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1. Shaping Environmental Attitude and Behavior Through Academic Interventions

   Solomon, J; Song, H; McNeal, K; Beckingham, L; Lazar, K (June 2025, ASEE)

   ASEE (Ed.)

   This paper presents four years (2021-2024) of data from a study that aims to understand engineering students' environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior at different levels in a prominent HBCU. Through extensive surveys developed as part of this project, students' ecological knowledge and higher-level environmental behavior were explored. In this context, the study also investigated their willingness and preparedness to pursue careers in the industries developing sustainable resources. With a focus on imparting these qualities, a pedagogical system with a comprehensive pool of interventions has been designed and implemented in a senior-level mechanical engineering course. The paper summarizes the survey development process and the data that explores the impact of the intervention on students' ecological knowledge, behavior, attitudes, and job decisions. The study indicates that early academic interventions can shape students' environmental attitudes and behavior and help prepare a diverse renewable energy workforce for the future. 

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2. Building High-Level Environmental Behavior into HBCU Engineering

   J. T. Solomon, S. Poozesh (June 2023, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   This work-in-progress paper explores links between engineering students' environmental awareness and their intended environmental behavior at different levels in a prominent HBCU. Through extensive surveys developed as part of this project, students' higher-level behavior, manifested by their willingness and preparedness to pursue careers in the industries developing sustainable resources, has been explored. To maximize the high-level behavior and sustainability competencies, a pedagogical system with a comprehensive pool of interventions has also been developed and implemented in a senior-level mechanical engineering course. In this paper, we report the initial survey response data and details of the intervention strategies, which are intended to develop scalable educational approaches and guidelines for building high-level environmental behavior in the next-generation diverse renewable energy workforce. 

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3. Building High-Level Environmental Behavior into HBCU Engineering

   J. T. Solomon, S. Poozesh (January 2023, ASEE 2023 annual conference)

   This work-in-progress paper explores links between engineering students' environmental awareness and their intended environmental behavior at different levels in a prominent HBCU. Through extensive surveys developed as part of this project, students' higher-level behavior, manifested by their willingness and preparedness to pursue careers in the industries developing sustainable resources, has been explored. To maximize the high-level behavior and sustainability competencies, a pedagogical system with a comprehensive pool of interventions has also been developed and implemented in a senior-level mechanical engineering course. In this paper, we report the initial survey response data and details of the intervention strategies, which are intended to develop scalable educational approaches and guidelines for building high-level environmental behavior in the next-generation diverse renewable energy workforce. 

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4. Development of Engineering Identity

   Khan, M. J. (April 2020, ASEE GSW Coneference)

   Academic success of students in engineering has been reported in research literature to be correlated to the development of their engineering identity. This paper provides results of a cross-sectional study of undergraduate students’ development of engineering identity at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). A validated 11-item questionnaire on engineering identity was administered to freshmen through seniors. The data was analyzed to determine correlations between engineering identity, time spent in college, and academic success. This work is supported by NSF Grant# 1832041. 

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5. A Review of the Literature on Students’ Experiences in Historically Black Colleges and Universities Dual-Degree Engineering Programs

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46485  

   Headley, Makayla; Fletcher, Trina; Benson, Lisa (June 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have faced challenges in developing and maintaining engineering programs due to the lack of equitable resources including funds and technology. Partnerships between HBCUs and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) have emerged as a way to increase the number of Black students in engineering through Dual Degree Engineering Programs (DDEP), often classified as 3-2 programs. Students in these programs attend an HBCU to complete all pre-engineering courses (typically three years) and spend their final undergraduate years (typically two) at a PWI. At the end of the program, students would have earned two bachelor’s degrees, one from the HBCU in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field and the other from the PWI in an engineering discipline. While there are many advantages to institutional collaborations, HBCU students must learn to adapt to an entirely new system and culture at the PWI. This scoping literature review examines research on Black students as they matriculate into a PWI from an HBCU while pursuing an engineering degree. The primary objective of this literature review is to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of Black students in DDEPs bridging HBCUs and PWIs. The review specifically sought to address students’ motivations for enrolling in DDEPs, the benefits and challenges involved with making the transition from an HBCU to a PWI, the factors contributing to their decision to pursue such a program, and their expectations regarding these experiences at the two distinct types of institutions. A total of 19 articles were identified and reviewed. Three main categories surfaced from the literature review, with two subcategories within the first theme: 1) references to HBCU DDEPs without the inclusion of student experiences; 1a) goal of increasing the number of Black students in STEM; 1b) engineering degree pathways; 2) HBCU student support and resources; and 3) the experiences of HBCU students in DDEPs. Synthesizing the literature revealed a crucial need for additional research on HBCUs in general. The study’s results emphasize the necessity for exploring the lived experiences of students in HBCU DDEPs. Further exploration could focus on the support and resources provided by institutions to students during their transfer to PWIs. This exploration of DDEPs promises to offer valuable insights into how DDEPs between HBCUs and PWIs can effectively and successfully prepare Black engineering students for their future careers. The findings from this literature review identify areas for future research. 

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