UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCES OF THE

UNDER-REPRESENTED IN ENGINEERING

PRESENTED BY

ODESMA DALRYMPLE

ENE WEEKLY SEMINAR SERIES

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

Personal Background

Under-representation phenomenon in engineering

Drivers / Motivators for Diversity

Treatment of Race and Ethnicity in Education Research

Learning from the Literature

Re-evaluating the research practice

Continuing the discussions

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

UNDER-REPRESENTATION PHENOMENON

Figure 1- Percentages of Population, College-Age Population, S&E Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, S&E master Degrees Awarded, S&E PhD Degrees Awarded, S&E Workforce, 1997 (Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2002)

RESEARCH CONTEXT

TOPIC

Consider the low numbers of minority students enrolled in colleges of engineering

What is known about the experiences these minority engineering students have.

How do these experiences contribute to and shape their admission, retention, graduation and overall participation?

1.) Review & Synthesize Literature

3.) Identify possible research questions

2.) Critically analyze 3

seminal articles

4.) Propose a study to

address an identified research question

ENE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

FRAMING THE EXPLORATION

MOTIVATORS & DRIVERS

i. To satisfy the requests or requirements of funding agencies, or another official organization.

ii. To attain education equity

iii. To meet the demand for a workforce trained in science, engineering and technology

iv. To prepare student to enter a diverse workforce when they graduate

v. To strive for Social Justice

vi. To maximize the potential creativity of the profession

(Pfatteicher & Tongue , 2002)

TREATMENT OF RACE AND ETHNICITY Dominant Practice

(O'Connor, Lewis & Mueller, 2007)

…AS CULTURE

...AS A VARIABLE

Proxy for traits

(intelligence & motivation)

Innate and culturally ingrained trait

Cause for education outcomes

CONCEPTUAL LIMITATIONS

Masking Heterogeneity

The way in which space, time, ethnicity, gender & social class moderate the experiences are overlooked

Segments treated as a homogenous group

Under Analyzing Institutionalized Productions of Race

Under estimating the effects of discrimination

LEARNING FROM THE LITERATURE

Reasons for Ethnic Disparity in the Pipeline

Disparity in Pre College preparation

Media Images

Challenges to University Admissions Affirmative Action Policies

Access to Financial Aid / Scholarships

Retention & Persistence

Intervention Programs & Strategies for Change

Engineering Pre-College programs

Media Images

Minority Engineering Program

Two Yr Colleges

Minority Serving Institutions

Dual Degree Programs

DISPARITY IN PRE COLLEGE PREPARATION

2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics and science assessments (May & Chubin, 2003)

White students outperformed African American and Hispanic American students in mathematics by 24-41 scale score points, and by 26-40 scale score points in science.

DISPARITY IN PRE COLLEGE PREPARATION

Disparity stems from the distribution of educational resources (qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and computer equipment)

School Teachers of Mathematics and Science Without a Major or Certification in Class Subject: School Year 1993-1994 (Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women

and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2002)

DISPARITY IN PRE COLLEGE PREPARATION

Disparity stems from the distribution of educational resources (qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and computer equipment)

Figure 5 – Advanced Placement Candidates, by Selected Subjects and Race/Ethnicity: 1996 (Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering

and Technology Development, 2002)

DISPARITY IN PRE COLLEGE PREPARATION

Disparity stems from the distribution of educational resources (qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and computer equipment)

(Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2002, May & Chubin, 2003)

REASONS FOR ETHNIC DISPARITY IN THE PIPELINE

Media Images of the Engineer Minorities are seldom depicted by the media as successful

participants in the SET workforce.

Challenges to University Admissions Affirmative Action Policies

(Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2002; May & Chubin, 2003)

REASONS FOR ETHNIC DISPARITY IN THE PIPELINE

Access to Financial Aid / Scholarships Low socioeconomic background + increasing costs of tertiary

education = strong need of financial aid.

Low pre-college scores ≠ scholarships

High demands of the engineering curriculum + working while at school = impractical

(May & Chubin, 2003)

Retention / Persistence 37 of every 100 minority freshman drop out of engineering compared to

22 of every 100 non-minority freshman. (Reichert & Absher ,1997)

Tinto’s Theory – Less persistence when the environment at the university is supportive of their social and cultural needs.

(Holmes, Ebbers, Robinson, & Mugenda, 2000 )(Hernandez & Lopez, 2004)

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS & STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Successful engineering pre-college programs tend to promote awareness of the engineering profession provide academic enrichment have trained and competent instructors

(May & Chubin, 2003)

Media Images “Math is Power,” national public service

campaign in 1995. (Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and

Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2002; May & Chubin, 2003)

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS & STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Minority Engineering Program (MEPs)

Endorsed by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) as well as by private industry

Basic goal – implement intervention programs to help remove the obstacles that impede the success of minorities in engineering

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS & STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Dual Degrees

Builds on the success of MSIs in attracting minority students.

Liberal arts bachelor’s degree from one school, usually the MSI and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a second institution, usually a PWI.

E.g. Institute of Technology and the Atlanta University Center

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS & STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Two –Year Colleges Enrollment at Two Yr Colleges

54% of Hispanics

52% of American Indians

46% of African Americans

Bachelor degree recipients with Associate Degrees

11 % of the African Americans

15% of the Hispanics

20% of the American Indians

INTERVENTION PROGRAMS & STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Minority Serving Institutions

Bachelor degrees in SET

31% of African Americans from HBCUs

20% of Hispanics from HIS

1% of American Indians from TCU

Schools that graduate large classes of African American in engineering are not necessarily more successful in educating African American engineers

(Reichert & Absher, 1997)

RE-EVALUATING THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Ethnographic Research

Entering a social setting and getting to know the people within in … Real Time

How various school contexts affect minority students?

How minority students experience and understand various school contexts?

Integrate multiple levels of analysis when interpreting educational outcomes

QUESTION & ANSWER SEGMENT

CONTINUING THE DISCUSSION In studies you have conducted where

racial / ethnic data was collected

What was the intent for including or collecting race / ethnic data?

How was it collected?

Was race or ethnicity treated as culture / as a variable?

What meanings / interpretations were derived?

Was the intent fulfilled?