2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This empirical full paper reflects on methods used to explore the unique undergraduate experiences of engineers who identify as Central Appalachian. In terms of engineering education access and job opportunities, Central Appalachian people have historically faced a unique set of challenges. Prior studies have shown that within the region, companies that employ engineers have difficulty hiring and retaining engineers. Job creation and access to higher education within the region have proven difficult because of the isolation and rugged terrain of mountainous geography. This isolation has limited infrastructure that supports industry and provides the resources desired by people who could be enticed to live and work in the area.
At major universities, Central Appalachian students are often marginalized because these educational spaces were not created with their needs and experiences in mind. By collecting and analyzing stories of Central Appalachian engineers’ lived undergraduate experiences, this study takes an asset-based approach to identify the unique cultural capital these students hold and use their stories of success as examples for tomorrow’s engineering students from the Central Appalachia region.
By using the theoretical framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to study the breadth of people’s conceptions of a given phenomenon around them, this study seeks to answer the question, “What types of cultural capital did Central Appalachian engineers use to become career-ready engineers during their undergraduate engineering experience at a major university?” through employment of phenomenography. There are two key desired outcomes of this study:
1) To provide educators with resources that leverage the assets and stories of successful experiences had by Central Appalachian undergraduate students to identify and employ effective practices that ensure success for current and future students.
2) To use stories that resonate with Central Appalachian engineering students to provide current and future students with an embodiment of who they could become as an engineer.
Using results of a pilot study and existing literature, an interview protocol was created that prompted participants to discuss their transition to college, childhood experiences, college experiences and path to employment. The interview protocol touched on, among other details, community-based capital such as role models, mentors, and advocates; and connections between students’ feelings and experiences during undergrad and their lived experiences. Targeted sampling and components of snowball sampling were used to identify thirteen practicing engineers who identify as Central Appalachian to participate in this study. Through iterative steps in the phenomenographic analysis, the variety of unique ways that the participants navigated their engineering education and career paths were identified. While connections across emerging themes show common threads among participants, they also show the different ways participants experienced these themes. The outcome space of this study is described through creative storytelling to achieve the study goals. This phenomenographic study seeks to shift the dialogue from the disparities faced by Central Appalachian engineering students to the identification and engagement of the cultural capital they hold as they pursue their engineering degree and become career-ready.