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Engineering Education of Minorities: An Overview Abstract

The population of the United States is becoming increasingly ethnically diverse. The growing number of minorities in the United States population presents both challenges and opportunities to institutions of higher education across the federation. Minorities (Blacks, Hispanics, American and Indians/Alaskan Natives) are projected to constitute 52% of the college-age (18-24 years) population of the United States by year 2050; up from 34% in 1999. Even though the proportion of minorities in the population of the United States is increasing, they have not been as successful in obtaining engineering degrees and diplomas. This is especially true for African Americans and Hispanics who constitute a significant proportion of the US population. Whites constituted about 76% of undergraduate engineering students in 1990 and 68% in 2002. The enrollment of blacks in undergraduate engineering programs actually decreased from 7.0% in 1995 to 6.3% in 2002. Various innovative approaches have been employed by colleges, schools, government establishments, National Science Foundation and minority interest groups to attract minorities to engineering programs. However the retention rate of minorities in engineering programs is about on-third, compared to two-thirds for non-minority groups. Some educators have argued that teaching methods used by engineering programs should even be adapted to suit the learning styles of minorities. Yet others argue that the abysmal number of minorities in engineering programs has more to do with the culture and/or climate in an engineering classroom than intellectual ability. The question still remains as to how best we could attract, retain and educate minorities in engineering.

This work is therefore aimed at analyzing the history of minority engineering education, discussing issues surrounding engineering education of minorities and devising a strategy to attract and retain minorities in the engineering disciplines.

Introduction

In the words of Jim Owens, diversity is an imperative part of business: “Our future depends on unleashing the potential of all our employees, everywhere. And committed leadership is the key to doing that. One of the things our leaders are doing as we work together to continue building our people culture is focusing on diversity. They’re doing this because it is the right thing to do and because diverse backgrounds, experiences, and points of view are good for business.”1

The rate of growth of employment opportunities in engineering and science-related fields is four- fold compared with other disciplines. The industry advisory committee purports that the number of jobs in engineering and scientific fields will amount to 2 million by the end of the decade. The growing number of minorities in the United States population presents both challenges and opportunities to institutions of higher education across the federation. This is especially true in engineering education, where the vast majority of students are white and Asian males. The interesting aspect of this phenomenon is that the proportion of white students in high schools has been declining over the past 30 years. This makes the problem even more aggravating and threatening to the integrity of the engineering profession in the United States.

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Asa, E. (2006, June), Engineering Education Of Minorities: An Overview Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1283