Expected Outcomes of a Construction Career: Gender Identity and Engineers Without Borders-USA

Kaminsky, Jessica; Casias, Casey; Javernick‐Will, Amy; Leslie, Cathy

doi:10.1061/9780784412329.208

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…A National Academy of Engineering committee recommended emphasizing the societal impacts of what engineers do as a means to improving participation in the field (NAE, ). Other research found above‐average representation among women in several fields: sustainability leadership positions in industry (Harrison & Klotz, 2010); the Engineers without Borders Program, which emphasizes the social aspect of sustainability (Kaminsky, Casias, Javernick‐Will, & Leslie, ); and engineering with a focus on community service (Bauer, Moskal, Gosink, Lucena, & Munoz, ; Coyle, Jamieson, & Oakes, ). In the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Vermont, a study of curricular reform emphasizing sustainability showed that female students were more interested in learning about sustainability than were their male counterparts (Hayden, Rizzo, Dewoolkar, Oka, & Neumann, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability as a Route to Broadening Participation in Engineering

Klotz

Potvin

Godwin

et al. 2014

J of Engineering Edu

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Background Sustainability is increasingly a vital consideration for engineers. Improved understanding of how attention to sustainability influences student major and career choice could inform efforts to broaden participation in engineering.Purpose Two related questions guided our research. How do career outcome expectations related to sustainability predict the choice of an engineering career? Which broader sustainability-related outcomes do students perceive as related to engineering? To address both questions, we compared effects for engineering and nonengineering students while controlling for various confounding variables. Design/MethodWe conducted a survey to collect responses about sustainability and other variables of interest from a national sample of college students in introductory English classes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlational analysis. ResultsStudents who hope to address certain sustainability issues such as energy, climate change, environmental degradation, and water supply are more likely to pursue engineering. Those who hope to address other sustainability issues such as opportunities for women and minorities, poverty, and disease are less likely to do so. Students hoping to address sustainability-related outcome expectations with obvious human relevance are less likely to pursue engineering. Yet those students who perceive "improving quality of life" and "saving lives" as associated with engineering are more likely to pursue the profession.Conclusions Our results suggest that showing students the connection between certain sustainability issues and engineering careers could help those striving to increase and diversify participation in engineering. A broader range of engineers would likely bring new ideas and ways of thinking to engineering for sustainability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability as a Route to Broadening Participation in Engineering

Klotz

Potvin

Godwin

et al. 2014

J of Engineering Edu

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“…Systematically teaching about sustainable development, with an emphasis on its social dimensions, across engineering programs can help increase diversity (Harrison and Klotz, 2010). Indeed, above average representation among women are found in sustainability leadership positions in the industry (Harrison and Klotz, 2010), in the Engineers Without Borders Program, which emphasizes the social aspect of sustainability (Kaminsky et al , 2012); and in engineering with a focus on community service (Bauer et al , 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teaching about sustainability in engineering programs directly aligns with institutional organization guidelines (National Academy of Engineering, 2005Engineering, , 2008. Moreover, developing a curriculum that incorporates sustainability awareness for social good can allow engineering programs to attract a larger array of students, especially underrepresented groups (Bauer et al, 2007;Filho et al, 2020;Harrison and Klotz, 2010;Kaminsky et al, 2012;Klotz et al, 2014).…”

Section: Students' Career Goals Develop During the Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering students’ agency beliefs and career goals to engage in sustainable development: differences between first-year students and seniors

France

Milovanovic

Shealy

et al. 2022

IJSHE

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Purpose This paper aims to explore the differences in first-year and senior engineering students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainable development. The authors also sought to understand how topics related to sustainable development in engineering courses affect senior engineering students’ goals to address these issues in their careers. This work provides evidence of how students’ agency beliefs may be shaped by higher education, which is essential to workforce development. Design/methodology/approach Findings stem from two national surveys of engineering first-year (Sustainability and Gender in Engineering, n = 7,709) and senior students (Student Survey about Career Goals, College Experiences, n = 4,605). The authors compared both groups using pairwise testing by class standing. Findings The results indicate that undergraduate studies tend to reinforce students’ engineering agency beliefs to improve their quality of life and preserve the environment. Significantly more senior students selected career goals to address environmental issues compared to first-year students. In general, students undervalue their roles as engineers in addressing issues related to social inequities. Those topics are rarely addressed in engineering courses. Findings from this work suggest discussing sustainability in courses positively impact setting career goals to address such challenges. Research limitations/implications The study compares results from two distinct surveys, conveyed at different periods. Nonetheless, the sample size and national spread of respondents across US colleges and universities are robust to offer relevant insights on sustainable development in engineering education. Practical implications Adapting engineering curriculum by ensuring that engineering students are prepared to confront global problems related to sustainable development in their careers will have a positive societal impact. Social implications This study highlights shortcomings of engineering education in promoting social and economic sustainability as related to the engineering field. Educational programs would benefit from emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. This approach could increase diversity in engineering education and the industry, and by ripple effect, benefit the communities and local governance. Originality/value This work is a first step toward understanding how undergraduate experiences impact students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainability. It explores potential factors that could increase students’ engineering agency and goals to make a change through engineering.

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“…So, a national survey for senior engineering students was modeled on the SaGE survey, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication [7], [26], and the climate literacy survey from Clarkson University [27]. Additional questions were developed about engineering course content and standards [28], [29], sustainability [30]- [32], critical engineering agency [33], and career choice [34]- [36]. The survey includes 40 anchored, numerical, multiple choice, and categorical questions divided into six sections: (1) career goals, (2) college experiences, (3) about you, (4) climate science, (5) people and the planet, and (6) demographic information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Misconceptions About Climate Change Between Freshmen and Senior Civil Engineering Students

Shealy

2018 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Anthropogenic climate change is irreversibly affecting the planet and society. Civil engineers hold responsibility to design and construct built-environment spaces that decrease climate changing emissions. The purpose of the research presented in this paper is to assess how undergraduate civil engineering programs contribute to this goal. A cross-sectional comparison between data from a prior national survey of freshmen engineering students interested in civil engineering and pilot data from a national survey to senior undergraduate engineering students was used to assess students' belief in climate change, their understanding of climate science, and desire to address climate change in their careers. The results indicate that senior undergraduate civil engineering students are more likely to believe that climate change is caused by humans (67%) compared to freshmen engineering students (47%). These seniors are also more likely (73%) to agree that action should be taken to address climate change. Yet, only 37 percent hope to personally address climate change in their careers. Senior civil engineering students are more likely than their peers in other engineering disciplines to take classes that include sustainability and climate change as topics (predominately in engineering electives), yet their knowledge of climate science is no better, and in several instances, worse than their engineering peers. For example, civil engineering students are more likely to agree with the statement, "I believe a cause of global climate change is nuclear power generation," and "I believe a cause of global climate change is the ozone hole in the upper atmosphere." Undergraduate education is likely contributing to increased belief and recognition to address climate change but an educational gap still persists in understanding. Future research should explore why misconceptions still exist even when climate change is taught in engineering courses and how particular concepts are explained and how student experiences shape understanding and interest.

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Expected Outcomes of a Construction Career: Gender Identity and Engineers Without Borders-USA

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Sustainability as a Route to Broadening Participation in Engineering

Sustainability as a Route to Broadening Participation in Engineering

Engineering students’ agency beliefs and career goals to engage in sustainable development: differences between first-year students and seniors

Measuring Misconceptions About Climate Change Between Freshmen and Senior Civil Engineering Students

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