Broadening the Participation of Latinx in Engineering: Highlights from a National, Longitudinal Study
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual On line
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2020
- Start Date
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June 22, 2020
- End Date
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June 26, 2021
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Minorities in Engineering
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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17
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--34229
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/34229
- Download Count
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621
Paper Authors
Lisa Y. Flores University of Missouri
Lisa Y. Flores, Ph.D. is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. She has expertise in the career development of Latino/as and Latino/a immigrant issues and has 80 peer reviewed journal publications, 18 book chapters, and 1 co-edited book and presented over 200 conference presentations in these areas. She has been PI and co-PI on grants funded by NSF and USDA to support her research. She is Editor of the Journal of Career Development and past Associate Editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology, and has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Vocational Behavior, The Counseling Psychologist, Journal of Counseling Psychology, and Career Development Quarterly.
Rachel L. Navarro University of North Dakota
Rachel L. Navarro, Ph.D. is Professor of Counseling Psychology and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development for the College of Education and Human Development at the University of North Dakota (UND). She is the former department chair for UND’s Department of Counseling Psychology and Community Services and the former co-director of training for UND’s APA-accredited Counseling Psychology doctoral program. Her primary research focuses on the academic engagement, satisfaction, and persistence of Latinxs and women in engineering for which she has been funded as a PI and Co-PI by the National Science Foundation. Her other research areas include rural psychology, integrated health care, and the well-being of students of color, particularly those who identify as Latinx and Indigenous. She is currently working with a team of researchers to build UND’s research capacity related to STEM education, particularly engineering and science education.
Heather Hunt University of Missouri
Heather K. Hunt, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical, Biological & Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University. Her engineering research focuses on devices for Smart Water Systems, with emphases in both inherently selective materials and small-scale, integrated sensor platforms. She is the Chair of the Faculty Advisory Board for the Women in Engineering Center and the Faculty Advisor for the Mizzou Women Mentoring Women program at the University of Missouri. At Mizzou, she is engaged in diversity efforts, as well as recruitment and retention efforts for the College of Engineering, particularly for students in under-represented groups. With her collaborators in Counseling Psychology, she studies the persistence of engineering students from under-represented minority groups, including women and Latinos/as using the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory.
Hang-Shim Lee Konkuk University
Dr. Hang-Shim Lee is currently an assistant professor at Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. She worked at Oklahoma State University for three years (2014-2017) as as a tenured track faculty. Dr. Lee received her PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed her pre-doctoral internship at The Ohio State University. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, and her work has been recognized by American Psychological Association. Dr. Lee’s primary research interests include the career development of women and various marginalized groups in our society. She is also interested in enhancing the optimal functioning and psychological well-being of individuals in academic and workplace settings.
Patton O. Garriott University of Denver
Dr. Garriott received his PhD from the University of Missouri. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) of the APA, and the Society for Vocational Psychology. His work has been recognized by Division 17 of the APA and the National Career Development Association. Dr. Garriott’s primary areas of research include the academic and career development of students underrepresented in higher education, multicultural issues in vocational psychology, as well as race and racism.
Abstract
To broaden participation of Latinx in engineering, we conducted the largest scale, longitudinal retention study of an underrepresented minority group in engineering to date. Here, we present qualitative and quantitative findings of the 5-year project, which investigated the longitudinal effects of social cognitive, personal, and contextual factors on engineering students’ persistence decisions as posited by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994; 2000). Additionally, we present themes that emerged from individual interviews with 30 Latinx engineering students. Findings illustrated how Latinx engineering students resisted the marginalization they experienced and cultivated cultures of support at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Moreover, using a sample of over 800 Latinx engineering students from 6 HSIs and 5 PWIs, we found that SCCT predictors contributed significant variance in satisfaction and persistence outcomes, with self-efficacy and supports serving as reliable predictors (Flores & Navarro, 2017; Navarro et al., 2019). We found nonsignificant, single-group differences in associations within the model (i.e., Latinxs vs. Whites); however, intersectional differences were found. Specifically, we found contextual differences for Latinx engineering students (i.e., differences between Latinxs attending HSIs and PWIs) and racial differences for engineering students attending PWIs (i.e., differences between Latinxs and Whites at PWIs). These results call into question prior SCCT studies related to model invariance across racial groups and suggest that interventions aimed at broadening Latinxs’ participation in engineering need to be tailored for Latinx student subgroups. The presentation will provide an overview of the project, will highlight key findings across the project’s studies, and will provide recommendations for educational interventions to support the persistence of Latinx students in engineering.
Flores, L. Y., & Navarro, R. L., & Hunt, H., & Lee, H., & Garriott, P. O. (2020, June), Broadening the Participation of Latinx in Engineering: Highlights from a National, Longitudinal Study Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34229
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