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Promoting Social Sustainability for Minority Populations through Understanding their Challenges in Professional Engineering Certification

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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

Promoting Social Sustainability, Cultural Assets, and Assessing Equity and Diversity Index

Tagged Division

Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43985

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43985

Download Count

130

Paper Authors

biography

Erika Judith Rivera Florida International University

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Erika Rivera is a Licensed Professional Engineer with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus and two Master's degrees one in Engineering Management and a Master's in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. She is currently a Ph.D. Student at Florida International University, in Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure, and Sustainability College of Engineering and Computing.

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biography

Mohamed Elzomor, P.E. Florida International University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-7734-9601

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Dr. Mohamed ElZomor is an Assistant Professor at Florida International University (FIU), College of Engineering and Computing and teaches at the Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability. Dr. ElZomor completed his doctorate at Arizona

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biography

Piyush Pradhananga Florida International University

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Piyush Pradhananga is a Ph.D. Candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU). Piyush holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tribhuwan University (TU). Piyush is currently a Dissertation Year Fellow at FIU where he focuses on multidisciplinary research that harmonizes sustainability in construction. His research interests include Sustainable Construction, Robotics and AI-based Construction, Engineering Education, Sustainable Infrastructure, Resilient and Sustainable Post-Disaster Reconstruction, and Circular Economy. He also holds professional credentials in LEED Green Associate for sustainable buildings and ENV SP for sustainable infrastructures as well as several micro-credentials in the commercialization of research. As a Ph.D. Candidate, Piyush has published a dozen peer-reviewed journals and several conference papers.

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Abstract

As the population of the United States of America continues to be more diverse, educational pedagogies must embrace different components of diversity so that the workforce represents a diverse society. Construction and engineering education needs to foster the social sustainability components of diversity, equity, and inclusion to better position our future workforce. In the Science, Technology Engineering, and Math (STEM) profession, minorities, females, and underserved communities are yet staggering in representation within the engineering and construction industry. In the 2021’s Professional Engineering Examination performed in Puerto Rico, only 24 percent of the professionals that participated in the examination passed the test, while the national average for passing the Professional Engineering examination was 58 percent. This study aims to address the current shortage of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Engineering and Construction industry, focusing on the Puerto Rican minority group and their challenges. This study will focus on the obstacles Puerto Rican engineering students and graduates have that limit their possibilities of excelling in the Professional Engineering Examination and improvements to the curriculum to increase the likelihood of success in the PE exam. Additionally, the study investigates the causes of the low pass rate for the PE certification test to become professional engineers and then proposes implementing different pedagogical approaches to address such poor passing rates. The research analyzes large-scale perishable historical data provided by the Puerto Rico examination board and Universities. This study's results will contribute to: (1) advancing our understanding to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues related to our workforce and their success in the engineering and construction industry; (2) informing the literature on how to reform our education curriculum to accommodate the necessary tools needed to prepare minority students to succeed in the Professional Engineering Certification; (3) identifying different aspects limiting the opportunities for minorities, particularly Puerto Rican engineering students to succeed in the PE exam; and (4) capturing the barriers including Language barriers, economic challenges, and class format that influence the low passing rates.

Rivera, E. J., & Elzomor,, M., & Pradhananga, P. (2023, June), Promoting Social Sustainability for Minority Populations through Understanding their Challenges in Professional Engineering Certification Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43985

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