Mikel, T. K., & Hoang, F., & Kim, P. S. H., & Carnasciali, M., & Ciston, S. (2016, June), What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27192

\bibitem{asee_peer_27192}
  Mikel, T. K., \& Hoang, F., \& Kim, P. S. H., \& Carnasciali, M., \& Ciston, S. (2016, June), \emph{What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions}
  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  10.18260/p.27192

Tressa Kay Mikel, Frank Hoang, Pedro S. H. Kim, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, and Shannon Ciston.  "What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions".  2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2016.  https://peer.asee.org/27192 Internet.  11 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_27192}
  Tressa Kay Mikel, Frank Hoang, Pedro S. H. Kim, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, and Shannon Ciston.
  "What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions".
  \emph{2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2016.
  https://peer.asee.org/27192 Internet.  11 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_27192
author = "Tressa Kay Mikel, Frank Hoang, Pedro S. H. Kim, Maria-Isabel Carnasciali, and Shannon Ciston"
title = "What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions"
booktitle = "2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2016"
month = "June"
address = "New Orleans, Louisiana"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/27192}
number = {10.18260/p.27192}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Our work is motivated by the need to cultivate a diverse group of talented future engineers. Adult undergraduate students over the age of 25 are an important source of engineers, with life experience that can enhance student experience, but not much is understood yet about this specific group. Adult students face challenges specific to their demographic due to responsibilities in other aspects of their life as employees, parents, spouses, and more. This paper examines adult engineering students’ conceptions of what an engineer is, across three distinct academic environments: a community college, a small private undergraduate university, and a large public research university. A semi-structured interview approach was used to collect data from adult students with prior engineering-related work experience. These data reveal strong similarities among the conception of what it means to be an engineer, despite differences in the demographic background and institutional context of the participants. There are differences in course load, employment status, and number of dependents among the sample populations at the three institutions. Participants from all institutions identified with occupational respect, application of knowledge to find solutions, benefiting society, and problem solving as important aspects of the engineering occupation. We conclude that a well-defined, accessible engineering support structure is instrumental in promoting students' conception of the engineering occupation. This work suggests opportunities to enhance professional identity development at institutions of multiple types through industrial  collaboration and mentorship, policies and programs to support student-parents, and cooperative work opportunities that marry engineering education with engineering practice.  
AU  - Tressa Kay Mikel
AU  - Frank Hoang
AU  - Pedro S. H. Kim
AU  - Maria-Isabel Carnasciali
AU  - Shannon Ciston
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer? A Comparison of Adult Students at Three Institutions
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/27192
DO  - 10.18260/p.27192
ER  -