How Students’ Informal Experiences Shape their Views of Engineering and Affect their Plans for Professional Persistence

Kerry Meyers; Leo H. McWilliams; Catherine F. Pieronek

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: WIED: Strategies Beyond the Classroom
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Page Count: 31
Page Numbers: 24.675.1 - 24.675.31
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20566
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/20566
Download Count: 509

Paper Authors

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Kerry Meyers Youngstown State University

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Dr. Kerry Meyers is in her second year as the director of the STEM College’s first-year engineering program at Youngstown State University. Her career is focused on the development of common, project-based, first-year engineering experiences, beginning at the University of Notre Dame, where she was also the director of the first-year engineering program from 2005-2012. Her research interests further relate to engineering educational issues in the early stages of student development and progress. Her core engineering educational background is in mechanical engineering and doctoral work in engineering education, both from Purdue University.

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Leo H. McWilliams University of Notre Dame

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Catherine F. Pieronek University of Notre Dame

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Catherine F. Pieronek is the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. She holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering and a J.D. from Notre Dame, and an M.S. in eerospace engineering from UCLA. Her research focuses primarily on the reasons that affect the persistence of women in engineering, as well as on the application of Title IX to collegiate STEM programs.

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Abstract

How Students’ Informal Experiences Shape their Views of Engineering and Affect their Plans for Professional PersistenceAbstractIt is believed that increased student engagement leads to higher persistence. The current study was originallyfocused on one measure of student engagement – student involvement in organizations within engineering, oncampus, and in the community; however, it evolved into a study of the effect of a broader range of informalexperiences on student perceptions of engineering and their plans for professional persistence. A mixed method,cross-sectional study of engineering students was conducted during the 2011-2012 school year. The study involvedan on-line survey completed by 240 engineering students regarding their extracurricular involvements withinengineering and across the university as a whole. Follow-up interviews informed the results of the large scalesurvey to further probe the factors that encouraged persistence in engineering and post-graduation plans. Womenand men, and white and non-white respondents, reported similar experiences in terms of when/if they consideredleaving engineering and the sources of encouragement and discouragement for persisting in engineering. Studentswho indicated an intrinsic interest in engineering were less likely to indicate that they had ever considered leavingengineering. The experiences of male, female, white and non-white engineering students are collectively moresimilar than different. But the individual experiences and extracurricular involvements contribute to an engineeringstudent’s development and are shaped by the culture of the academic institution.Overall, the percentage difference of male, female, white, and non-white students who considered leavingengineering was not statistically significant. The peak time frame for consideration was second semester of the firstyear and first semester of sophomore year. This indicates that all engineering students grapple with uncertaintiesrelated to pursuing engineering at similar points in their educational paths. A student’s self-reported “interest inengineering” was statistically significant to consideration of leaving engineering (for both male and femalestudents). Male students reported a lower rate of involvement than female students in all types of engineeringorganizations. White students reported lower levels of involvement than non-white students in engineering and off-campus community organizations, but higher levels of involvement in campus organizations. The same factorspredictive of engineering involvements; grade level, female and plans to work in engineering related field post-graduation were also predictive of engineering leadership. 1 Students planning to work in an engineering related field after graduation were less likely to be involved withcommunity organizations (conversely, those who considered leaving engineering were more likely to be involved inthe community). 2

Citation
Format

Meyers, K., & McWilliams, L. H., & Pieronek, C. F. (2014, June), How Students’ Informal Experiences Shape their Views of Engineering and Affect their Plans for Professional Persistence Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--20566

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -       How Students’ Informal Experiences Shape their Views of Engineering and Affect their Plans for                                               Professional PersistenceAbstractIt is believed that increased student engagement leads to higher persistence. The current study was originallyfocused on one measure of student engagement – student involvement in organizations within engineering, oncampus, and in the community; however, it evolved into a study of the effect of a broader range of informalexperiences on student perceptions of engineering and their plans for professional persistence. A mixed method,cross-sectional study of engineering students was conducted during the 2011-2012 school year. The study involvedan on-line survey completed by 240 engineering students regarding their extracurricular involvements withinengineering and across the university as a whole. Follow-up interviews informed the results of the large scalesurvey to further probe the factors that encouraged persistence in engineering and post-graduation plans. Womenand men, and white and non-white respondents, reported similar experiences in terms of when/if they consideredleaving engineering and the sources of encouragement and discouragement for persisting in engineering. Studentswho indicated an intrinsic interest in engineering were less likely to indicate that they had ever considered leavingengineering. The experiences of male, female, white and non-white engineering students are collectively moresimilar than different. But the individual experiences and extracurricular involvements contribute to an engineeringstudent’s development and are shaped by the culture of the academic institution.Overall, the percentage difference of male, female, white, and non-white students who considered leavingengineering was not statistically significant. The peak time frame for consideration was second semester of the firstyear and first semester of sophomore year. This indicates that all engineering students grapple with uncertaintiesrelated to pursuing engineering at similar points in their educational paths. A student’s self-reported “interest inengineering” was statistically significant to consideration of leaving engineering (for both male and femalestudents). Male students reported a lower rate of involvement than female students in all types of engineeringorganizations. White students reported lower levels of involvement than non-white students in engineering and off-campus community organizations, but higher levels of involvement in campus organizations. The same factorspredictive of engineering involvements; grade level, female and plans to work in engineering related field post-graduation were also predictive of engineering leadership.                                                                                                                        1  Students planning to work in an engineering related field after graduation were less likely to be involved withcommunity organizations (conversely, those who considered leaving engineering were more likely to be involved inthe community).                                                                                                                    2  
AU  - Kerry Meyers
AU  - Leo H. McWilliams
AU  - Catherine F. Pieronek
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - How Students’ Informal Experiences Shape their Views of Engineering and Affect their Plans for Professional Persistence
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/20566
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20566
ER  -