2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Research tells us undergraduate engineering programs have high attrition rates of underrepresented minorities (URMs), burnout, and students feeling unsupported in their engineering journey. Beyond the undergraduate experience. Black engineers in the United States face unique challenges in their professional and personal lives that impact their mental well-being and can lead to Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF). Where research falls short is extending beyond graduate to early career stage of engineers. For this paper, early career is defined as 0-5 years post undergraduate graduation. This literature review explores the intersection of racial identity, well-being (mental health), and persistence in early career Black engineers. This systematized review began with searches of the phrases “Black engineer”, “mental health”, “early career”, and “racial battle fatigue” in ERIC, ResearchGate, and EBSCOhost. Currently, sparce literature exists in isolation on these topics and does not examine how areas such as career volition, perception of the work environment, including facing microaggressions, the illusion of inclusion, and being passed over for promotions all impact the well-being of Black engineers. This paper summarizes current research and identifies the gaps in literature focused on early career Black engineers by asking the questions: what does existing literature reveal about how early career Black engineers cope with their racial battle fatigue and what are the implications of RBF on their career development? Understanding the current landscape of literature connecting race, mental health, and occupation volition has implications for enhancing prolonged engagement of Black engineers.