2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Latinx undergraduate students: Finding a place of belonging in Engineering
Latinx undergraduate students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) where the majority of the school’s undergraduate population comes from similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds are looking to belong, persist, and successfully complete rigorous educational and academic programs. The connection between belonging, motivation to persist in rigorous academic programs, and the level of resilience needed to successfully graduate are interrelated on many levels and will be explored in this case study. Historically, Latinx engineering graduates represent 6% of all engineers in the workforce with little year-over-year growth in the last decade. To further break down that statistic, Latinos make up 4% while Latinas make up 2% of the engineering workforce. (National Science Foundation, 2017). To address the glaring underrepresentation of Latinos in the engineering workforce, the PIN program, funded by the National Science Foundation, was developed to increase diverse participation in research within Engineering undergraduate programs. The PIN program at the HSI supports Engineering sophomore, junior, and senior-level students in developing research and technical, interpersonal, academic, and professional skills that are transferable in their decisions to enter into graduate studies or the professional world. PIN students learn technical skills through hands-on activities in a laboratory setting; receive near-peer and faculty mentorship from individuals with similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds; attend culturally relevant workshops that support academic, interpersonal, and professional growth; and participate in outreach events within the local community and K-12 school environments.
This study will use Yosso’s (2016) Community Cultural Wealth model and Latcrit (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001) to frame the understanding of the relationships between Latinx cultural wealth, and policies and practices that help or hinder students’ senses of belonging in Engineering academic programs. The questions guiding this study are 1) Why do Latinx undergraduate students persist and successfully complete rigorous Engineering academic programs, and 2) How do higher education institutions and HSIs support the various types of community cultural wealth Latinx students represent? A secondary question emerging from this study will look into the policies and educational practices in place in Engineering academic programs that prioritize Latinx academic and professional preparation over workforce development.
This study will identify and concisely report on higher educational institutions and HSI policies, such as admission, retention, pedagogy, and student support services of Engineering programs in and around the southwest region of the U.S. that serve minority-majority populations. Policies and procedures that support or hinder persistence and successful completion by Latinx students will be under review. Secondly, this study will work with the PIN research cohorts of 18 undergraduate student participants enrolled in various Engineering academic programs. The goal is to assess the motivating factors that lead to belonging, resilience, and persistence within their chosen academic programs with a social justice lens. The study uses qualitative research methods including semi-structured interviews, surveys, and participant observations to fully understand the cultural and linguistic backgrounds, motivations, and resiliencies of the participants.