Identifying the Skills and Student Activities that Influence Career Pathways for Black vs. non- Black Engineering Graduates

D'andre Jermaine Wilson-Ihejirika

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Student Division Technical Session 2: Career Development and Employability
Tagged Division: Student Division (STDT)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47548

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Paper Authors

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D'andre Jermaine Wilson-Ihejirika P.Eng. University of Toronto orcid.org/0000-0003-4436-0895

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D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto within the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP). Prior to that she worked for many years as an engineer and project manager in the Oil & Gas industry. She is originally from Nassau, Bahamas, and completed her B.Eng in Chemical Engineering at McGill University and her MASc. from the Centre for Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CMTE) at the University of Toronto. She also currently sits as the President of the Board for BrainSTEM Alliance and is the Executive Director of Work Integrated Learning at the Calgary Economic Development.

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Abstract

Background and Purpose The career options for engineering graduates have been increasing over the years with more and more employers from different industries wanting to hire folks with engineering degrees. Previous research has cited the rationale from an employers’ perspective on why they chose to hire engineering graduates and what skills they are looking for, including technical skills/problem solving abilities. Less research has been done from the engineering graduates’ perspective on what skills they have felt are most influential to their careers and how those perspectives may differ based on race. The purpose of this paper is to address the following research questions: What are the skills and activities that Black and non-Black engineering graduates have cited as being the most important to their careers? How do these skills and activities differ for Black vs non-Black engineering graduates?

Design/Method A survey was developed leveraging previous survey instruments on engineering career paths, including the Pathways of Engineering Alumni Research Survey (PEARS) and the Troost ILead Career Path Survey. The survey included demographic questions as well as questions on the activities and skills that have been most influential in their career pathways. This survey was deployed to engineering graduates from various engineering programs across Canada, who had graduated at least 5 years prior. Black engineering graduates were deliberately oversampled in the survey deployment.

Results Both Black and non-Black engineering graduates reported that Interpersonal and Communication skills were the most influential for their careers. When considering differences, Black graduates were more likely to state that Business/Financial Acumen and Self-Confidence were influential to their careers that non-Black graduates. When considering influential activities in undergrad, capstone/technical team projects and co-op/internships were cited most often as being influential activities to career pathways for both Black and non-Black engineering graduates. Black graduates cited co-curricular activities, mentorship, academic advising, participation and leadership in both engineering and non-engineering clubs, as well as technical team projects as being influential in statistically higher proportions than non-Black graduates. However, Black graduates cited research activities as being influential in statistically lower proportions than non-Black graduates. Contributions This research will help to support educators and administrators in determining which activities should be emphasized to support students in developing relevant skills for their careers. This can also help students determine which activities they may want to consider participating in to develop certain skills that they may want to use in their careers.

Citation
Format

Wilson-Ihejirika, D. J. (2024, June), Identifying the Skills and Student Activities that Influence Career Pathways for Black vs. non- Black Engineering Graduates Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47548

TY - CPAPER
AB - Background and Purpose
The career options for engineering graduates have been increasing over the years with more and more employers from different industries wanting to hire folks with engineering degrees. Previous research has cited the rationale from an employers’ perspective on why they chose to hire engineering graduates and what skills they are looking for, including technical skills/problem solving abilities. Less research has been done from the engineering graduates’ perspective on what skills they have felt are most influential to their careers and how those perspectives may differ based on race. The purpose of this paper is to address the following research questions:
What are the skills and activities that Black and non-Black engineering graduates have cited as being the most important to their careers?
How do these skills and activities differ for Black vs non-Black engineering graduates?

Design/Method
A survey was developed leveraging previous survey instruments on engineering career paths, including the Pathways of Engineering Alumni Research Survey (PEARS) and the Troost ILead Career Path Survey. The survey included demographic questions as well as questions on the activities and skills that have been most influential in their career pathways. This survey was deployed to engineering graduates from various engineering programs across Canada, who had graduated at least 5 years prior. Black engineering graduates were deliberately oversampled in the survey deployment.

Results
Both Black and non-Black engineering graduates reported that Interpersonal and Communication skills were the most influential for their careers. When considering differences, Black graduates were more likely to state that Business/Financial Acumen and Self-Confidence were influential to their careers that non-Black graduates.
When considering influential activities in undergrad, capstone/technical team projects and co-op/internships were cited most often as being influential activities to career pathways for both Black and non-Black engineering graduates. Black graduates cited co-curricular activities, mentorship, academic advising, participation and leadership in both engineering and non-engineering clubs, as well as technical team projects as being influential in statistically higher proportions than non-Black graduates. However, Black graduates cited research activities as being influential in statistically lower proportions than non-Black graduates.

Contributions
This research will help to support educators and administrators in determining which activities should be emphasized to support students in developing relevant skills for their careers. This can also help students determine which activities they may want to consider participating in to develop certain skills that they may want to use in their careers.

AU - D'andre Jermaine Wilson-Ihejirika P.Eng.
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Identifying the Skills and Student Activities that Influence Career Pathways for Black vs. non- Black Engineering Graduates
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47548
ER -