Intersectionality at minority-serving institutions (MSIs): A longitudinal analysis of female student participation within engineering and computing

Abstract

This full research paper presents a study of longitudinal data on female students at a research-intensive (R1) public minority-serving institution (MSI). Despite increased focus by state and federal governments and other business entities in the United States, most higher education institutions have yet to reach parity with women’s participation in engineering and computing. Of note, the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) stated that women earned 22% of bachelor’s degrees, 27% of master’s degrees, and 24% of doctoral degrees in engineering as of 2018 meaning that there is a continuation of the decade long upward trend in the proportion of women earning engineering degrees across the educational spectrum. For instance, regarding engineering bachelor’s degrees, women have seen a 53% increase in degrees awarded between 2010 and 2018. For the purpose of this study, the target institution’s College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) has partnered with industry organizations to enhance their understanding of experiences among female students within engineering and computing programs. The overarching goal of those partnerships is to improve graduation and retention rates of female students and faculty. Using intersectionality as the conceptual framework, the goal of this research study is to deeply examine longitudinal data centered on outcome metrics linked to female students within engineering and computing over an 11 to 12-year span. Results will be used to answer research questions on how metrics have changed over time for female students in areas such as enrollment by department and ethnicity. Results showed an overall upward trend for enrollment and graduation rates across departments and by ethnic groups. On the other hand, some areas showed slight dips that will require additional research. Additionally, the results highlighted the need for future research including collecting qualitative data to help explain the findings from this study. Results will be shared with institutional leadership to promote the recruitment, retention, and graduation of more female students within engineering and computing academic programs.