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Efforts dedicated towards broadening participation for Black and other underrepresented groups in engineering at post-secondary institutions has intensified in recent decades. However, Black women have not yet reached parity in undergraduate engineering degree attainment. To elucidate this trend, data from the U.S. Department of Education was analyzed to investigate postsecondary completion for Black women in engineering. Results indicate that the percentage of degrees awarded to Black women has slightly decreased during the last five years when compared to women of all races. However, the percentage of Black women obtaining engineering degrees has increased when compared to the general Black engineering population, with a larger percentage of Black women obtaining engineering degrees compared to their male counterparts than any other ethnicity. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations for research avenues that may strengthen knowledge around the enrollment and retention of Black women in engineering at post-secondary institutions.
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Students’ Perceptions of an REU Summer Internship Program and their Engineering Identity Development: An Equity-Centered Analysis
In this research paper, we explore the relationship between undergraduate students’ engineering identity development and their experiences before and during a materials science REU summer internship program. Insufficient diversity in engineering—and STEM fields overall—may impede scientific advancement and stifle innovation [1]. Yet, people of color and women remain highly underrepresented in engineering. According to the National Center for Education Statistics [2], there have been slight increases between 1998 and 2018 in the percentage of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to women (from 18.6% to 22.2%) and to Latino citizens and permanent residents (from 6.8% to 10.9%). Meanwhile, the percentage of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black U.S. citizens and permanent residents decreased from 5% in 1998 to 3.9% in 2018. This entrenched underrepresentation suggests a persistent and systemic problem remains in engineering, as demonstrated in other recent studies [3], [4]. Accordingly, our research examines the experiences of students participating in a broadening participation intervention while attending to their prior experiences in engineering and how their postsecondary experiences in and beyond the intervention shape their engineering identity development.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1920670
- PAR ID:
- 10436885
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE annual conference exposition proceedings
- ISSN:
- 2153-5868
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1-15
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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