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The Impact of the New DEI Landscape on Minoritized Engineering Students’ Recruitment and Retention

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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

Page Count

20

DOI

10.18260/1-2--48112

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/48112

Download Count

56

Paper Authors

biography

Jordan Williamson CSEdResearch

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Jordan Williamson graduated with a BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests center on minority experiences in the American Education System.

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Julie M. Smith CSEdResearch.org Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-2347-2070

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Dr. Julie M. Smith is a senior education researcher at CSEdResearch.org. She holds degrees in Curriculum & Instruction and Software Development. She also completed a doctoral program in Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. Her research focus is computer science education, particularly the intersection of learning analytics, learning theory, and equity and excellence. She was a research assistant at MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab, working on a program aimed at improving equity in high school computer science programs; she is also co-editor of the SIGCSE Bulletin.

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Monica McGill Institute for Advanced Engineering Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3096-9619

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Monica McGill is President & CEO of the Institute for Advancing Computing Education (formerly known as CSEdResearch.org). Have previously worked in industry and academia, McGill is using her experiences as a computer scientist, professor, and researcher to enable others to build a strong foundation of CS education research focused on all children while also conducting it with partners and collaborators.

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Abstract

Introduction: Recent years have seen an influx of legislation targeted at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices at the university level be proposed and, in some cases, approved. Given that these laws are coming in conjunction with the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, it is possible and even likely that these changes may have a negative impact on minority representation in universities, especially in programs like engineering which have already had difficulty increasing their diversity.

Objective: This paper intends to answer the question: How have new DEI laws impacted recruitment and retention efforts?

Methods: This qualitative study will focus on how the new DEI landscape has impacted the ability of post-secondary institutions to recruit and retain engineering students. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with staff and faculty formerly involved in DEI-focused engineering school entities within Texas public universities.

Results: Results will highlight the themes that emerge from analysis of interviews conducted with Texas public university staff and faculty. Specifically, the interviews will be structured to determine answers to the following questions: (1) What changes have staff already experienced, and (2) what changes do they anticipate?

Conclusion: Conclusions will be based on the findings from the interview analysis. Understanding the experiences and perceptions of former DEI staff in terms of systems change allows for a better understanding of the various mechanisms by which the changed legal landscape impacts the recruitment and retention of minoritized engineering students. This analysis will enable researchers and other relevant parties to better understand and respond to the challenges of the new legal landscape.

Williamson, J., & Smith, J. M., & McGill, M. (2024, June), The Impact of the New DEI Landscape on Minoritized Engineering Students’ Recruitment and Retention Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48112

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