Not for the Poor: Impacts of COVID-19 on Engineering Students from Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Nyna Jaye DeWitt; Animesh Paul; Racheida S. Lewis

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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: Engineering Equity: Challenging Paradigms and Cultivating Inclusion in Technical Education
Tagged Divisions: Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47806

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Paper Authors

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Nyna Jaye DeWitt University of Georgia

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Nyna, born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in General Engineering with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering in 2022 from Wake Forest University. Following her undergraduate degree, she received her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in Immunoengineering from Johns Hopkins University. Nyna has a strong interest in increasing diversity in biomedical engineering spaces and she intends to research this by focusing on inclusive classroom spaces and diversifying research models.

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Animesh Paul University of Georgia

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Animesh, originally from Tripura, India, brings a diverse and liberal background, shaped by his military upbringing, to his role as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia's Engineering Education and Transformative Practices program. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from KIIT University, he currently conducts research under Dr. Racheida Lewis, focusing on equity and inclusion within engineering education. Animesh is dedicated to facilitating the transition of STEM students into the workforce and advocates for a learning environment enriched with diversity and fairness. He identifies with the pronouns "He/They" and is known for his creativity, positivity, and outgoing personality.

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Racheida S. Lewis University of Georgia orcid.org/0000-0002-1934-3199

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Racheida S. Lewis, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Lewis believes in creating a diverse engineering field and strives to do so through connecting with teaching, and mentoring future engineers. She has devoted her life to this mission through her leadership and lifetime membership in the National Society of Black Engineers. Ultimately, Dr. Lewis aspires to bridge together research and pedagogy within the academy to improve engineering education within the field and across disciplines.

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Abstract

Historically, engineering has been characterized as a field of privilege only accessible to individuals who have access to higher education and opportunity. While the field has been working to dispel this reality, the 2020 pandemic, caused by COVID-19, emphasized this gap in accessibility within engineering education. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered several challenges, including finances. Economic challenges caused by the pandemic resulted in individuals losing their jobs, additional financial strain on households, and supplementary working responsibility to meet financial needs [source]. This is especially true for engineering students belonging to families with an income below the National median.

The purpose of this paper is to understand engineering student's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as it pertains to their family’s socioeconomic status. While existing scholarship has talked about this from the general undergraduate perspective, this paper explores the experiences of both undergraduate and graduate students particularly within engineering and how this has been highlighted through the rapid spread of COVID-19. For the initial data collection, participants shared their stories by responding to the prompt: Imagine you are chatting with a friend or family member about the evolving COVID-19 crisis. Tell them about something you have experienced recently as an engineering student.” In addition to responding to this prompt, participants were asked to provide data related to their family’s socioeconomic status. Given this data, this paper seeks to answer the following research questions:

(1) How do engineering students belonging to families with an income below the national median describe their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic?

(2) What responsibilities do engineering students belonging to families with an income below the national median have?

(3) How does engineering education cater to students belonging to families with an income below the national median?

By answering the research questions, we investigate the inequities engineering students face in relation to their family’s socioeconomic status.

To determine evidence of their experience during the pandemic, student narratives were coded for connections between student experiences and family income. This was done to better understand how financial privilege works in engineering education. Codes were grouped together to form themes to inform a thematic framework of student experiences. This work will be done to inform future work in designing approaches to make the field more inclusive and accessible regarding socioeconomic background.

Citation
Format

DeWitt, N. J., & Paul, A., & Lewis, R. S. (2024, June), Not for the Poor: Impacts of COVID-19 on Engineering Students from Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47806

TY - CPAPER
AB - Historically, engineering has been characterized as a field of privilege only accessible to individuals who have access to higher education and opportunity. While the field has been working to dispel this reality, the 2020 pandemic, caused by COVID-19, emphasized this gap in accessibility within engineering education. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered several challenges, including finances. Economic challenges caused by the pandemic resulted in individuals losing their jobs, additional financial strain on households, and supplementary working responsibility to meet financial needs [source]. This is especially true for engineering students belonging to families with an income below the National median.

The purpose of this paper is to understand engineering student&#39;s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as it pertains to their family’s socioeconomic status. While existing scholarship has talked about this from the general undergraduate perspective, this paper explores the experiences of both undergraduate and graduate students particularly within engineering and how this has been highlighted through the rapid spread of COVID-19. For the initial data collection, participants shared their stories by responding to the prompt: Imagine you are chatting with a friend or family member about the evolving COVID-19 crisis. Tell them about something you have experienced recently as an engineering student.” In addition to responding to this prompt, participants were asked to provide data related to their family’s socioeconomic status. Given this data, this paper seeks to answer the following research questions:

(1) How do engineering students belonging to families with an income below the national median describe their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic?

(2) What responsibilities do engineering students belonging to families with an income below the national median have?

(3) How does engineering education cater to students belonging to families with an income below the national median?

By answering the research questions, we investigate the inequities engineering students face in relation to their family’s socioeconomic status.

To determine evidence of their experience during the pandemic, student narratives were coded for connections between student experiences and family income. This was done to better understand how financial privilege works in engineering education. Codes were grouped together to form themes to inform a thematic framework of student experiences. This work will be done to inform future work in designing approaches to make the field more inclusive and accessible regarding socioeconomic background.
AU - Nyna Jaye DeWitt
AU - Animesh Paul
AU - Racheida S. Lewis
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Not for the Poor: Impacts of COVID-19 on Engineering Students from Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47806
ER -