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Session 2470

Recruiting Underrepresented Minorities through an Engineering Summer Institute Cathryne L. Jordan, Mary R. Anderson Rowland, Mary Ann McCartney

Arizona State University

Abstract

As part of Arizona State University's (ASU) K-12 outreach effort to increase the number of qualified minority students entering the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), the Office of Minority Engineering Programs (OMEP) has developed a collaborative effort with industry to expose high school students interested in mathematics and science to the exciting and diverse disciplines of engineering.

With a growing concern for the increased competition for top technical talent, local industries are joining together with education, government, labor, and community to address the Pathway that will lead to increased transition of students from middle to high school to college to employment. The ASU OMEP and the ASU Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program hosted two one-week residential summer programs, over a two year period, sponsored by a grant from the GTE Foundation. The objective of the GTE Engineering Summer Institute (ESI) was to expose students to skills that would assist them in investigating and in pursuing engineering and/or technology as a study of discipline and career option, and to instill the importance of mathematics and science as tools in the development of the expanding technological industry. The ESI utilized the ASU MESA program to recruit secondary students and to explore the option of Computer Science as an academic and professional career.

The program served high school juniors and seniors with a focus on historically under- represented minority groups as outlined in the grant. Over the two year period, 62 Arizona students from across the state have participated in the ESI. The student participants studied computer basics of Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, HTML, and Web page development, explored all areas of engineering, interacted with CEAS faculty and students, and learned about the process and benefits of higher education and career goal setting.

The 1997 and 1998 ESI's have provided a positive impact for the university, high school programs, and industry. As a result of the ESI experience, half of the 62 participants were more interested in and more inclined to pursue or to investigate Engineering as a discipline of study and career option. This paper will discuss how collaboration with industry and university outreach programs worked together to increase the awareness of engineering and technology careers.

Introduction

Arizona, like much of the rest of the United States, needs good workers with specific skills for specific jobs that are growing in the state. The tremendous population growth over the past several years, a consistently low employment rate, and a business climate that attracts new

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Jordan, C. L., & McCartney, M. A., & Anderson-Rowland, M. (1999, June), Recruiting Underrepresented Minorities Through An Engineering Summer Institute Paper presented at 1999 Annual Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina. 10.18260/1-2--8083