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Where Political Affiliation and Sustainability Meet: A Study of Undergraduate Engineering Students' Career Choices

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Conference

2024 South East Section Meeting

Location

Marietta, Georgia

Publication Date

March 10, 2024

Start Date

March 10, 2024

End Date

March 12, 2024

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--45584

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/45584

Download Count

97

Paper Authors

biography

Shabnam Wahed Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Shabnam Wahed, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering Education, is dedicated to revolutionizing the learning experience for engineering students beyond mere memorization. Passionate about elevating students' conceptual understanding, Shabnam directs her efforts toward refining the teaching and assessment methods for mastering fundamental and challenging engineering concepts. With a background in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a rich academic experience spanning six years, her overarching goal is to craft engineering learning environments and experiences in a way that intricately engages students on a cognitive level. In addition to her role as an engineer and researcher, Shabnam is an advocate and ally for fostering greater inclusion in STEM fields and beyond.

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biography

Andrew Katz Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Andrew Katz is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He leads the Improving Decisions in Engineering Education Agents and Systems (IDEEAS) Lab.

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Abstract

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in various industries, and engineers have a crucial role to play in designing and implementing sustainable solutions. We explored in this study whether students’ sustainability-related career choices are associated with their political affiliation. For this study, the CLIMATE survey is used that collected data from 96 research institutions all over the USA. The survey data includes 3766 undergraduate students' responses from diverse engineering majors. We focused on one survey question: “Which of these topics, if any, do you hope to directly address in your career?”. The question consists of 10 sustainability-related career choices such as energy, disease, poverty and distribution of wealth and resources, climate change, terrorism and war, water supply, food availability, opportunities for future generations, opportunities for women and/or minorities, and environmental degradation. Pearson's chi-squared test is used to compare the responses from students with different political affiliations. There are significant political affiliation differences in students’ sustainability-related career outcomes. Students with Republican political affiliations are more interested in addressing terrorism and war whereas students with independent political affiliations are more interested in addressing energy supply and demand. Students who have democratic political affiliation are more interested in the rest of the eight sustainability-related career choices. Overall, among the students, Democrats affiliated are more interested in solving sustainability issues compared to Republicans affiliated. As early as in their undergraduate engineering period, students' political affiliations may impact their inclination towards promoting sustainability outcomes in their professional pursuits, as suggested by our findings.

Wahed, S., & Katz, A. (2024, March), Where Political Affiliation and Sustainability Meet: A Study of Undergraduate Engineering Students' Career Choices Paper presented at 2024 South East Section Meeting, Marietta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--45584

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