2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As the population of the United States of America continues to be more diverse, educational pedagogies must embrace different components of diversity so that the workforce represents a diverse society. Construction and engineering education needs to foster the social sustainability components of diversity, equity, and inclusion to better position our future workforce. In the Science, Technology Engineering, and Math (STEM) profession, minorities, females, and underserved communities are yet staggering in representation within the engineering and construction industry. In the 2021’s Professional Engineering Examination performed in Puerto Rico, only 24 percent of the professionals that participated in the examination passed the test, while the national average for passing the Professional Engineering examination was 58 percent. This study aims to address the current shortage of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Engineering and Construction industry, focusing on the Puerto Rican minority group and their challenges. This study will focus on the obstacles Puerto Rican engineering students and graduates have that limit their possibilities of excelling in the Professional Engineering Examination and improvements to the curriculum to increase the likelihood of success in the PE exam. Additionally, the study investigates the causes of the low pass rate for the PE certification test to become professional engineers and then proposes implementing different pedagogical approaches to address such poor passing rates. The research analyzes large-scale perishable historical data provided by the Puerto Rico examination board and Universities. This study's results will contribute to: (1) advancing our understanding to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues related to our workforce and their success in the engineering and construction industry; (2) informing the literature on how to reform our education curriculum to accommodate the necessary tools needed to prepare minority students to succeed in the Professional Engineering Certification; (3) identifying different aspects limiting the opportunities for minorities, particularly Puerto Rican engineering students to succeed in the PE exam; and (4) capturing the barriers including Language barriers, economic challenges, and class format that influence the low passing rates.