Familial Influences Affecting Student Pathways to Engineering at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions
- Conference
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2019 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity
- Location
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Crystal City, Virginia
- Publication Date
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April 14, 2019
- Start Date
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April 14, 2019
- End Date
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April 22, 2019
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topics
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Diversity and Collegiate
- Page Count
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16
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--31765
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/31765
- Download Count
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825
Paper Authors
Julia Machele Brisbane
Clemson University
orcid.org/0000-0002-9580-0646
Julia Brisbane is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Bioengineering at Clemson University, and a full-time undergraduate research intern with the SC:SUPPORTED (Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organization Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity, NSF Award #1744497) project. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education.
Eliza Gallagher
Clemson University
orcid.org/0000-0002-9579-8777
Dr. Gallagher is an Assistant Professor of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University, with joint appointments to Mathematical Sciences and Education & Human Development. Her research interests include student cognition in mathematics, development of teacher identity among graduate teaching assistants, curricular reform to foster diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, and development of mathematical knowledge for teaching. She is co-PI on an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot, "Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED)," Award #EEC-1744497.
Abigail E. Hines Clemson University
Abigail Hines is an Industrial Engineering student at Clemson University. She is involved in research aimed at increasing diversity and inclusivity in the STEM field as well as research regarding the mood improvement effects of virtual reality on humans.
Joseph Murphy Clemson University
Joseph Murphy is a Fall 2018 graduate of Clemson University whose research interests include expanding access to higher education, combating stratification and sexuality studies. He is actively participating in SC INCLUDES, a research project aimed at improving engineering student retention in South Carolina via improving math education and inter-institutional coordination.
lesteria Armoni Dunwoody Clemson University
I am a first generation college student at Clemson University. During my academic journey I have joined many clubs that center around advancing the minority community in the areas of economics, education, and health.
Khushi Patel Clemson University
Khushi Patel is an Engineering and Science Education PhD candidate at Clemson University. Her research focus is on student conceptualization in chemistry.
She received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry with a minor in secondary education from Millsaps College. She also holds a secondary license to teacher chemistry and general science for middle and high schools in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee. She received her master’s degree in Inorganic chemistry from Tennessee State University.
Aubrie Lynn Pfirman Clemson University
Aubrie L. Pfirman is a Teaching Consultant for the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University. Her research interests are chemical education, scholarship of teaching and learning, educational development, inclusive educational practices and reform, and STEM education. Dr. Pfirman received a B.S. in Chemistry and an Instructional I Certification in Secondary Education from Misericordia University, and both an M.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Engineering and Science Education from Clemson University.
Shannon Roberson
Anand K. Gramopadhye Clemson University
Dr. Anand K. Gramopadhye’s research focuses on solving human-machine systems design problems and modeling human performance in technologically complex systems such as health care, aviation and manufacturing. He has more than 200 publications in these areas, and his research has been funded by NIH, NASA, NSF, FAA, DOE, and private companies.
Currently, he and his students at the Advanced Technology Systems Laboratory are pursuing cutting-edge research on the role of visualization and virtual reality in aviation maintenance, hybrid inspection and job-aiding, technology to support STEM education and, more practically, to address information technology and process design issues related to delivering quality health care.
As the Department Chair, he has been involved in the initiation of programmatic initiatives that have resulted in significant growth in the Industrial Engineering Program, situating it in the forefront both nationally and internationally. These include the Online Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering Program, the Endowed Chairs Program in Industrial Engineering, Human Factors and Ergonomics Institute and the Clemson Institute for Supply Chain and Optimization and the Center for Excellence in Quality.
For his success, he has been recognized by the NAE through the Frontiers in Engineering Program, and he has received the College’s Collaboration Award and the McQueen Quattlebaum Award, which recognizes faculty for their outstanding research. In addition, Dr. Gramopadhye served as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics and is on the editorial board for several other journals.
Abstract
Improving retention rates of engineering students in higher education has been a nationwide goal aimed at expanding and diversifying the engineering workforce. Initial mathematics placement in institutions is a major predictor for attrition, with 52% of students from two-year institutions starting below calculus as opposed to 14.4% of students from four-year institutions starting below calculus. Consequently, national data shows that the attrition rate for engineering students at two-year institutions is 69% while the attrition rate for engineering students at four-year institutions is 37%. As the prevalence of students taking an indirect path towards completing an engineering degree increases, the examination of those students’ pathways towards an engineering degree is necessary.
In the SC:SUPPORTED project, we conducted focus groups with students from two-year and four-year institutions across the state of South Carolina. Themes related to academic influence, social influence and family influence emerged from analysis of the focus group data. Within family influences, which are the ways family members affect a student’s persistence in education, choice of major, and choice of institution, there were differences between students attending two-year institutions and those attending four-year institutions. Family members include parents, siblings, other relatives, and also “fictive” family. The goal of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence why students choose engineering and choose to attend a two-year or four-year institution.
Brisbane, J. M., & Gallagher, E., & Hines, A. E., & Murphy, J., & Dunwoody, L. A., & Patel, K., & Pfirman, A. L., & Roberson, S., & Gramopadhye, A. K. (2019, April), Familial Influences Affecting Student Pathways to Engineering at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions Paper presented at 2019 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity , Crystal City, Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--31765
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