BOARD # 448: SSTEM grant providing improved persistence through enhanced engineering identity

Gary Brooking; Samantha Corcoran; Jacob Charles Mendez

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session II
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 4
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55828

Paper Authors

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Gary Brooking Wichita State University orcid.org/0000-0003-4334-0681

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GARY BROOKING received a BS in Electrical Engineering and worked in the process control industry. He then completed an MS in Bioengineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He lectured at NUST, Zimbabwe in the Electronic and Computer Engineering Dept. and became Director of ITS. He left academics to start several regional companies focused on information systems and education. He then joined the University of Zimbabwe Electrical Engineering to establish research and industry links and was awarded tenure. He then moved to Wichita State University’s Biomedical Engineering Dept. to assist in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in students. He later became the inaugural chair of the Engineering Technology Dept., renamed to Applied Engineering. He also established the Applied Computing program, now part of the School of Computing.

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Samantha Corcoran Wichita State University

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SAMANTHA CORCORAN has a BS and MS in industrial engineering with experience in manufacturing, lean improvements, and quality control. She served the Wichita State University College of Engineering as Assistant Dean before joining the engineering faculty. She co-founded WSU GoBabyGo, created an Assistive Technology and Accessible Design undergraduate certificate, and is the program lead for the Shocker Design Experience.

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Jacob Charles Mendez Wichita State University

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Engineering

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Abstract

With the growing demand for engineers, there is a need to recruit high-achieving economically disadvantaged school students who may not consider attending a 4-year university and to facilitate their success. Our SSTEM (NSF 22-527) Award# 2221623 award looks to identify and recruit high-achieving low-income students who show an interest in the advanced manufacturing industry and facilitate academic success using Tonso’s socialization theory of engineering identity development. We have also found that a foundational common first year seminar course combined with peer mentoring has become powerful tools in helping to enhance engineering identity. Our recruitment strategy is to engage and recruit through local high school teachers. To assess high achievement, emphasis was placed on the teacher’s recommendations. This successful recruitment model was expanded with additional schools and teachers, which has resulted in a higher number of strong candidates for future cohorts. SSTEM students meet initially in a common first-year program and continued to meet regularly on and off campus. Students had connections with industry partners in the spring 2024, with all students engaged in co-ops over the summer. After the first year, Cohort 1 students (n=6) had 100% retention, compared to a college first-year retention average of 64.8%, with an average cumulative GPA of 3.57 compared with the college average GPA of 2.76. Through group activities, Cohort 1 students have developed into a cohesive group. Cohort 1 students were included as part of the interviews and final selection of Cohort 2 and provided valuable input. Participation in the Cohort 2 selection process improved Cohort engagement with the SSTEM program activities. Cohort 2 selected Cohort 1 students to peer mentor. These connections proved important in forming a connection to the SSTEM program and reinforcing their engineering identities. The limited data from the spring survey of Cohort 1’s perception of their SSTEM experience shows that the cohort feels a connection to their careers, and while they have an understanding of future difficulties, they have confidence that they will persist.

The key findings from our initial evaluation of the SSTEM program are that involving high school teachers in the selection process has been critical for the recruiting of appropriate candidates. In addition, involving the current SSTEM scholars in the selection process of future cohorts has helped to develop a strong sense of connection between students which has enforced their peer-mentoring relationships. We anticipate that this will help to enhance their connections to the SSTEM program, engineering identity, and retention.

Citation
Format

Brooking, G., & Corcoran, S., & Mendez, J. C. (2025, June), BOARD # 448: SSTEM grant providing improved persistence through enhanced engineering identity Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55828

TY - CPAPER
AB - With the growing demand for engineers, there is a need to recruit high-achieving economically disadvantaged school students who may not consider attending a 4-year university and to facilitate their success. Our SSTEM (NSF 22-527) Award# 2221623 award looks to identify and recruit high-achieving low-income students who show an interest in the advanced manufacturing industry and facilitate academic success using Tonso’s socialization theory of engineering identity development. We have also found that a foundational common first year seminar course combined with peer mentoring has become powerful tools in helping to enhance engineering identity.
Our recruitment strategy is to engage and recruit through local high school teachers. To assess high achievement, emphasis was placed on the teacher’s recommendations. This successful recruitment model was expanded with additional schools and teachers, which has resulted in a higher number of strong candidates for future cohorts.
SSTEM students meet initially in a common first-year program and continued to meet regularly on and off campus. Students had connections with industry partners in the spring 2024, with all students engaged in co-ops over the summer.
After the first year, Cohort 1 students (n=6) had 100% retention, compared to a college first-year retention average of 64.8%, with an average cumulative GPA of 3.57 compared with the college average GPA of 2.76.
Through group activities, Cohort 1 students have developed into a cohesive group. Cohort 1 students were included as part of the interviews and final selection of Cohort 2 and provided valuable input. Participation in the Cohort 2 selection process improved Cohort engagement with the SSTEM program activities. Cohort 2 selected Cohort 1 students to peer mentor. These connections proved important in forming a connection to the SSTEM program and reinforcing their engineering identities.
The limited data from the spring survey of Cohort 1’s perception of their SSTEM experience shows that the cohort feels a connection to their careers, and while they have an understanding of future difficulties, they have confidence that they will persist.

The key findings from our initial evaluation of the SSTEM program are that involving high school teachers in the selection process has been critical for the recruiting of appropriate candidates. In addition, involving the current SSTEM scholars in the selection process of future cohorts has helped to develop a strong sense of connection between students which has enforced their peer-mentoring relationships. We anticipate that this will help to enhance their connections to the SSTEM program, engineering identity, and retention.

AU - Gary Brooking
AU - Samantha Corcoran
AU - Jacob Charles Mendez
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - BOARD # 448: SSTEM grant providing improved persistence through enhanced engineering identity
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55828
ER -