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This paper describes a collaborative effort to develop, implement and research an empathy-driven, accessibility-focused engineering internship program for teens underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The program builds on a foundation developed by the Build a Better Book (BBB) project over several years and addresses a significant need to motivate, prepare and support a more diverse engineering workforce. Centered around principles of universal design, designing for accessibility, and engineering with empathy, this NSF-funded project examines how high school interns’ perceptions of engineering and self-identities as engineers are formed, nurtured, and cultivated as they design and create more accessible products for authentic community clients who are blind or visually impaired. Across sites, the project emphasizes building an inclusive and diverse community of interns, including many who may not initially view themselves as engineers. Underpinning this work is the People Part of Engineering framework, which emphasizes that engineering with people, as people and for people influences teens’ motivation and persistence of interest in engineering. To assess the effectiveness of the BBB teen internship model, the project team implemented and researched different formats of the program in two educational settings: an intensive 4-week summer program at a public university and an out-of-school-time, semester-long program at a public library makerspace. Combined, these programs engaged 59 youth in an iterative engineering design process focused on the design and fabrication of accessible products (e.g., games, toys and STEM learning models) for children and youth who are blind or have low vision. (An additional year-long, in-school program is currently in process.) Each program incorporates several key internship design principles, including authentic, client-based projects; a student-directed, collaborative work environment; and individual and team mentorship. The current project aims to impact teens’ perceptions of engineering, their engineering identity, and their confidence and competence in engineering and 21st century workplace skills. These outcomes were measured through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including pre-/post- surveys and audio reflections by students, interviews with site leaders, and culminating focus group discussions. Early findings suggest positive changes in the intended outcomes, across sites, including broader perceptions about engineering and a growing overlap in identity between participants and engineers, increased confidence and competency in engineering and technical skills, and gains related to interpersonal skills and other 21st century skills such as communication, critical-thinking and collaboration. The project’s ongoing and future work will test the internship model at additional sites, including a school and science center, and continue to assess the effects of variation in program format, projects, work environment, and support and training on interns’ engineering identities, their persistence of interest in engineering and how they engage as young engineers with, as, and for people.
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This content will become publicly available on June 25, 2026
NSF ITEST: Broadening Teens’ Perceptions of Engineering through a Human-Centered, Accessibility-Focused Engineering Design Internship
This paper describes an NSF ITEST project that addresses the need to attract, motivate, prepare and support a more diverse engineering workforce. The Build a Better Book (BBB) project (award no. 2049109) engages teens in an engineering design experience grounded in principles of universal design and focused on engineering for accessibility. From 2022-2024, the project team facilitated eight teen internship programs at four sites around the country, including a university, public library, high school, and science center. Regardless of location or format, all programs incorporated several key elements, based on the project’s underlying theoretical framework, including: authentic engineering projects developed in collaboration with community clients that center empathy and accessible design; settings and processes that simulated real-world work environments, including an emphasis on intern agency, collaboration, and accountability; and mentorship, training and support provided throughout the experience. Internship sites strived to engage a diverse cohort of interns who came to the program with varied levels of interest in engineering. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, including pre-post surveys, audio reflections, and focus group discussions, the team assessed teens’ motivations to participate in the program and measured the impact of the internship program on teens’ perceptions of engineering, their confidence and competence in an array of technical and general workplace skills, and their awareness of disabilities and the importance of universal design. Over the three-year period, 184 teens across the four sites participated in the internship program and of these, 152 participated in the research study. Results suggest that the human-centered focus of the internship motivated youth to participate, and the experience expanded their perceptions of engineering, increased their confidence and competency with technical and general workplace skills, and significantly increased their awareness of accessibility issues. Ongoing and future analyses will examine the relative impacts of different educational environments and program formats on intended outcomes and assess the longer-term impacts of the BBB teen internship experience by surveying program alumni one to three years after their participation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2049109
- PAR ID:
- 10623796
- Publisher / Repository:
- 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Internship Accessibility Human-centered design Empathy Engineering
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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