2015 - Motivating Factors for Choosing Engineering as Reported by Racial and Ethnic Minority Students

Attribution: Shebab, Randa L., Walden, Susan E., & Wellborn, Emily E.
Researchers: Emily E. WellbornRanda L. ShebabSusan E. Walden
University Affiliation: University of Oklahoma
Email: rlshehab@ou.edu
Research Question:
The authors try to understand the factors that motivate minority students to enter engineering must be understood in order to find effective strategies to increase diversity in the field.
Published: No
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: N/A
Journal Entry: N/A
Year: 2015
Findings:
  1. Engineering self-efficacy did not figure strongly in the students’ choices of pursuing an engineering major and career.
  2. Interest in STEM was one of the most powerful influences for all groups of students. Also, influence from social supports was high for all groups as well.
  3. Self-efficacy is the the lowest influence on choosing Engineering.
  4. Outcome expectations, as related to employment prospects, were also highly influential for Asian American students, though only moderated influential for the other three groups of students.
  5. Asian Americans were also strongly influenced by interest in STEM.
  6. The category “influence from others” was the most cited influence for Hispanic Americans. While it was a high influence for every ethnic group, it was exceptionally noticeable for this group of students. Most of this influence came from family and teachers.
  7. Another interesting trend among Hispanic Americans was a lack of motivation from social recognition and financial goals. While social recognition and financial goals were large motivators for some other groups, Hispanic Americans were influenced very little by these factors. This indicates that Hispanic Americans are relatively less influenced by outcome expectations compared to the other groups.
  8. Native Americans followed the general trends of the other groups with relatively high influence from interest and social supports, and moderate influence from outcome expectations and self-efficacy.
  9. African Americans were most influenced by the category of “interests” when compared to any other group of students. However, this is most likely explained by the fact that many of the African American students in their sample went to STEM focused high schools and were recruited specifically from them. Their data reflect this potential explanation, as African Americans were relatively more influenced by recruitment and financial availability (scholarships) compared to their peers.
Scholarship Types: Unpublished Research (Paper at Conference)Keywords: CollegeEngineeringMinoritiesRaceSTEMSTEM MajorRegions: SouthwestMethodologies: QualitativeResearch Designs: InterviewsAnalysis Methods: Content Analysis Sampling Frame:Minority Engineering Students
Sampling Types: Non-Random - PurposiveAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Qualitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • The theory utilized is Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). SCCT explains how a student’s self-efficacy, interests, outcome expectations, social supports, and barriers influence their decision to pursue a certain career goal.
  • To study the factors influencing the choice of an engineering major, minority undergraduate engineering students were interviewed. Their interview population included 29 Native American students, 37 Hispanic American students, 35 Asian American students, and 37 African American students. The students graduated from one of several engineering majors at a large, comprehensive research institution located in the Southwest United States.
  • These students participated in one-to-two hour semi-structured interviews. Pre-determined questions were supplemented with additional probe questions when needed to encourage the students to elaborate on their educational and personal experiences. The interviews were transcribed, reviewed for accuracy and removed of any personally identifying information. For this analysis, initial coding of the student responses to one specific interview question (and subsequent probe questions) was completed using NVivo qualitative data analysis software. This question directly asked students “Why did you choose your major?”
  • In the first coding pass, student responses were examined for emergent categories of influence. The authors compared these categories with several conceptual frameworks and determined that SCCT provided the best interpretive match to their categories.
  • Once the SCCT framework was applied, the coding of the interview passages was reviewed to ascertain that all categories of influence were appropriately coded. Trends were identified within as well across the four minority groups.
  • Due to the open-ended nature of the data, the results should be viewed as relative trends and not as absolute values.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:STEM Entrance and Majoring in STEM
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts