Supporting the Success of Low-Income Engineering Students through Community-Building (Evaluation)

Anne E. Leak

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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: Empowering Diversity in Engineering Education: Strategies and Impacts
Tagged Division: Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48040

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Paper Authors

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Anne E. Leak University of California, Santa Barbara orcid.org/0000-0002-4572-8121

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Anne E. Leak, PhD, is an evaluator and education researcher with the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on culture and communities for learning STEM, including undergraduate engineering education, with an emphasis on access and equity. E-mail: aleak@csep.ucsb.edu

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Abstract

Over the past twelve years, the ESTEEM program, funded by the NSF S-STEM, at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) has supported 161 low-income undergraduate students in engineering. This paper emphasizes the students’ changing needs and what they found supportive over time with a special focus on the shifting needs for community building before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic remote learning. Without additional support, low-income engineering students, who often reflect additional intersecting minoritized identities and are more likely to be the first in their family to attend college, leave the field at higher rates than their peers. Students who are likely to persist in engineering reported supportive relationships with mentors, positive near peer role models, a strong sense of community, and an intention to complete their engineering major. Yet, accessing these support systems is often challenging for low-income students, who are more likely to work long hours and spend more time off campus and less likely to have adequate opportunities to interact with others in their major and see themselves in role models and as part of that community. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the higher education plans and financial viability of UCSB engineering students, especially those from low-income families. In addition to increased financial hardships, these students lacked access to campus educational resources like tutoring and mentors and were more isolated from their on-campus engineering communities. While research has identified needs and programmatic supports likely to encourage student retention in engineering, little is known about the specific needs of low-income students in engineering and how these needs have changed over time. We examined the needs and financial and educational supports of 161 low-income students using ESTEEM evaluation data from 2011 to 2023 who pursued engineering bachelor’s degrees at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Our findings emphasize the types of programmatic supports that were most helpful for students’ education and career pathways in engineering. These results indicate shifting needs for physical space, social interactions with mentors and peers, and have implications for evolving how engineering departments and programs support low-income students to meet their changing needs for persisting in engineering.

Citation
Format

Leak, A. E. (2024, June), Supporting the Success of Low-Income Engineering Students through Community-Building (Evaluation) Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48040

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Over the past twelve years, the ESTEEM program, funded by the NSF S-STEM, at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) has supported 161 low-income undergraduate students in engineering. This paper emphasizes the students’ changing needs and what they found supportive over time with a special focus on the shifting needs for community building before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic remote learning. Without additional support, low-income engineering students, who often reflect additional intersecting minoritized identities and are more likely to be the first in their family to attend college, leave the field at higher rates than their peers. Students who are likely to persist in engineering reported supportive relationships with mentors, positive near peer role models, a strong sense of community, and an intention to complete their engineering major. Yet, accessing these support systems is often challenging for low-income students, who are more likely to work long hours and spend more time off campus and less likely to have adequate opportunities to interact with others in their major and see themselves in role models and as part of that community. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the higher education plans and financial viability of UCSB engineering students, especially those from low-income families. In addition to increased financial hardships, these students lacked access to campus educational resources like tutoring and mentors and were more isolated from their on-campus engineering communities. While research has identified needs and programmatic supports likely to encourage student retention in engineering, little is known about the specific needs of low-income students in engineering and how these needs have changed over time. We examined the needs and financial and educational supports of 161 low-income students using ESTEEM evaluation data from 2011 to 2023 who pursued engineering bachelor’s degrees at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Our findings emphasize the types of programmatic supports that were most helpful for students’ education and career pathways in engineering. These results indicate shifting needs for physical space, social interactions with mentors and peers, and have implications for evolving how engineering departments and programs support low-income students to meet their changing needs for persisting in engineering.
AU  - Anne E. Leak
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Supporting the Success of Low-Income Engineering Students through Community-Building (Evaluation)
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48040
ER  -