A Narrative Investigation of Black Familial Capital that Supports Engineering Engagement of Middle-School-Aged Youth

Smith, DeLean Tolbert; Jones, Tamecia R.; Cardella, Monica E.

doi:10.7771/2157-9288.1308

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Family members and extended family who spend time reviewing homework and helping students develop mathematics, science, and engineering identities and who teach strategies to navigate and succeed in new environments positively influence the students in academic achievement and social development (Herndon & Hirt, 2004). Black familial practices inculcate youth with engineering identity‐building experiences through informal learning (Tolbert Smith et al, 2022).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“They are here to support me”: Community cultural wealth assets and precollege experiences of undergraduate Black men in engineering

Smith

2022

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: Families and community networks serve as sources of cultural capital and provide resources that aid the development of Black male engineers. Community cultural wealth (CCW) has been leveraged by engineering education scholars to understand and highlight student and community assets available in communities of color. Little is known about the diverse ways that Black families support engineering education pathways.Purpose: This study characterized the diverse forms of support that Black families and extended family members provided to undergraduate Black men along their precollege engineering pathways. Method: Thirteen Black undergraduate men majoring in engineering participated in focus groups at two predominantly White institutions in different regions of the United States. Findings: The findings suggest that Black parents are engaged in the engineering learning and development of Black males, which opposes the deficit framing of Black parental engagement. The data revealed how the forms of capital overlap. A compelling finding is that capital has a bidirectional nature-meaning that participants described instances of receiving and providing capital.Conclusions: CCW framework provided a lens to explore how Black men were supported by their family networks and how they used capital to maneuver noninclusive engineering environments. The findings substantiate the role of Black parental engagement on engineering education pathways. This work promotes these parental engagement practices as worthy of inclusion in the canons of effective evidence-based parental engagement strategies that encourage engineering learning and participation.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“They are here to support me”: Community cultural wealth assets and precollege experiences of undergraduate Black men in engineering

Smith

2022

J of Engineering Edu

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“…In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have examined family participation in out‐of‐school engineering programs and home‐based experiences grounded in engineering opportunities (e.g., Simpson, Kim, & Yang, 2021; Simpson, Maltese, et al, 2021; Simpson, Yang, et al, 2021; Tolbert Smith et al, 2022; Verdín et al, 2021). This research as a collective highlights the value of parent–child engagement in engineering contexts outside the school environment, including outcomes such as an increase in problem‐solving abilities (J. Kim & Kim, 2021), development of creative and independent thinking as engineers (Knox, Paul, et al, 2022; Knox, Simpson, et al, 2022), heightened interest in engineering (S. Pattison, Svarovsky, et al, 2020), cultivation of engineering identity (Simpson & Knox, 2022), parental awareness of the engineering field (Knox, Paul, et al, 2022; Knox, Simpson, et al, 2022), engagement in math and science concepts (Simpson, Kim, & Yang, 2021; Simpson, Maltese, et al, 2021; Simpson, Yang, et al, 2021), and fostering of foundational knowledge of engineering concepts and processes (Pagano et al, 2020; Svarovsky et al, 2017).…”

Section: Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As parents and caregivers engage in out‐of‐school engineering contexts with their children, they enact a variety of roles to support, position, and/or hinder their child(ren)'s engagement and participation in the engineering design process (e.g., Barron et al, 2009; Roque et al, 2016; Simpson, Kim, & Yang, 2021; Simpson, Maltese, et al, 2021; Simpson, Yang, et al, 2021; Tolbert Smith et al, 2022). These roles are typically viewed along a continuum from adult‐centered (e.g., the adult provides hands‐on support to the child) to learner‐centered (e.g., the child explores on his or her own) (Dickens et al, 2016; Sadka & Zuckerman, 2017).…”

Section: Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Children's engineering identities‐in‐practice: An exploration of child–adult interactions in an out‐of‐school context

Simpson,

Knox,

Yang

2023

J of Engineering Edu

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BackgroundResearch points to family talk and interactions involving STEM concepts as one of the most influential informal learning experiences that shape an individual's STEM identity development and encourage their pursuit of a STEM career. However, a recent literature review uncovers limited research regarding the development of engineering identity in young children.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to add to this scant literature by exploring how children position themselves as engineers and how children are positioned as engineers through interactions with parents and other adults within a program focused on family engagement within an engineering design process.MethodsThis study includes two parent–child dyads. We collected and analyzed approximately 19.5 h of video data of the two child–parent dyads interacting with one another throughout an engineering design process as part of an out‐of‐school program.ResultsResults highlight three ways in which the two children enacted various engineering identities through their positioning, negotiation, and acceptance and/or rejection of positionalities as they engaged in an engineering design process with a parent. These identity enactments included (a) possessing knowledge and authority to make decisions regarding the development of their self‐identified engineering problem and prototype; (b) questioning and challenging adult ideas, solutions, and construction of prototypes; and (c) documenting and communicating their thinking regarding the engineering design through sketches and notes.ConclusionsThe significance of this study lies in its potential to change the landscape of those who pursue an engineering career and to contribute to the limited research and ongoing conversations about how to foster environments that support families in creative and collaborative learning specific to the engineering discipline.

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“…Studies such as this can also elucidate the knowledge and assets that families from historically marginalized communities bring to their engagement with engineering, inside and outside of school, and counter the deficit-based narratives that pervade the literature [45], [46]. Many scholars have highlighted the need for the engineering education field to focus more on youth, family, and community assets [12], [44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family Voices: Learning from Families with Preschool-Age Children from Historically Marginalized Communities to Expand our Vision of Engineering

Pattison,

Ramos-Montañez,

López Burgos

et al.

2023 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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A Narrative Investigation of Black Familial Capital that Supports Engineering Engagement of Middle-School-Aged Youth

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

“They are here to support me”: Community cultural wealth assets and precollege experiences of undergraduate Black men in engineering

“They are here to support me”: Community cultural wealth assets and precollege experiences of undergraduate Black men in engineering

Children's engineering identities‐in‐practice: An exploration of child–adult interactions in an out‐of‐school context

Family Voices: Learning from Families with Preschool-Age Children from Historically Marginalized Communities to Expand our Vision of Engineering

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