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Environments Affecting Black Student Thriving in Engineering (BSTiE)

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Supporting Underrepresented and LGBTQ Students

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43393

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43393

Download Count

150

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Paper Authors

biography

Stephanie A Damas Clemson University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5397-7577

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Stephanie Ashley Damas is currently a graduate student at Clemson University studying to get her Ph.D. in Engineering and Science Education. Her area of interest is Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering. She holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engi

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biography

Lisa Benson Clemson University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5517-2289

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Lisa Benson is a Professor of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University, and the past editor of the Journal of Engineering Education. Her research focuses on the interactions between student motivation and their learning experiences. Her projects include studies of student perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards becoming engineers and scientists, and their development of problem-solving skills, self-regulated learning practices, and epistemic beliefs. Other projects in the Benson group involve students’ navigational capital, and researchers’ schema development through the peer review process. Dr. Benson is an American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Fellow, and a member of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), American Educational Research Association (AERA) and Tau Beta Pi. She earned a B.S. in Bioengineering (1978) from the University of Vermont, and M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (2002) in Bioengineering from Clemson University.

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Abstract

Studies of Black students’ experiences and journeys to success in engineering programs at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) show that Black students face significant hardship. We must view their experiences through a lens considering multiple factors. It is no longer feasible for students to “wait on the world to change” in engineering programs that perpetuate negative experiences. Stakeholders of these programs must take stock of the state of their culture and assess if the environment they have cultivated is conducive to the diversity goals they set out at the onset of every academic year.

In a previous conceptual paper, we proposed a new framework, Black Student Thriving in Engineering (BSTiE, pronounced “bestie”), to describe what factors contribute to the thriving process based on several existing theories. Six components emerged: (1) internal environment, (2) competence, (3) motivation, (4) belongingness, (5) assimilation, and (6) external environment. The internal environment provides individual context – one’s cultural commitment and identity. Competence is how students perceive engineering concepts and their ability to achieve them. Motivation is a student's willingness to succeed in engineering. Belonging is a student’s perception that they belong in their engineering program at a PWI. Assimilation encompasses how students grapple with who they are and whom they think they need to be in engineering. The external environment provides a discipline-based context – the engineering culture at one’s PWI.

We aim to expand on these emerging themes by focusing on how the internal and external environments affect the thriving process. The previous conceptual paper identified gaps in our understanding of the internal and external environments that must be explored. We will leverage theories that speak to the gender-based racialized experiences of Black students and the racialized nature of institutions. We aim to provide insight into the institution's role in facilitating thriving for Black engineering students at PWIs.

Damas, S. A., & Benson, L. (2023, June), Environments Affecting Black Student Thriving in Engineering (BSTiE) Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43393

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