Abstract
This qualitative case study examines the college choice decisions of rural students enrolled in engineering majors to understand what conditions and experiences led rural students to pursue engineering at their institution. We found four themes that help illuminate rural engineering students’ college choice journeys (1) The Inextricable Nature of College, Major, and Career Choice (2) “The Smart Person Thing to Do:” The Power of Prestige, (3) “Are You Sure You Don’t Want to Change your Major?” Dissonance Between Aspirations and Expectations, and (4) School and Community as Crucial Resources in College and Major Exploration. These findings have implications for those working with rural high school students seeking engineering degrees and admissions processes at four-year colleges and universities.
Highlights
The career development of young people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has been a focus of national conversation since the launch of Sputnik I in 1957
While there is some research exploring rural students’ involvement in STEM (e.g., Assouline et al, 2017; Carrico et al, 2017), this population is often absent in the conversation about underserved students in STEM
Given the importance of institutional fit in helping students progress from matriculation to graduation, college choice should be considered in the conversation about the STEM pipeline (Morgan, 2005)
Summary
The career development of young people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has been a focus of national conversation since the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. Geographic isolation prevents exposure to colleges (Hillman, 2016; Peterson et al, 2015), insufficient bandwidth provides barriers to online coursework and educational technology (Spencer, 2017), and inadequate school funding limits access to advanced STEM coursework options (National Science Board, 2014) Together, these factors may limit the ability of rural students to participate in the learning opportunities that are crucial in helping them develop STEM aspirations (Assouline et al, 2017). We narrow our focus to students in engineering majors rather than STEM majors broadly because bachelor’s degrees in engineering often allow access to high-paying jobs without graduate education (Fayer et al, 2017) In this way, a successful journey to and through engineering undergraduate programs offers rural students, many of whom are low-income (Hussar et al, 2020), greater future earning potential for themselves and their families. Treating all STEM majors the same increases the chances of overlooking important nuances and contextual factors that matter to advancing persistence and degree completion for underrepresented students
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