2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Equitable Attainment of Engineering Degrees: A Tri-University Study and Improvement Effort

Presented at Bridging Cultures, Advancing Justice: Fostering Inclusion and Sustainability in Engineering Education

In this paper we describe a tri-university study that focuses on increasing the equitable attainment of engineering degrees and improving four-year graduation rates in five engineering disciplines; a challenge that is increasingly difficult at four-year institutions. Using Kotter’s Change Model to guide this study, we (1) evaluate how various engineering disciplines differ regarding the curriculum and instruction they tend to offer, (2) measure how the differences in curriculum and instruction between disciplines impact time-to-degree and student success across student demographic groups, and (3) evaluate the systemic inequities built into the respective engineering disciplines due to curricular structure and/or instructional design. To accomplish these aims, we first collected curricular structure, student performance, and demographic data which identified equity gaps that showed the urgent need to address demographic discrepancies between state, university, and engineering discipline populations. This data identified inequities leading to delayed graduation, however, data and analytics alone is not enough to catalyze change.

Next, we describe how we built a guiding coalition by establishing learning communities to empower faculty to create impactful change in curricular structure and design to improve four-year graduation in engineering disciplines. These learning communities are made up of faculty across five engineering disciplines at the University of Arizona, the University of California San Diego, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Faculty in the learning communities discuss data including curricular complexity, student progress and outcomes, student demographics, factors impacting time-to-degree, and institution-specific characteristics to collaboratively identify areas and mechanisms to improve equitable attainment of engineering degrees. Through these discussions faculty develop a vision and strategy for addressing equity gaps and improving four-year graduation rates in engineering disciplines.

By communicating this vision and strategy to provosts, vice chancellors, deans, and department heads from participating universities we can remove obstacles such as data and analytics support at each institution. Empowering faculty to be the catalyst for change creates short term wins and consolidates long term gains. Moving forward we will continue to institutionalize positive changes within the cultures of our universities. In this session, we will share best practices in learning community formation and training as well as results showing how demographic and complexity factors are linked to time to degree and on time graduation.

Authors

Kian G. Alavy The University of Arizona [biography]

Kian Alavy is Director of Strategic Planning and Initiatives for the Division of Undergraduate Education and a doctoral student in Higher Education at the University of Arizona. Kian is interested in the history and evolution of undergraduate education offices at research universities in the United States, particularly their current nationwide organization around high-impact practices (HIPs). He earned his MA in Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona and his BA in History from the University of Minnesota.
Matthieu Bloch Georgia Institute of Technology
Prof. Gregory L. Heileman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5221-5682 The University of Arizona [biography]

Gregory (Greg) L. Heileman currently serves as the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he is responsible for facilitating collaboration across campus to strategically enhance quality and institutional capacity related to undergraduate programs and academic administration. He has served in various administrative capacities in higher education since 2004.
Professor Heileman currently serves on the Executive Committee of AZTransfer, an organization that works across the system of higher education in the State of Arizona to ensure students have access to efficient, seamless, and simple ways to transfer from a community college to a university in Arizona. He serves on the board of the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, a consortium that brings together research university leaders with expertise in the theory and practice of undergraduate education and student success. In addition, he is a fellow at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education.
Professor Heileman’s work on analytics related to student success has led to the development of a theory of curricular analytics that is now being used broadly across higher education in order to inform improvement efforts related to curricular efficiency, curricular equity, and student progression.
Benjamin Richmond The University of Arizona [biography]

Ben serves as the Manager of Undergraduate Education Initiatives in the University of Arizona’s Division of Undergraduate Education in the Office of the Provost. He earned his BS in Public Health and MPH from the University of Arizona and is currently pursuing a PhD in Higher Education. Ben’s research interest is in understanding the social and cultural barriers students face in pursuing higher education and developing higher education pathways for students. With this research focus, Ben has devolved programs that target students throughout their academic journey and use culturally anchored curriculum to increase students’ knowledge and skills, improve students’ self-efficacy in pursuing higher education, increase sense of belonging on a university campus, and help students navigate campus systems.
Ahmad Slim The University of Arizona [biography]

Dr. Ahmad Slim is a PostDoc researcher at the University of Arizona, where he specializes in educational data mining and machine learning. With a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of New Mexico, he leads initiatives to develop analytics solutions that support strategic decision-making in academic and administrative domains. His work includes the creation of predictive models and data visualization tools that aim to improve student recruitment, retention, and success metrics. Dr. Slim's scholarly contributions include numerous articles on the application of data science in enhancing educational practices.
Prof. Mitchell L R Walker II http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8829-0062 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Mitchell L. R. Walker is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His primary research interests include experimental and theoretical studies of advanced plasma propulsion concepts for spacecraft. Dr. Walker received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2004. His research activities include Hall thrusters, gridded ion engines, diagnostics for plasma interrogation and thruster characterization, vacuum facility effects, helicon plasma sources, and plasma-material interactions. He has authored 130 journal articles and conference papers in the fields of electric propulsion and plasma physics. Dr. Walker is the director of the NASA Joint Advanced Propulsion Institute.

Dr. Walker serves as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Deputy Director for Space Rockets and Advanced Propulsion and as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. He is also a consultant to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, a member of the Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, and a member of the NASA Advisory Council – Technology, Innovation, and Engineering Committee. Dr. Walker delivered expert witness testimony to the Space Subcommittee - House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., to help guide national investments in electric propulsion technology. Dr. Walker is a recipient of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program Award, the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, the AIAA Sustained Service Award, and the Georgia Power Professor of Excellence Award.
David Ruiter University of California, San Diego [biography]

David Ruiter is the Faculty Director of the Teaching and Learning Commons at the University of California San Diego. He is also Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance.

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