2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Expanding the Broadening Participation in Engineering Focus to Include Data on Nontraditional Students

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 14

Based on the definition of nontraditional undergraduate students from the U.S. Department of Education, nontraditional undergraduate students are identified as having one or more of seven characteristics. However, some of these characteristics (e.g., delayed enrollment, having dependents, being a single parent, working full-time, and receiving a non-standard high school diploma) are difficult to extract directly using publicly available institutional data sources. Nontraditional students are the fastest-growing population in higher education, and some nontraditional groups, like adult learners, consist of a disproportionately high number of Black (28%) and Latinx/e (21%) learners. To date, however, there is no complete dataset on nontraditional student learners available within engineering education. This work-in-progress paper addresses the lack of institutional data for nontraditional undergraduate engineering students, focusing on a large, public Minority Serving Institution that also graduates among the highest Latinx/e and Black undergraduate engineering students in the country. Utilizing various data sources, the authors provide retention and graduation data for students at this institution and will separate this data across each of the seven characteristics referenced above. This study, which is part of a larger three-year Broadening Participation in Engineering project, will offer insights into trends associated with an understudied and extremely diverse population.

Authors

Mr. Joseph Ronald Sturgess Florida International University [biography]

Joseph Sturgess is a Ph.D. student in the School of Universal Computing, Construction & Engineering Education majoring in Engineering Education at Florida International University, where he also serves as a graduate research assistant contributing to various projects supporting post-traditional students and transfer students. His research interests include community college-minority serving institution partnerships, transfer students, post-traditional students, and broadening participation in engineering education. He received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Tuskegee University, an M.S in journalism from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, an M.S. in physics from Fisk University, an M.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Central Florida and an M.Ed. in educational leadership from Texas Christian University.
Dr. Bruk T Berhane Florida International University [biography]

Dr. Bruk T. Berhane received his bachelorâ€™s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in 2003. He then completed a masterâ€™s degree in engineering management at George Washington University in 2007. In 2016, he earned a Ph
Dr. Stephen Secules http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3149-2306 Florida International University [biography]

Stephen is an Assistant Professor Engineering and Computing Education at Florida International University. He has a prior academic and professional background in engineering, having worked professionally as an acoustical engineer. He has taught a number of courses on design, sociotechnical contexts, education, and learning. He conducts research on equity and culture in engineering education and supports undergraduate and graduate student researchers through the Equity Research Group.
Dr. Haiying Long [biography]

Haiying Long is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Kansas.
Daniel Ifeoluwa Adeniranye http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1907-9463 Florida International University [biography]

Daniel Adeniranye embarked on his academic journey with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and dual master’s degrees in petroleum engineering and project development. He further enhanced his skills with a master’s in project (Engineering) Management. Daniel is currently a Research Assistant at the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education at Florida International University (FIU). In the 2023-24 academic year, he was elected as the program chair and subsequently appointed interim chair of the American Society for Engineering Education's student division. Before his tenure at FIU, Daniel worked in Dubai, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria, all in engineering and STEM/engineering education capacities.
Jingjing Liu Florida International University [biography]

Dr. Jingjing Liu is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education at Florida
International University.

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