2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Developing an engineering identity is influential in supporting undergraduate students’ motivation, sense of belonging, and persistence. Empirical studies have typically asked students to rate their level of agreement with the statement “I see myself as an engineer,” which was intended to capture students’ developing engineering identity. However, there is a lack of clarity on whether students interpret the question from a present- or future-oriented perspective. Developing and establishing an engineering identity is complex, nuanced, and may not be easily captured using a single survey item. Additionally, a lack of clarity on how students are interpreting the survey measure can create contextual bias due to inconsistent results or interpretations. In this study, we sought to answer the following research question: In what ways are students interpreting and reflecting on the survey statement “I see myself as an engineer?” To gain a deeper understanding of students’ interpretation of the survey statement, we conducted an explanatory sequential mixed methods design by analyzing data strands using Pearson’s correlations and thematic analysis.

The data for this study was collected at one Hispanic-serving institution in the U.S. Southwest. The quantitative data included cross-sectional survey responses from 362 undergraduate engineering students, 74% of whom identified as Latinx/Hispanic, and we examined the correlational relationships between survey statements “I feel like an engineer now,” “I will feel like an engineer in the future,” and “I see myself as an engineer.” We found that the measure “I see myself as an engineer” had a stronger relationship with the future-oriented rather than the present-oriented perspective. This relationship suggests that Latinx students’ conceptualization of “I see myself as an engineer” may be better aligned to a future-oriented perspective, suggesting that their ability to feel like an engineer is aspirational and not yet fulfilled in the present moment.

To further understand how students were interpreting the survey item and the rationale behind their responses, we conducted semi-structured interviews with eight participants, who were mostly Latinx students. The interviews captured students’ understanding of what it means to be an engineer and at what point they began to consider themselves engineers. Through thematic analysis, the following results emerged: 1) Students who saw themselves as an engineer in the present had meaningful engineering-related experiences that validated their identity as an engineer, 2) Students without quality engineering-related experiences saw themselves as engineers in the future instead of the present, and 3) Strong aspirational motives, confidence, and past experiences allowed some students to see themselves as engineers from both a present and future perspective. Findings from our study bring to light the need for clear quantitative measures addressing the variability in students’ actualized and aspirational engineering identities.

Our study sheds light on how meaningful experiences, or lack thereof, inform when students see themselves as engineers, which impacts their interpretation of the survey measure. Researchers using survey measures to assess the influence of cultivating an engineering identity must be certain that the student’s interpretation of the measures is consistent to ensure validity and reliability.