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Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) operate and are centered within the nexus of concerted nationwide efforts to advance the participation and success of Black students within the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines (STEM). Through an institution-levelasset-based approach, this study aimed to further elucidate how undergraduate STEM preparation and success at HBCUs is linked to the transition into (and experiences within) graduate education. One hundred and fifty-one HBCU alumni from 37 unique HBCUs completed our HBCU Alumni Success survey. Factor analysis revealed 13 emerging components along three main touchpoints along alumni's graduate pathway: their HBCU undergraduate experiences, graduate application, and decision-making, as well as graduate school experiences. Cluster analysis further identified five unique clusters of alumni, revealing variation regarding the individual, institutional, and cultural factors that contributed to HBCU alumni's experiences within their graduate pathway. Specific attributes that characterized each unique cluster included (Cluster 1) experiencing challenges throughout theirgraduate pathway, (Cluster 2) variation in the sources of motivation that influenced graduate school choice, (Cluster 3) deliberation around attending graduate school, (Cluster 4) high commitment, success, and support in pursuit of a graduate degree, and (Cluster 5) high personal agency as well as faculty and research support within engineering. Implications for practice include capitalizing on the areas of success such as the impact of faculty mentorship and research opportunities. 

This highly interactive special session has two goals: developing a deeper understanding of current research on engineering practice, and connecting and growing a diverse and vibrant scholarly community interested in this topic. There has arguably never been a more exciting time to examine engineering practice. In addition to a strong employment outlook for most engineering specialties, engineering careers are being reshaped and reimagined by rapid technological change, intensified globalization trends, new cross-disciplinary interactions, demographic shifts, and changing organizational structures. Colleges, universities, and organizations such as ABET, Inc., the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are leading the charge to improve the alignment of engineering education with the demands of professional practice in response to these trends, potentially revolutionizing how current and future engineers are prepared as innovators, leaders, and change agents. Yet, not much is known about the diverse and multi-faceted realities of modern engineering practice and how this knowledge can be used to improve the education and training of engineers across career stages. Through presentations, networking opportunities, and group discussions, the special session will focus on using research on engineering practice to transform engineering education and the workforce. 

Engineering faculty are faced with a variety of challenges ranging from teaching responsibilities, navigating research, and negotiating service demands. Due to the nature of the emerging field of engineering education and the emphasis on education within the ASEE community, there is a need to develop methods to facilitate cross-institutional mentoring. While many institutions offer formal mentoring in some capacity, there are limitations and challenges associated with these support structures. Some common challenges are scheduling a time to meet, navigating institutional power dynamics, and identifying individuals with shared interests and goals. This work proposes best practices for the development of an innovative peer mentoring structure that accounts for shared commitment to the advancement of engineering education. This paper will provide insight for engineering education faculty who are currently transitioning into or are planning to pursue a career in academia in the future. We will describe a framework to create a virtual community for peer mentoring. The value of a virtual peer mentoring community is that it can provide support that may not be available within one’s institution and it minimizes the negative impacts that may be associated with institutional power dynamics. The best practices that we will describe are informed by six early career engineering education faculty that developed and participated in a virtual community over the last two years. We will describe best practices in relation to identifying a shared vision, developing possible tangible outcomes, writing operating procedures for the group, selecting an appropriate platform for communication, and facilitating reflection and changes to practice.