2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Designing Good Practices for Recruitment, Admissions, and Program Structure of Engineering Outreach Programs to Increase Access for Marginalized and Non-Traditional Higher Education Students

Presented at First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 6: Equity, Inclusion, and Access

Engineering outreach programs aimed at students in higher education play a key role in providing pathways for students to access studies and careers in engineering. Marginalized and non-traditional students may not have the resources to represent their skills, goals and fit in the parlance and format that best matches program requirements and expectations, particularly during recruitment and admissions. This lack of knowledge of this ‘hidden curriculum’ can result in barriers to accessing and participating in outreach programs, despite the programs being designed to serve and actively seeking these underserved student populations. This paper presents a literature review that identifies good practices for the equitable design and implementation of outreach programs in engineering higher education that help lower these barriers and increase access. The paper also thematically analyzes two case studies of outreach programs that create pathways into engineering in the United States, and that have been designed to address these barriers, to describe good practices for recruitment strategies, equitable admissions & selection processes, and program design. The two case studies consist of an online program designed for computer science and engineering students, and an in-person program designed for aerospace students at community colleges. Insights will be gained by qualitatively analyzing program materials and staff perspectives for the purpose of improving program quality. The paper uses the literature research and the insights gained from the case studies, to extract a set of practices that would be of interest to designers of similar engineering outreach programs that serve marginalized and non-traditional students in higher education.

Authors

Dr. Sonia Travaglini Stanford University [biography]

Dr. Sonia Travaglini specializes in the intersection of engineering and learning, and is an educator passionate about new technologies and collaboration. Sonia also enjoys supporting engineering outreach with local community colleges and schools.
Aya Mouallem http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9360-9971 Stanford University [biography]

Aya Mouallem (she/her) is a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. She received a BEng in Computer and Communications Engineering from the American University of Beirut. Aya is a graduate research assistant with the Designing Education Lab at Stanford, led by Professor Sheri Sheppard, and her research explores the accessibility of introductory electrical engineering education. She is supported by the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship and the RAISE Doctoral Fellowship.
Dr. Sheri D. Sheppard Stanford University [biography]

Sheri D. Sheppard teaches both undergraduate and graduate design-related classes, conducts research on fracture mechanics and finite element analysis, and on how people become engineers. From 1999 to 2008, she was a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, leading its engineering study. Sheppard has contributed to significant educational projects, including the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education and the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). Her industry experience spans Detroit’s Big Three: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. At Stanford, she has served as faculty senate chair, associate vice provost for graduate education, founder of and adviser to MEwomen, and leads the Designing Education Lab (DEL), which aims to revolutionize engineering education. Her achievements have earned her numerous honors, such as Stanford’s Walter J. Gores Award and the American Society for Engineering Education’s Chester F. Carlson and Ralph Coats Roe Awards. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan.

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