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This study examines the roots of entrepreneurial career goals among today’s U.S. undergraduate engineering students. Extensive literature exists on entrepreneurship education and on students’ career decision making, yet little work connects the two. To address this gap, we explore a sample of 5,819 undergraduate engineering students from a survey administered in 2015 to a nationally representative set of twenty-seven U.S. engineering schools. We identify how individual background measures, occupational learning experiences, and socio-cognitive measures such as self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and interest in innovation and entrepreneurship affect students’ entrepreneurial career focus. Based on career focus, the sample is split into “Starters” and “Joiners” where Starters are students who wish to start a new venture and Joiners are those who wish to join an existing venture. Results show the demographic, behavioral, and socio-cognitive characteristics of each group. Findings suggest that relative to Joiners, Starters have stronger occupational self-efficacy beliefs which are driven by higher interests in innovation-related activities and ascribing greater importance to involvement in innovation practices early in their careers. Additionally, the significant influence of particular learning experiences is discussed. These results have implications for engineering and entrepreneurship education. (This paper earned Best Research Paper Award, 3rd Place, in the ENT division.)
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This content will become publicly available on May 2, 2026
The Effect of Participation in a Place-Based Engineering Learning Experience on Engineering Career Aspiration of Nebraska’s Rural Students - A Mixed Method Study
This study investigates the influence of a place-based, hands-on engineering learning experience on rural middle school students' engineering career aspirations, using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a framework. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we explored how these localized learning experiences shape students' career goals through socio-cognitive factors such as self-efficacy, outcome expectations, goals, and interest. Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-activity surveys revealed significant increases in career aspiration scores, particularly among students from farming backgrounds and female students with initially lower expectations. Path analyses indicated that self-efficacy and interest were the strongest mediators between Place-based learning and engineering career aspirations. Qualitative data from student reflections corroborated these findings, highlighting key engagement factors such as real-time sensor feedback, hands-on interaction, and connections to lived experiences and familiar applications like farming. This experience broadened students' perceptions of engineering's relevance to their lives and potential careers. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of place-based education in nurturing engineering interest and aspirations, especially among rural and underrepresented students. The findings suggest that sustained, contextualized engineering activities play a crucial role in shaping students' understanding of engineering and fostering long-term career aspirations in the field.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2145494
- PAR ID:
- 10588987
- Publisher / Repository:
- University of Nebraska Lincoln
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Institution:
- University of Nebraska Lincoln
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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