The Mist Shrouding Community College

Diego Reyes; Brooke Coley

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Two-Year College Potpourri
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41358
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41358
Download Count: 320

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Paper Authors

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Diego Reyes

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A biomedical engineer by trade but I come from a family of both educators and engineers and found the engineering education marries my two passions. I believe that education truly is power and higher education is a right, therefore my research focuses on how to break down barriers to engineering and how to create pathways to engineering that begin at community colleges and continue through universities.

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Brooke Coley Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus

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Abstract

Community colleges have long been an affordable and accessible gateway, crucial to filling the need for a more diverse engineering field (Bahr, 2017). Based on a recent research study on the stigma transfer students from community college feel at a four year institution, for many students the decision to pursue higher education with a start at the community college would be an easy choice were it not for the associated stigma (Shaw, 2019). This phenomenographic study explored how the stigma associated with attending community college influenced students’ decision to attend these institutions, and specifically, in pursuit of engineering studies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 participants attending community college with an engineering major or focus. Interviews ranged from 1-1.5 hours in duration. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as the theoretical framing to situate the study. To analyze the data a codebook was developed which included an explicit code to recognize any references to stigma associated with and/or present in the community college experience. Findings of the study revealed that the “stigma” associated with community college does in fact inhibit students from attending community college. In addition, those that made the decision to attend community college primarily felt a sense of rejection from their peers, often feeling an associated inferiority for their choice. It was also apparent that the students that were characteristically more practical in nature were better able to resist the stigma and navigate the decision to attend community college. Lastly it was found that when these students had an instance where they were reassured they were making the right choice that allowed them to see past the stigma. These findings highlight students are in fact influenced by the stigma associated with attending community college, resulting in a perspective of community college as a “second chance” school as opposed to a primary contender for academically competitive students looking to choose their institutions for pursuit of their higher education. It is especially important to address this stigma when considering the viability of the path of initiating education at the community college and then transferring to a 4-year institution. There are several successful engineering models that are optimizing this approach and creating more pathways to and through engineering education. However, finding ways to address and debunk this stigma are warranted, especially given the value most students describe in their engineering education at the community college, and more diverse students, at that. It is our goal that this study will highlight and bring awareness to this “stigma” such that all stakeholders can work together to develop initiatives and actions that combat it for the potential to amplify community college as an advantageous start to an engineering education.

Citation
Format

Reyes, D., & Coley, B. (2022, August), The Mist Shrouding Community College Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41358

TY - CPAPER
AB - Community colleges have long been an affordable and accessible gateway, crucial to filling the need for a more diverse engineering field (Bahr, 2017). Based on a recent research study on the stigma transfer students from community college feel at a four year institution, for many students the decision to pursue higher education with a start at the community college would be an easy choice were it not for the associated stigma (Shaw, 2019). This phenomenographic study explored how the stigma associated with attending community college influenced students’ decision to attend these institutions, and specifically, in pursuit of engineering studies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 participants attending community college with an engineering major or focus. Interviews ranged from 1-1.5 hours in duration. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as the theoretical framing to situate the study. To analyze the data a codebook was developed which included an explicit code to recognize any references to stigma associated with and/or present in the community college experience. Findings of the study revealed that the “stigma” associated with community college does in fact inhibit students from attending community college. In addition, those that made the decision to attend community college primarily felt a sense of rejection from their peers, often feeling an associated inferiority for their choice. It was also apparent that the students that were characteristically more practical in nature were better able to resist the stigma and navigate the decision to attend community college. Lastly it was found that when these students had an instance where they were reassured they were making the right choice that allowed them to see past the stigma. These findings highlight students are in fact influenced by the stigma associated with attending community college, resulting in a perspective of community college as a “second chance” school as opposed to a primary contender for academically competitive students looking to choose their institutions for pursuit of their higher education. It is especially important to address this stigma when considering the viability of the path of initiating education at the community college and then transferring to a 4-year institution. There are several successful engineering models that are optimizing this approach and creating more pathways to and through engineering education. However, finding ways to address and debunk this stigma are warranted, especially given the value most students describe in their engineering education at the community college, and more diverse students, at that. It is our goal that this study will highlight and bring awareness to this “stigma” such that all stakeholders can work together to develop initiatives and actions that combat it for the potential to amplify community college as an advantageous start to an engineering education.
AU - Diego Reyes
AU - Brooke Coley
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - The Mist Shrouding Community College
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41358
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41358
ER -