2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 113: Engineering Faculty's Academic Influence on Student Persistence: Faculty Use, Knowledge, and Comfort in Providing Encouragement to Students

Presented at Faculty Development Division (FDD) Poster Session

This work-in-progress paper focuses on how engineering faculty's perception of providing encouragement can influence student persistence. Previous literature has shown that faculty influence has a significant role in the academic outcomes of students and their persistence by increasing students’ self-efficacy. However, little is known about faculty members’ perception on providing this encouragement, especially in the engineering academic climate which has a reputation for being perceived as “chilly” by marginalized students. This pilot study seeks to close the literature gap by developing and validating a scale, the “Faculty Encouragement Behavior Scale,” to understand engineering faculty perceptions of providing encouragement to students.

Authors

Ms. Rachel Ziminski http://orcid.org/0009-0006-1806-3925 University of Massachusetts Lowell [biography]

Rachel Ziminski is a third year doctoral student in the Leadership in Education program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research interests include understanding faculty influence on student persistence, faculty teaching preparation, and creating an environment of continuous learning in higher education. Her current research focuses on faculty influence on underrepresented minority student persistence in engineering education. Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, Rachel served in various administrative and leadership positions in academic affairs and student affairs at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, MIT and Wentworth Institute of Technology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Bentley University and a master’s degree in administration of higher education from Suffolk University.
Dr. Yanfen Li http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-9465-7147 University of Massachusetts Lowell [biography]

Yanfen Li is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She received her PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Her current research is in engineering education with a focus on curriculu

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