Stories of Appalachian Engineers: A Phenomenographical Study of Appalachian Students’ Quest for Success in Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Matthew Sheppard; Lisa Benson

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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: June 26, 2024
Conference Session: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 11
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--47999
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47999
Download Count: 117

Paper Authors

biography

Matthew Sheppard Clemson University

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I earned my B.S. in Industrial Engineering and my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering; both at Clemson University. I have several years’ experience as a Manufacturing Engineer supporting process improvements, machine design, and capital project management. Now, I have entered into the Engineering and Science Education PhD program at Clemson University in tandem with teaching hands-on engineering principles in an undergraduate engineering program in Appalachia. The focus of my research is understanding how Appalachian students engage their cultural capital to excel in undergraduate engineering programs.

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biography

Lisa Benson Clemson University orcid.org/0000-0001-5517-2289

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Lisa Benson is a Professor of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University, and the past editor of the Journal of Engineering Education. Her research focuses on the interactions between student motivation and their learning experiences. Her projects include studies of student perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards becoming engineers and scientists, and their development of problem-solving skills, self-regulated learning practices, and epistemic beliefs. Other projects in the Benson group involve students’ navigational capital, and researchers’ schema development through the peer review process. Dr. Benson is an American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Fellow, and a member of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), American Educational Research Association (AERA) and Tau Beta Pi. She earned a B.S. in Bioengineering (1978) from the University of Vermont, and M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (2002) in Bioengineering from Clemson University.

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Abstract

This work in progress paper reflects on the unique undergraduate engineering experiences of engineers who identify as Central Appalachian. In terms of engineering education access and job opportunities, the inhabitants of Central Appalachia have historically faced a unique set of challenges. Prior studies have shown that within the region, companies that employ engineers have difficulty hiring and retaining engineers. In a related project that looks at ways young Appalachian students come to be interested in becoming an engineer, several companies reported a need for an increase in the number of engineers local to the region. Job creation and access to higher education within the region has been proven difficult because of the isolation and rugged terrain of mountainous geography. This isolation has limited infrastructure that supports industry and provides the resources desired by people who could be enticed to live and work in the area.

On the campuses of major universities, Central Appalachian students are often marginalized because these educational spaces were not created with their needs and experiences in mind. By asking the primary research question, “What types of cultural capital did self-identified Appalachian Engineers use during their undergraduate engineering experience to become workforce-ready engineers?” This study’s asset-based approach looks at the unique cultural capital these students hold and uses their stories of success to provide paths forward for tomorrow’s engineering students from the Central Appalachia region.

This study employs the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to understand how engineering students of Central Appalachia develop interests, make choices, and achieve success in their academic and career experiences. The aspect of SCCT that concentrates on empowering these students to leverage their cultural capital for success can be structured around tenets of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW). This theoretical framework focuses on positioning oneself for success in a domain not created with one in mind. The CCW tenets that were applied in this study include social, familial and navigational capital. These tenets help identify and organize ways undergraduate engineering students from Central Appalachia can come to recognize and leverage their strengths to become workforce-ready engineers.

This qualitative study will use interviews to collect stories of participants’ lived experiences through questions about the participant’s feelings towards their current job, childhood experiences, transition to college, college experiences, transition to career and broader impacts. The interview protocol was adapted from prior works to address the research question through the lenses of SCCT and CCW. Selective and snowball sampling will be used to identify six practicing engineers who identify as Central Appalachian to participate in this study.

There are two anticipated outcomes of this study: 1) To provide educators with resources that leverage the assets and successful experiences of Central Appalachian undergraduate students to identify and employ effective practices that ensure success for current and future students. 2) To use stories that resonate with Central Appalachian engineering students to provide current and future students with an embodiment of who they could become as an engineer.

Citation
Format

Sheppard, M., & Benson, L. (2024, June), Stories of Appalachian Engineers: A Phenomenographical Study of Appalachian Students’ Quest for Success in Undergraduate Engineering Programs Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47999

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This work in progress paper reflects on the unique undergraduate engineering experiences of engineers who identify as Central Appalachian. In terms of engineering education access and job opportunities, the inhabitants of Central Appalachia have historically faced a unique set of challenges. Prior studies have shown that within the region, companies that employ engineers have difficulty hiring and retaining engineers. In a related project that looks at ways young Appalachian students come to be interested in becoming an engineer, several companies reported a need for an increase in the number of engineers local to the region. Job creation and access to higher education within the region has been proven difficult because of the isolation and rugged terrain of mountainous geography. This isolation has limited infrastructure that supports industry and provides the resources desired by people who could be enticed to live and work in the area. 

On the campuses of major universities, Central Appalachian students are often marginalized because these educational spaces were not created with their needs and experiences in mind. By asking the primary research question, “What types of cultural capital did self-identified Appalachian Engineers use during their undergraduate engineering experience to become workforce-ready engineers?” This study’s asset-based approach looks at the unique cultural capital these students hold and uses their stories of success to provide paths forward for tomorrow’s engineering students from the Central Appalachia region.

This study employs the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to understand how engineering students of Central Appalachia develop interests, make choices, and achieve success in their academic and career experiences. The aspect of SCCT that concentrates on empowering these students to leverage their cultural capital for success can be structured around tenets of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW). This theoretical framework focuses on positioning oneself for success in a domain not created with one in mind. The CCW tenets that were applied in this study include social, familial and navigational capital. These tenets help identify and organize ways undergraduate engineering students from Central Appalachia can come to recognize and leverage their strengths to become workforce-ready engineers.

This qualitative study will use interviews to collect stories of participants’ lived experiences through questions about the participant’s feelings towards their current job, childhood experiences, transition to college, college experiences, transition to career and broader impacts. The interview protocol was adapted from prior works to address the research question through the lenses of SCCT and CCW. Selective and snowball sampling will be used to identify six practicing engineers who identify as Central Appalachian to participate in this study.

There are two anticipated outcomes of this study: 1) To provide educators with resources that leverage the assets and successful experiences of Central Appalachian undergraduate students to identify and employ effective practices that ensure success for current and future students. 2) To use stories that resonate with Central Appalachian engineering students to provide current and future students with an embodiment of who they could become as an engineer. 

AU  - Matthew Sheppard
AU  - Lisa Benson
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Stories of Appalachian Engineers: A Phenomenographical Study of Appalachian Students’ Quest for Success in Undergraduate Engineering Programs
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47999
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--47999
ER  -