Minority Engineering Program Research Articles

Developing Nontechnical Professional Skills in African American Engineering Majors Through Co-Curricular Activities

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This study contributes to efforts to diversify the field of engineering by studying the influence of co-curricular activities on African American students’ development of key nontechnical professional skills. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> The 21st Century workforce requires significant collaboration and communication. For engineering graduates to meet workforce challenges, they must graduate with nontechnical skills. This study operationalized these skills using traits identified in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) “Engineer of 2020” report. The NAE also points to the urgent need for the United States to diversify its workforce; broadening the participation of African American engineers is key to doing so. Co-curricular activities help students develop nontechnical professional skills and are particularly important to African Americans at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research Question:</i> How do African American engineering students attending PWIs in the United States develop nontechnical professional skills through participation in ethnic-specific co-curricular activities? <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</i> This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of 16 participants from one of six engineering disciplines. Each participant was a member of at least one of the following organizations: a Black fraternity or sorority (termed Black Greek Letter organizations), their campus student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, or an institution-sponsored program for racially underrepresented students such as a minority engineering program. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> Data analysis revealed significant evidence that involvement in one or more of the studied ethnic-specific co-curricular activities enhanced African American engineering students’ educational experiences by providing resources and opportunities to help them develop professional skills.

Minority engineering programs at a crossroads

Purpose Underrepresented groups have fought for equal access to higher education, which spurred the development of “minority” initiatives. However, the assault on affirmative action and race-based initiatives have led many universities to retreat toward more all-encompassing “diversity” initiatives. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the author examines two historically white public research universities. The data include 70 participants with voices of faculty, key administrators, students and recent alumni (within the past three-five years). Findings Analyzed through a pattern matching technique, the findings from this study suggest important financial benefits for the “multicultural” engineering program and a sense of communal support for both the “multicultural” and “minority” engineering program. Originality/value Given the international attention of raced-based initiatives, this study provides forward-looking insights based on the experiences and perspectives of key stakeholders.

Assessing U.S. Minority Engineering Programs: Outline of a Research Agenda

Diversifying the science and technology workforce in general has become an evermore pressing issue on research and policy agendas in the United States (U.S.) today. A central topic in related debates has been the critical need for qualified engineers, with particular attention to minorities as an untapped resource in relevant fields. Delineating and framing the key issues underlying this problem in terms of the broader political cultural and institutional context, we explore Minority Engineering Programs (MEPs) in U.S. colleges and universities as an intervention mechanism for increasing the production of engineering degrees among underrepresented minorities. To that end, we outline a research agenda for pursuing an empirical specification and analysis of basic conditions, strategic processes, and organizational relationships relative to MEP practices and structures aimed at affecting demographic patterns of occupational representation and success in engineering.

A Study of the Impact of Minority Engineering Programs at the FAMU‐FSU College of Engineering

AbstractThe Engineering Concepts Institute, and the rest of the comprehensive minority student development program that followed it, has served students of Florida A&amp;M University matriculating to the Florida A&amp;M University—Florida State University (FAMU‐FSU) College of Engineering. A significant relationship between participation in the programs under study and graduation/retention was identified with the Pearson Chi‐squared test, Cochran‐Mantel‐Haenszel statistics, as well as the Mantel‐Haenszel estimate. Students who participated in the program were estimated to have significantly higher odds of five‐year graduation and six‐year graduation than students who did not participate in the program. A comparison of high school GPAs identified a selection bias, and high school GPA was then used to control for this selection bias in a multiple logistic regression model. While multiple individual cohorts remain statistically significant, the aggregate of all cohorts lacks significance due to the small number of participants and the possible overly stringent penalty imposed by the addition of high school GPA. Nevertheless, the results continue to show the positive trend observed earlier—that Minority Engineering Program participants are 25 percent more likely to be retained and graduate in engineering than students who had similar high school GPA but did not participate in the program—it is expected that continuing longitudinal study will bear out this trend as statistically significant. Although the programs described in this paper have been discontinued as a result of personnel changes, the study of the program is still useful as a contribution to the body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of such programs.

A Promise Deferred

Statistics are presented revealing the insufficient growth of students enrolled in engineering in general and civil engineering in particular since 1985. The percentage of women and members of minorities in engineering schools, however, has increased during this period. Since the overall population growth of minorities is growing at a rapid pace, it is stressed that more should be done to channel students from these groups into engineering and science careers. This means raising academic standards and performance during the precollege years to ensure that students who graduate from high school have a background in math and science that will enable them to pursue a technical degree. The work being done by various organizations in this area is surveyed, and the important role played by minority engineering program administrators at engineering institutions is cited.

A Promising Prospect for Minority Retention: Students Becoming Peer Mentors

The study examined academic and interpersonal growth of peer mentors (N = 19) by analyzing comments in journals written during mentors' first quarter of tutoring and mentoring within a minority engineering program at a large land-grant university in Southeast. Although intent of program was to improve retention rates for participants, mentors experienced both academic and interpersonal growth. In addition, preliminary data regarding grades and retention status also indicate that mentors benefited academically from mentoring experience. The findings of study suggest that, although upper-class peer mentors are not target population of minority engineering program, they were positively impacted from their roles as mentors within minority engineering program. Mentoring-an intensive, one-to-one form of teaching in which wise and experienced mentor inducts aspiring protege into a particular, usually professional, of life (Parkay, 1988, p. 196). Such was definition adopted by participants of a minority engineering program which encouraged relationships between freshman pre-engineering students and upper-class division mentors at a predominantly White land-grant university in Southeast. The intent of this program, as is typical of many other programs, was to improve retention rates of minority students within a given area of study and hopefully, capitalize on benefits of program for marketing purposes and recruiting of additional minority students into a college of engineering. The program encompassed many components, from formal tutorial instruction to informal dinners and celebrations, in which peer mentors played a vital role and, as suggested by Parkay's (1988) definition, inducted their fledgling students into engineering way of life. Part of impetus for including a mentoring component into minority engineering program from program's inception was results of a qualitative study in which engineering students recommended need for networking with upper-class mentors to ease transition of freshman students into university environment (MacGuire & Halpin, 1995). In this particular minority engineering program, African American students were targeted as at risk of possibly leaving engineering program and potentially university. Gainen (1995) reported that greatest attrition collegiate students occurred between freshman and sophomore years of study with students who chose to major in science, mathematics, or engineering. In addition, among students of color, attrition is much higher (p. 5). Seymour and Hewitt (1997) asserted that African American students contend with four broad areas of difficulty when entering engineering, science, and mathematics fields: differences in ethnic cultural values and socialization; internalization of stereotypes; ethnic isolation and perceptions of racism; and inadequate program support (p. 329). These areas of difficulty, particularly internalization of stereotypes, ethnic isolation and perceptions of racism, can be exacerbated when African Americans enter predominantly White institutions as opposed to historically Black institutions. Thus, inclusion of mentors as an integral component within this program was hoped to ameliorate some of these difficulties. Peer mentoring and tutoring gained popularity as an intervention over two decades ago. Researchers (Cloward, 1976; Maxwell, 1994; Pickens & McNaughton, 1988; Strodtbeck, Ronchi, & Hansell, 1976) have concluded that tutoring process has academic and psychological benefits to tutor as well as tutee. For instance, Cloward (1976) stated that the tutor was major beneficiary of tutorial experience (p. 227) in terms of academic gains. Although research exists regarding effect of tutoring on tutor, little research has explored effect of mentoring relationship on mentor. …

The Use of Focus Groups for Minority Engineering Program Assessment

AbstractTo increase the attraction and retention of minority engineering students, many higher‐education institutions have implemented programs to help address academic and social pressures these students face. A key question for administrators of such programs is their actual impact on the targeted students. Since these programs seek to improve retention rates by positively improving students' experience with their institutional environment, it becomes crucial to assess students' perceptions of their college experience. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how focus groups can be used for educational program assessment, in particular minority engineering programs. An evaluative study of minority engineering programs at a state university is used to illustrate this methodology. In this paper, we describe how the study was designed and conducted, the resources required, the types of results obtained from the study, and the follow‐up strategies.

Predicting Success in a Minority Engineering Program

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate two frequently used selection variables, high school grade point average (GPA) and ACT composite test score, as predictors of success in the Increasing Diversity in Engineering Academics (IDEAs) minority engineering program (MEP) at The University of Akron. Data from 48 minority students who participated in the MEP were used in the analysis. The only significant predictor of graduation with an engineering degree was high school GPA. Both high school GPA and ACT scores were significantly correlated with undergraduate GPA. Although they could not be statistically analyzed, both the completion of the first calculus course and number of hours attending mandatory study halls were critical to success in the IDEAs program.

Faculty Support for Minority Engineering Programs

AbstractA survey was developed and mailed to a random sample of engineering professors at schools across the country with ABET‐accredited (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) programs, asking them to assess the “value and appropriateness” of the existence of a formal, structured, general Minority Engineering Program in their School of Engineering, along with the following seven MEP‐specific components: MEP student associations, scholarships, study centers, summer bridge programs, special tutoring programs, career fairs, and awards banquets. On a scale of 1–10 (1 = Very low, should not exist at all; 10 = Very high, critical), the engineering professors tended to express general endorsement of MEP's considering the middle of the scale (5.5) represents a neutral position and the sample average was 6.51. However, there was considerable variability (SD=3.13). Greatest support was found for financial and academic forms of assistance, with less support given to clustering‐types of activities. In addition, attitudinal differences between types of institutions (public vs. private; research vs. non‐research), size, and location of schools were explored. State schools yielded higher scores than private; regionally, the Midwest was the highest and the East was the lowest; and in terms of size, we found that the larger the school, the higher the score. Finally, open‐ended comments were analyzed as a qualitative component to shed light on the numerical results.

Taking Another Look at Educating African American Engineers: The Importance of Undergraduate Retention

AbstractIn this paper we identify the engineering schools that either graduate large classes of African Americans or that retain relatively high percentages of African American students in engineering; point out that modest improvements in student retention would significantly affect the total number of bachelors degrees earned annually by African Americans in engineering; examine the measures implemented by some schools that are particularly effective at retaining African Americans in engineering; and present our views on the future of diversity efforts in engineering. The message we wish to emphasize is that at the very least colleges and universities should endeavor to retain those under represented minority undergraduates who have decided to pursue an engineering education. Frequently used abbreviations EWC — Engineering Workforce Commission, HBCU — historically black college or university, MEP — minority engineering program, MES — minority engineering society, MRR — minority retention rate, NACME — National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, TWI — traditionally white institution

What's DUE

Computer Applications in Engineering EducationVolume 3, Issue 2 p. 139-141 Article What's DUE† Norman L. Fortenberry, Norman L. Fortenberry Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230 Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry, Sc.D.: , is a Program Director (Engineering) in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. He is staff associate to the division director and the coordinator for the Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) program. ILI receives the largest number of proposals (over 2200) of any program at the Foundation and has a budget of $23 million. Dr. Fortenberry received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked in industry, the government, and the academy. Before joining NSF he was Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Director of Minority Engineering Programs at the Florida A&M University/Florida State University College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. At the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering he actively conducted research programs in the areas of design theory and methodology as well as student recruitment, retention, and professional development. He is a member of ASEE, ASME, AAAS, and Sigma XI.Search for more papers by this author Norman L. Fortenberry, Norman L. Fortenberry Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230 Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry, Sc.D.: , is a Program Director (Engineering) in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. He is staff associate to the division director and the coordinator for the Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) program. ILI receives the largest number of proposals (over 2200) of any program at the Foundation and has a budget of $23 million. Dr. Fortenberry received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked in industry, the government, and the academy. Before joining NSF he was Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Director of Minority Engineering Programs at the Florida A&M University/Florida State University College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. At the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering he actively conducted research programs in the areas of design theory and methodology as well as student recruitment, retention, and professional development. He is a member of ASEE, ASME, AAAS, and Sigma XI.Search for more papers by this author First published: 1995 https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.6180030209 † Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the National Science Board or National Science Foundation. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume3, Issue21995Pages 139-141 RelatedInformation

Minority engineering program shifts focus

Minority engineering program shifts focus

Success Model for Minority Engineering Programs

Carnegie-Mellon University was one of the first universities to develop a supportive program for minorities interested in engineering education. CMU recognized that because it was a private, high cost university that certain members of our society would not be represented in significant numbers in its student population. To address this educational and social concern, the university developed a program to correct this imbalance and placate the cultural difference that exists when minorities attend White institutions.