to explore the different challenges organizers face while running student ICPs, typically non-credit, co-curricular, and team-based initiatives where student teams collaborate to address open-ended problems. The literature review and analysis of organizer interviews will explore current trends, similarities in challenges and setbacks, and provide a concise overview of best practices that organizers can adopt to ensure the success of innovation competitions and programs. The primary focus is on understanding the challenges organizers face during the establishment and execution of their ICPs.more » « less
-
Innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) are acknowledged in existing literature as effective mechanisms for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship within universities, corporations, and beyond. These ICPs (including hackathons, design challenges, pitch competitions, and others) allow student participants to expand on the knowledge gained in their classes, grow their creativity, build an innovative mindset, learn from trial and error, and improve their collaborative skills in team settings. However, with these programs also come various obstacles that have the potential to negatively impact the overall student experience. These challenges can relate to funding, organization, team dynamics, outreach, accommodation, and more, impacting how these students perceive the impacts or benefits of ICPs. This paper considers the challenges and negative experiences students have faced while participating in ICPs based on past experiences collected from student interviews. Analyzing both reported challenges and negative experiences of students provides a guide to address concerns when developing future ICPs. Understanding the type of obstacles students face in these events may be the first step in making the necessary interventions for further improving the experiences of future participants and ensuring that ICPs add value to students across majors.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
