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This practice brief describes a model for pursuing student-led institutional change focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. While the literature emphasizes the importance of student agency, most diversity and educational initiatives still tend to happen to or for students rather than in partnership with them. Meanwhile, student organizations and student activism are legitimately helping improve the university but amount to uncompensated labor. We highlight the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Ambassador program, which engages undergraduate engineering students in efforts of student-led institutional change focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher engineering education. Informed by Youth Participatory Action Research, we discuss the challenges and insights associated with five main aspects of the program: (1) monetary support, (2) student selection, (3) training, (4) mentored project work, and (5) impact and communication with the community. Finally, we provide implications from the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Ambassador program for higher education and engineering education diversity support programs. 

Engineering students are increasingly reporting struggles with stress and mental health challenges during their undergraduate careers, yet most will only consider seeking support once they have reached a significant state of distress. While university campuses are increasingly establishing mental well-being centers and support structures for students, these efforts are reactionary and require student engagement outside the classroom. Mindfulness, a well-recognized mental health intervention, has shown significant promise as a preventive strategy that fosters a culture that prioritizes well-being in educational settings. This intervention offers many benefits for students beyond mental health, including improved focus, emotional regulation, stress reduction, enhanced cognitive performance, and overall well-being. Despite the growing need for such interventions, the adoption of mindfulness as a practice in engineering education remains limited. This paper proposes mindfulness as a proactive strategy for safeguarding students’ mental health in engineering education. Specifically, we draw from existing literature to dive into the benefits and potential feasibility of incorporating mindfulness into daily engineering curricula. By equipping engineering students to manage stress, we can better promote their overall well-being as students and as emerging career professionals, aiming to foster healthier engineering communities and workplace environments. 

The inclusive transformation of engineering culture stands as a central objective for ensuring the growth and sustainability of a diverse engineering workforce. Engineering faculty members play a critical role in this transformation by supporting and shaping the academic journeys and eventual careers of their students. However, despite their central role in workforce development, faculty members often lack the resources and training needed to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences and identities their students bring to the engineering classroom. This is especially challenging for students with minoritized identities that are non-apparent or hidden and cannot be easily observed by faculty. As part of the on-going Audio for Inclusion (A4I) Project, this paper and poster discuss the initial findings from focus groups with nine engineering faculty members from three universities nationwide. We delve into the intricacies and logistics of developing, designing, and facilitating these focus groups and highlight significant alterations and overall recommendations shared by participants. These perspectives can serve as a valuable resource for engineering educators seeking to incorporate similar audio dissemination methods into their work and for those interested in implementing strategies for cultivating a more inclusive engineering education culture. 

The marginalization of minoritized students in undergraduate engineering education is an important equity issue created by the racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other systemic discrimination in the system. Qualitative research to understand and listen to student voices has been an important tool for documenting marginalization, but research solely to create conference and journal publications could be re-traumatizing and limited in its ability to help students or change the system. In prior work, we have argued that qualitative research should progress beyond simply documenting marginalization, to try new methods to actually change faculty perspectives. This arts-based research paper and interactive poster presentation presents an innovative audio-based project methodology to center the voices of students experiencing marginalization. The existing narratives are presented on YouTube, approximately 10 minutes long for each of 10 student narratives, and include subtitles for accessibility. The narratives are intended to inform faculty practice and understandings of systemic marginalization. Our primary implications will be for engineering education researchers of marginalization, to potentially incorporate our methodology to help create a more impactful and engaged research agenda. 

The inclusive transformation of engineering culture stands as a central objective for ensuring the growth and sustainability of a diverse engineering workforce. Engineering faculty members play a critical role in this transformation by supporting and shaping the academic journeys and eventual careers of their students. However, despite their central role in workforce development, faculty members often lack the resources and training needed to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences and identities their students bring to the engineering classroom. This is especially challenging for students with minoritized identities that are non-apparent or hidden and cannot be easily observed by faculty. As part of the on-going Audio for Inclusion (A4I) Project, this paper and poster discuss the initial findings from focus groups with nine engineering faculty members from three universities nationwide. We delve into the intricacies and logistics of developing, designing, and facilitating these focus groups and highlight significant alterations and overall recommendations shared by participants. These perspectives can serve as a valuable resource for engineering educators seeking to incorporate similar audio dissemination methods into their work and for those interested in implementing strategies for cultivating a more inclusive engineering education culture. 

The marginalization of minoritized students in undergraduate engineering education is an important equity issue created by the racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other systemic discrimination in the system. Qualitative research to understand and listen to student voices has been an important tool for documenting marginalization, but research solely to create conference and journal publications could be re-traumatizing and limited in its ability to help students or change the system. In prior work, we have argued that qualitative research should progress beyond simply documenting marginalization, to try new methods to actually change faculty perspectives. This arts-based research paper and interactive poster presentation presents an innovative audio-based project methodology to center the voices of students experiencing marginalization. The existing narratives are presented on YouTube, approximately 10 minutes long for each of 10 student narratives, and include subtitles for accessibility. The narratives are intended to inform faculty practice and understandings of systemic marginalization. Our primary implications will be for engineering education researchers of marginalization, to potentially incorporate our methodology to help create a more impactful and engaged research agenda. 

Engineering students are increasingly reporting struggles with stress and mental health challenges during their undergraduate careers, yet most will only consider seeking support once they have reached a significant state of distress. While university campuses are increasingly establishing mental well-being centers and support structures for students, these efforts are reactionary and require student engagement outside the classroom. Mindfulness, a well-recognized mental health intervention, has shown significant promise as a preventive strategy that fosters a culture that prioritizes well-being in educational settings. This intervention offers many benefits for students beyond mental health, including improved focus, emotional regulation, stress reduction, enhanced cognitive performance, and overall well-being. Despite the growing need for such interventions, the adoption of mindfulness as a practice in engineering education remains limited. This paper proposes mindfulness as a proactive strategy for safeguarding students’ mental health in engineering education. Specifically, we draw from existing literature to dive into the benefits and potential feasibility of incorporating mindfulness into daily engineering curricula. By equipping engineering students to manage stress, we can better promote their overall well-being as students and as emerging career professionals, aiming to foster healthier engineering communities and workplace environments. 

Background: Post-traditional students have become the norm in higher education, not the exception. The definition of a post-traditional student is not well established, but it is generally agreed that they are 25 years old or older, are enrolled part-time, and/or work to support themselves or their families. Currently, there is a focus on engaging post-traditional students in undergraduate engineering programs, but it is crucial to understand their diverse perspectives in order to effectively support them and promote their retention and persistence in the engineering workforce. Design/Method: The data for this study came from a larger project, Audio for Inclusion. We constructed narratives based on the interview responses. In this paper, we discuss the findings of a cross-case analysis of the narratives of two post-traditional participants: (1) Jakobe, a Black cisgender man studying computer science, and (2) Alejandro, a veteran Hispanic man studying mechanical engineering. Both participants attend separate R-1 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Findings: We present the constructed narratives by both participants to highlight points of similarity and contrast. For example, Jakobe sees education as a vital part of his goal of giving back to his community, whereas Alejandro describes his college experience as a means to achieve other goals, such as providing a more robust financial foundation for his family. Additionally, we present instances of similarities and differences that, in turn, uncover nuances in the experiences of these two post-traditional students. Implications/Conclusions: Understanding students’ experiences offers insights into the underlying factors that influence how some students view their educational experience and how their needs may differ. This can help shape more effective professional preparation approaches and enhance engagement. Overall, our study highlights the importance of considering the diverse perspectives of post-traditional students and the need for engineering educators to tailor their approaches to better support these students. 

Background: Post-traditional students have become the norm in higher education, not the exception. The definition of a post-traditional student is not well established, but it is generally agreed that they are 25 years old or older, are enrolled part-time, and/or work to support themselves or their families. Currently, there is a focus on engaging post-traditional students in undergraduate engineering programs, but it is crucial to understand their diverse perspectives in order to effectively support them and promote their retention and persistence in the engineering workforce. Design/Method: The data for this study came from a larger project, Audio for Inclusion. We constructed narratives based on the interview responses. In this paper, we discuss the findings of a cross-case analysis of the narratives of two post-traditional participants: (1) Jakobe, a Black cisgender man studying computer science, and (2) Alejandro, a veteran Hispanic man studying mechanical engineering. Both participants attend separate R-1 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Findings: We present the constructed narratives by both participants to highlight points of similarity and contrast. For example, Jakobe sees education as a vital part of his goal of giving back to his community, whereas Alejandro describes his college experience as a means to achieve other goals, such as providing a more robust financial foundation for his family. Additionally, we present instances of similarities and differences that, in turn, uncover nuances in the experiences of these two post-traditional students. Implications/Conclusions: Understanding students’ experiences offers insights into the underlying factors that influence how some students view their educational experience and how their needs may differ. This can help shape more effective professional preparation approaches and enhance engagement. Overall, our study highlights the importance of considering the diverse perspectives of post-traditional students and the need for engineering educators to tailor their approaches to better support these students.