Discovering how to get engineering on the radar of community college students

Mary R. Anderson-Rowland, Armando Rodriguez, Anita Grierson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is well-known that community colleges (CCs) are a largely unexploited resource for more engineers and computer scientists in the United States. It is also well-known that many of these students do not have engineering as a career on their radar because they know little or nothing about engineering. In Fall 2014 on a visit to a nonmetropolitan CC, two engineering professors visited nine classrooms and talked with over 165 students. At the beginning of the presentation the students were surveyed for their opinions on engineering including their interest, their knowledge of engineering, and their myths about engineering. This paper shows the results of the survey and, in particular, examines the results by whether or not a student is interested in engineering or computer science as a career. An emphasis in our work has been to encourage females and underrepresented minority students to consider engineering. The CC we visited has a high Hispanic population. By analyzing these results, we will be better able to focus future presentations to these populations of students.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication122nd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition: Making Value for Society
PublisherAmerican Society for Engineering Education
StatePublished - 2015
Event2015 122nd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - Seattle, United States
Duration: Jun 14 2015Jun 17 2015

Other

Other2015 122nd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySeattle
Period6/14/156/17/15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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