2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BOARD # 450: S-STEM: Barriers Stakeholders Face in Supporting Low-Income, First-Generation, and/or Rural Graduate Students

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

There is a growing need to train a diverse range of students in engineering disciplines and a growing demand for a skilled workforce with graduate degrees (Pearson et al., 2022; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; National Science Foundation, 1996). A team of specialists in engineering and organizational systems worked together on a grant sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program to explore how evidence-based strategies used successfully at the undergraduate level might improve the recruitment, retention, and outcomes of graduate programs. In this study, we interviewed a sample of the stakeholders who support low-income, first-generation, and/or rural graduate engineering students, to gain insight into the barriers they face in their efforts. We used a thematic analysis of transcribed interviews to draw conclusions. We found seven themes describing the facilitators and seven themes describing the barriers that stakeholders face in supporting these students. Our findings have implications for researchers who would investigate and implement future organizational support systems as well as for the leaders who would design and implement an array of interventions as part of an organizational support system.

Authors

Dr. Lisa A. Giacumo George Mason University [biography]

Lisa A. Giacumo, Ph. D., is a tenure track associate professor of Learning Design and Technology at George Mason University. Her research and teaching interests include access and community, design to support global and cross-cultural learning needs, learning analytics, learner experience design (LXD), the use of technology for workplace learning and performance improvement, and the preparation of instructional designers. She has worked internationally as an instructional designer, trainer, and manager for businesses, universities, non-profits, and NGOs. She was also a Fellow of the US Office of Naval Research in 2022.
Dr. Arvin Farid Boise State University [biography]

Dr. Arvin Farid is a Professor of the Civil Engineering Department and the Director of the SEnS-GPS Program, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, at Boise State University. He is also the chair of the Geoenvironmental Engineering Technical Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute (GI) and an editor of the Environmental Geotechnics Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE). He also serves on several national and international committees. He received his Ph.D. from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, and his M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees from Shiraz (formerly Pahlavi) University, Shiraz, Iran.
He has pioneered the leading edge of research on the use of electromagnetic (EM) fields for geoenvironmental/geotechnical applications. His research includes EM-induced remediation, EM waves’ effect on soil properties, energy geo-storage, wildfire research, recycling and reuse of industrial byproducts, material characterization, power infrastructure vulnerability, liquefaction mitigation, and engineering education, among others. His most recent research focuses on wildfires’ impacts, resilience against them, restoration and remediation post-fire, and recycling waste. Dr. Farid was awarded several research grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) among others. He has published in several prestigious civil and electrical engineering journals and presented at numerous international civil engineering, electrical engineering, and geophysics conferences.
Dr. Mojtaba Sadegh Boise State University
Rafael Leonardo da Silva Boise State University

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

« View session