Work in Progress: Investigating the Impact of Engineering Identity, Belonging, and Career Commitment on Early Postsecondary Outcomes

Abstract

Her scholarship focuses on the effects of school organization and climate on students' behavioral and achievement outcomes. As the Co-PI for New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation, she is leading a mixed-methods study to examine how college experiences shape scientific identity development and STEM educational outcomes for women and underrepresented minority students.

Toward an Understanding of the Relationship Between Race/Ethnicity, Gender, First-generation Student Status, and Engineering Identity at Hispanic-serving Institutions

“…The lack of diversity and persistence in undergraduate engineering programs has led to a breadth of research on the factors predicting student retention and success-especially that of underrepresented and minoritized groups [2], [3], [5], [12], [14], [15]. In this research, engineering identity -measured in a variety of ways-has become a significant variable contributing to educational success, with stronger engineering identity leading to persistence [7], [10], [17] - [28]. That is, the more students feel like they belong in engineering, feel supported academically, personally, and socially, are recognized as engineers by their peers, faculty, and friends and family, feel competent as an engineering student and identify themselves as an engineer, and see a future for themselves as an engineer, the more likely they will be to remain in engineering [11], [29].…”