This study examined factors that played a role in Latina/o undergraduate students' persistence in engineering at a Hispanic serving institution (HSI; N ϭ 10) using the consensual qualitative research method (CQR;Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Data analyses resulted in five domains: institutional conditions, additive intersectional burdens, personal and cultural wealth, coping skills, and engineering identity. Participants described how they persisted in the face of stressors, citing specific coping skills they developed over time as well as general personal and cultural strengths they carried with them into their pursuit of engineering. Although the structures of the students' institution were generally described as supportive, Latina participants reported experiences with gendered racism that created added barriers to their persistence in engineering. Supportive institutional conditions, personal and cultural assets, and adaptive coping strategies appeared to facilitate the development of a strong engineering identity, which helped to solidify students' sense of belonging, pride, and commitment to complete their degree. Results highlight the need to address intersecting experiences of privilege and oppression to promote access and equity for Latinas/os in engineering.
Public Significance StatementLatinas in engineering experience intersectional forms of marginalization that must be attended to in the development of interventions to support their success. Hispanic serving institutions and Latina/o students have unique strengths that may be leveraged to promote Latinas/os' persistence in engineering. Findings from this study offer practical interventions for educators and career counselors to facilitate inclusive engineering communities for Latina/o engineering students.
The present study demonstrates the importance of considering intersectional identities and/or social contexts in the application of social cognitive career theory and related interventions in efforts to broaden participation in engineering. Specifically, interactions among race/ethnicity, gender, and/or institutional context moderated important social-cognitive relations and differentially explained engineering undergraduates' academic engagement, satisfaction, and intended persistence.
The Negative Outcome Expectations Scale in Engineering (NOES-E) is a 21-item measure that was developed to assess anticipated negative outcomes related to pursuing engineering. Using two samples of engineering students, exploratory (n ¼ 256) and confirmatory (n ¼ 1,187) factor analyses supported a four-factor model of the NOES-E. The four factors included cultural-related stressors, personal life and work balance, job characteristics, and social costs. The results suggested that the 21-item NOES-E demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's a ¼ .94) and construct validity by a positive correlation with a measure of engineering environmental barriers and negative correlations with measures of engineering academic satisfaction, self-efficacy, environmental supports, intended persistence, and positive outcome expectations. There was nonsignificant relation between NOES-E scores and future family consideration. Also, we found that women and transgender students reported higher negative outcome expectations in engineering than men. However, there were no significant group differences across race/ethnicity. Implications for practice, theory, and future vocational research in engineering are discussed. Keywords negative outcome expectations, engineering, social cognitive, scale development, social cognitive career theory Recently, the need for high-quality engineers has increased, given their critical role in supporting the United States' competitiveness in the global economy, particularly over the next 10 years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Unfortunately, the overall number of U.S. engineering students has flattened or decreased over the last several years and does not currently meet industry demands
There are approximately 12 million single parent-headed families in the United States (U.S.), 80% of which are headed by single mothers (United States Census Bureau, 2017). Research suggests that single mothers experience more vocational difficulties than married or partnered mothers (Weitoft, Haglund, & Rosén, 2000), especially working single mothers. This study explored the work experiences of racial minority working single mothers at lower-middle income level using a consensual qualitative research method (Hill et al., 2005). Six primary domains emerged from the data: (a) job/education decision-making, (b) challenges, (c) characteristics of self, (d) resources, (e) coping, and (f) suggestions. We present the practical implications of the study to increase vocational mobility, inform practitioners, and promote greater overall wellness for this marginalized group at various system levels. Suggestions for future research with racial minority working single mothers and limitations of the current study are discussed.
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