To educate engineers or to engineer educators?: Exploring access to engineering careers

Although studies claim increases in underrepresented populations choosing STEM majors, barriers to retention, and higher education degree completion in STEM still exist. This study examined efforts of a prominent technical university to attract and retain urban high school graduates through a tuitio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of research in science teaching Vol. 54; no. 7; pp. 884 - 913
Main Authors Eastman, Michael G., Christman, Jeanne, Zion, George H., Yerrick, Randy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Reston Wiley-Blackwell 01.09.2017
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Academic disciplines
Access to Education
Access to Information
Advantaged
assessment driven instruction
at‐risk‐students
Barriers
Career Choice
critical race theory
Culpability
Decision Making
Disproportionate Representation
Educational Change
Engineering
Engineering Education
Engineers
equity and diversity
Ethnography
High School Graduates
Higher education
Labor force
Majors (Students)
Multiculturalism & pluralism
opportunity gaps
privilege
Race
Racial Segregation
Recruitment
Scholarships
Secondary schools
Segregation
Social privilege
STEM Education
STEM major selection
Student Attrition
Student Recruitment
Tuition
Undergraduate Study
urban education
Urban schools
Urban Youth
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Summary:Although studies claim increases in underrepresented populations choosing STEM majors, barriers to retention, and higher education degree completion in STEM still exist. This study examined efforts of a prominent technical university to attract and retain urban high school graduates through a tuition scholarship program. We sought to determine the trajectories of recruited urban high school graduates and explored students reasoning behind their choice of STEM majors. Findings revealed unforeseen obstacles prohibiting students from pursuing STEM degrees despite free tuition and other benefits of the diversity recruitment program. Student obstacles included: (i) logistic barriers; (ii) academic resources access; and (iii) social/cultural support. A secondary but related finding was the self‐realization of engineering faculty culpability in the attrition they observed. This critical account of race and privilege told by insiders to the engineering discipline speaks directly to the failure of educational institutions to address essential components of the economic and academic segregation which currently exists against a backdrop of reform calls which aim to diversify the engineering workforce. Implications for future research and recruitment efforts are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 884–913, 2017
ISSN:0022-4308
1098-2736
DOI:10.1002/tea.21389