Exploring the role of high school engineering courses in promoting science attitudes for students with learning disabilities

Abstract

Demand for engineering‐interested and proficient high school graduates continues to grow across the nation. However, there remains a severe gap in college participation and employment in engineering fields for students with learning disabilities (SWLDs). One potential way to encourage SWLDs to consider engineering as a profession and promote the development of key science attitudes may be through engineering and technology career and technical education (E‐CTE) coursework. In this study, we address the following research questions: Do SWLDs take E‐CTE courses in the early years of high school at different rates compared to students without learning disabilities? What is the relationship between early E‐CTE coursetaking and science attitudes (self‐efficacy, utility, identity), and does this differ for students with and without learning disabilities? How do specific engineering career expectations change with respect to enrollment in early E‐CTE coursework, and do these differ for students with and without learning disabilities? We utilize the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS) to respond to the research questions through moderation models and a student fixed effects methodology. Ultimately, we found no evidence of SWLD underrepresentation in E‐CTE in high school. However, SWLDs were expected to benefit more than the general population from E‐CTE participation with respect to higher levels of science self‐efficacy and science identity. Implications from these findings include how to encourage persistence along the engineering pathway, the growth of career pathway policies at the state level, and how to incorporate E‐CTE practices in academic courses.